O, that I were where I would be,
Then would I be where I am not;
For read more

O, that I were where I would be,
Then would I be where I am not;
For where I am I would not be,
And where I would be I can not.

What one has wished for in youth, in old age one has in
abundance.
[Ger., Was man in read more

What one has wished for in youth, in old age one has in
abundance.
[Ger., Was man in der Jugend wunscht, hat man im Alter die
Fulle.]

Pull the string, and it will follow wherever you wish. Push it, and it will go nowhere at all.

Pull the string, and it will follow wherever you wish. Push it, and it will go nowhere at all.

If a man could half his wishes he would double his Troubles.

If a man could half his wishes he would double his Troubles.

He hoped and prayed that there wasn't an afterlife. Then he realized there was a contradiction involved here and merely read more

He hoped and prayed that there wasn't an afterlife. Then he realized there was a contradiction involved here and merely hoped that there wasn't an afterlife.

Wishers and woulders be small householders.

Wishers and woulders be small householders.

Of all complexions the culled sovereignty
Do meet, as at a fair, in her fair cheek,
Where read more

Of all complexions the culled sovereignty
Do meet, as at a fair, in her fair cheek,
Where several worthies make one dignity,
Where nothing wants that want itself doth seek.

If I live to grow old, as I find I go down,
Let this be my fate in a read more

If I live to grow old, as I find I go down,
Let this be my fate in a country town;
May I have a warm house, with a stone at my gate,
And a cleanly young girl to rub my bald pate.
May I govern my passions with an absolute sway,
Grow wiser and better as my strength wears away,
Without gout or stone, by a gentle decay.
- Walter Pope, The Old Man's Wish,

What folly can be ranker. Like our shadows,
Our wishes lengthen as our sun declines.

What folly can be ranker. Like our shadows,
Our wishes lengthen as our sun declines.