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Want quotes

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“After the primary necessities of food and raiment, freedom is the first and strongest want of human nature.” John Stuart Mill, “The Subjection of Women” - 1869

“our labour preserves us from three great evils—weariness, vice, and want.” Voltaire, “Candide” - 1759

“Even if you don’t have all the things you want, be grateful for the things you don’t have that you don’t want.” Bob Dylan, “Chronicles, Volume One” - 2004

“Are these things really better than the things I already have? Or am I just trained to be dissatisfied with what I have now? Am I just under a spell that says nothing is ever good enough?” Chuck Palahniuk, “Lullaby” - 2002

“You know how advice is. You only want it if it agrees with what you wanted to do anyway.” John Steinbeck, “The Winter of Our Discontent” - 1961

“I wanted the whole world or nothing.” Charles Bukowski, “Post Office” - 1971

“to be without some of the things you want is an indispensable part of happiness.” Bertrand Russell, “The Conquest of Happiness” - 1930

“Anything we want, we're trained to want.” Chuck Palahniuk, “Invisible Monsters” - 1999

“We are often unable to tell people what they NEED to know, because they WANT to know something else, and would therefore only misunderstand what we said.” George MacDonald, “Lilith” - 1895

“people need not fear the unknown if they are capable of achieving what they need and want.” Paulo Coelho, “The Alchemist” - 1988

“In truth, it is not want, but rather abundance, that creates avarice.” Michel de Montaigne, “The Essays of Michel de Montaigne” - 1580

“We can never know what to want, because, living only one life, we can neither compare it with our previous lives nor perfect it in our lives to come.” Milan Kundera, “The Unbearable Lightness of Being” - 1984

“One of the most important questions a woman can ask herself: What do I really want—and what is my spirit telling me is the best way to proceed?” Oprah Winfrey, “What I Know For Sure” - 2014

“We knew exactly what we wanted in each other. And even so, it ended. One day it stopped, as if the film simply slipped off the reel.” Haruki Murakami, “Dance Dance Dance” - 1994

“I want to see life. I want to hold it in my hands. I want to leave a footprint on the sand of a desert island. I want to play football with people. I want . . . I want everything.” Neil Gaiman, “The Graveyard Book” - 2008

“When you get used to that kind of life—of never having anything you want—then you stop knowing what it is you want.” Haruki Murakami, “The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle” - 1997

“In making even horizontal and clear inspections we colour and mould according to the wants within us whatever our eyes bring in.” Thomas Hardy, “Far from the Madding Crowd” - 1874

“Love Jo all your days, if you choose, but don't let it spoil you, for it's wicked to throw away so many good gifts because you can't have the one you want.” Louisa May Alcott, “Little Women” - 1868

“She said she knew we were safe with you, and always would be, because once, when she asked you to, you'd given up the thing you most wanted.” Edith Wharton, “The Age of Innocence” - 1920

“How I feel is that if I wanted anything I'd take it. That's what I've always thought all my life. But it happens that I want you, and so I just haven't room for any other desires.” F. Scott Fitzgerald, “The Beautiful and Damned” - 1922

Related topics

life desire love sacrifice fear knowledge human nature happiness evil ambition advice freedom woman vice eyes ending society work misunderstanding safety

Related authors

Haruki Murakami (2)
Chuck Palahniuk (2)
F. Scott Fitzgerald (1)
Bertrand Russell (1)
Paulo Coelho (1)
Thomas Hardy (1)
Louisa May Alcott (1)
George MacDonald (1)
Edith Wharton (1)
John Stuart Mill (1)
Charles Bukowski (1)
Michel de Montaigne (1)
Voltaire (1)
Neil Gaiman (1)
John Steinbeck (1)
Milan Kundera (1)
Oprah Winfrey (1)
Bob Dylan (1)

Related sources

The Beautiful and Damned (1)
The Conquest of Happiness (1)
The Alchemist (1)
Little Women (1)
Lilith (1)
The Age of Innocence (1)
The Subjection of Women (1)
The Essays of Michel de Montaigne (1)
Candide (1)
The Unbearable Lightness of Being (1)
What I Know For Sure (1)
Chronicles, Volume One (1)
The Winter of Our Discontent (1)
Invisible Monsters (1)
Dance Dance Dance (1)
The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle (1)
The Graveyard Book (1)
Far from the Madding Crowd (1)
Lullaby (1)
Post Office (1)