He calls his wish, it comes; he sends it back,
And says he called another; that arrives,
Meets the same welcome; yet he still calls on;
Till one calls him, who varies not his call,
But holds him fast, in chains of darkness bound,
Till Nature dies, and judgment sets him free;
A freedom far less welcome than this chain.
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I've often wished that I had clear,
For life, six hundred pounds a year,
A handsome house read more
I've often wished that I had clear,
For life, six hundred pounds a year,
A handsome house to lodge a friend,
A river at my garden's end,
A terrace walk, and half a rood
Of land, set out to plant a wood.
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.
Advice is what we ask for when we already know the answer but wish we didn't.
Advice is what we ask for when we already know the answer but wish we didn't.
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.
I wish they would only take me as I am.
I wish they would only take me as I am.
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,
I wish I knew the good of wishing.
I wish I knew the good of wishing.
A goal without a plan is just a wish.
A goal without a plan is just a wish.
Man wants but little, nor that little long;
How soon must he resign his very dust,
Which read more
Man wants but little, nor that little long;
How soon must he resign his very dust,
Which frugal nature lent him for an hour!
