I Wish I Could Have Quotes

“MY WISH I wish I could have a woman like you To be my better half The mother of my children I wish I could have a woman like you To be the organizer of my home and The selector of my costume I wish I could have a woman like you To love her And be loved by her I wish I could have a woman like you To love my children And be loved by me children I wish I could have a woman like you Whom, I can walk with in public places And feel proud”

— Ama Ata Aidoo

“I wish I could have lived just one day when the world was new. I wish-I wish I could have reaped just one single, solitary, big Emotion before the world had caught it and-appraised it-and taxed it-and licensed it-and staled it!”

— Eleanor Hallowell Abbott

“She drew herself up to her full height-it was a little difficult on a donkey-and said primly, I have always found that in painful situations it is a sensible idea to take each hour as it comes and not to anticipate beyond. But oh how I wish I could have a bath!”

— Dorothy Gilman

“I wish I could have found the red juniper for you," she said softly. It seemed such an insignificant gift to offer, but finding the tree was important to Michael and the only thing she could do for him. A rustle of fabric and the tread of his boots signaled that he had come to stand behind her, so close she could smell the scent of leather and sweat and man. "I wish I could build a castle for you," he said simply.”

— Elizabeth Camden

“I seem to grow more acutely conscious of the swift passage of time as I grow older. When I was small, days and hours were long and spacious, and there was play and acres of leisure, and many children's books to read. I remember that as I was writing a poem on "Snow" when I was eight. I said aloud, "I wish I could have the ability to write down the feelings I have now while I'm still little, because when I grow up I will know how to write, but I will have forgotten what being little feels like." And so it is that childlike sensitivity to new experiences and sensations seems to diminish in an inverse proportion to growth of technical ability. As we become polished, so do we become hardened and guilty of accepting eating, sleeping, seeing, and hearing too easily and lazily, without question. We become blunt and callous and blissfully passive as each day adds another drop to the stagnant well of our years.”

— Sylvia Plath

“I wish I could have saved you, he says finally. And this is what it always comes back to. Salvation. Him saving me. Me saving him. Impossibilities, because there is no such thing, and it's not what we ever needed from each other anyway.”

— Katja Millay

“You think.. you think if maybe you focused on all the bullshit you had to endure with her, that'd make it easier?"
I sighed. "I've tried. I keep coming back to the same thought."
"What's that?"
"Now that it's over, I wish I could have all the bad stuff back ... just so I could have the good.”

— Jamie McGuire

“We collected all the bones we could find, and yesterday, Natividad wrapped them in a shawl that she had knitted years ago. It was the most beautiful thing she owned.
"A thing like that should serve the living," Bankole said when she offered it.
"You are living," Natividad said. "I like you. I wish I could have met your sister.”

— Octavia E. Butler

“-I miss you, Daddy. I know you do. I miss you, too, sweetheart, more than you'll ever know. I don't think I've ever been happier than I was with you. I wish I could have saved you, Amy. -But you did. You saved me. You were just a little girl, alone in the world. I never should have let them take you. I tried, but not hard enough. That's the real test, you know. That's the true measure of a man's life. I was always too afraid. I hope you can forgive me. A”

— Justin Cronin

“I hate you.
If only I'd known.
If only I'd been enough .
I let you down.
I wish I could have done something.
I should have done something.
Was it my fault?
Why wasn't I enough?
Come back.
I love you.
I'm sorry.”

— Jennifer Niven

“I wish I could have known Barbara Bodichon
and her whole vibrant circle of smart, fearless women friends. I'd like to gather them all around the dinner table, along with a few smart, fearless friends of my own. We'd open a bottle of wine and sit back to to hear their stories
marveling at all the things that have changed, and commiserating about all the things that haven't. And then we'd tell them thank you. We'd tell them that we never take for granted the rights they fought so hard for. And that we hope we, too, can make the world just a little better for the ones who follow after.”

— Terri Windling

“That was the best Defense Against the Dark Arts lesson we've ever had, wasn't it?" said Ron ...
"He seems like a very good teacher," said Hermoine approvingly. "But I wish I could have had a turn with the boggart -"
"What would it have been for you?" said Ron sniggering, "A piece of homework that only got nine out of ten?”

— J.K. Rowling

“A couple days ago, I saw a lot of people tweeting, 'Oh, it's so cool 'Home' is being used in the Olympics!' We don't really get to watch much TV, man, with the concerts every night, but I wish I could have seen it. I really just found out through Twitter and my management texting me. I thought it was really awesome.”

— Phillip Phillips

“There are so many people I wish I could have met:”

— Karolina Kurkova

“I never want to be that guy at a dinner table saying, 'I wish I could have dessert.' I actually went through a stage when I would order dessert first.”

— Ryan Kwanten

“A lot of the biking sequences in the beginning, like going down the steps and over the ramp, I of course didn't do any of that stuff. I wish I could have but I didn't.”

— Alex D. Linz

“I wish I could have 25,000 years of my personal family history documented in a very powerful computer or a CD-ROM that I could just pop in and my computer would never crash.”

— Brendan Fraser

“My brother Alan - who was seven years younger than me - died from leukemia when he was 52. He never knew a day's good health - I wish I could have given him some of my good health. But he was always so cheerful and sweet.”

— Brian Blessed

“I wish I could have skipped college.”

— Saul Kripke

“One of my all-time favorite photographers is Irving Penn. I wish I could have watched him work.”

— Mary Ellen Mark

“I wish I were whole. I wish I could have given you youngs, if you'd wanted them and I could conceive them. I wish I could have told you it killed me when you thought I had been with anyone else. I wish I had spent the last year waking up every night and telling you I loved you. I wish I had mated you properly the evening you came back to me from the dead.”

— J.R. Ward

“His hands uncupped himself and he stared downward. It was a long while before he spoke, and when he did, his words were slow and considered ... and as ceaseless as his quiet tears.
"I wish I were whole. I wish I could have given you young if you'd wanted them and could conceive them. I wish I could have told you that it killed me when you thought I had been with anyone else. I wish I had spent the last year waking up every night and telling you I loved you. I wish I had mated you properly the evening you came back to me from the dead. I wish ... " Now his shimmering stare flipped up to hers. "I wish I were half as strong as you are and I wish I deserved you. And ... that's about it.”

— J.R. Ward

“I wish I could have known earlier that you have all the time you'll need right up to the day you die.”

— William Wiley

“I love everything that Frank Gehry does. I wish I could have that man build me a Wayne Manor-style mansion, like his idea of it.”

— Pharrell Williams

“I wish I could have a recurring role on 'Modern Family'. I think 'Modern Family' is the best comedy on television. It's extremely well written, extremely well acted and directed.”

— Patti LuPone

“I wish I could have a cupcake,”

— Lois Lowry

“I wish I could have fought him for you," he said abruptly, looking back at me. His blue eyes were dark and earnest.
I smiled at him, touched.
"It wasn't your fight, it was mine. But you won it anyway." I reached out a hand, and he squeezed it.
"Aye, but that's not what I meant. If I'd fought him man to man and won, ye'd not need to feel any regret over it." He hesitated. "If ever-"
"There aren't any more ifs," I said firmly. "I thought of every one of them yesterday, and here I still am."
"Thank God," he said, smiling, "and God help you." Then he added, "Though I'll never understand why."
I put my arms around his waist and held on as the horse slithered down the last steep slope.
"Because," I said, "I bloody well can't do without you, Jamie Fraser, and that's all about it.”

— Diana Gabaldon

“I have moles and freckles, and they irritate me. They are an insecurity of mine, and I wish I could have clear, beautiful skin.”

— Khloe Kardashian

“Dear Bryony,
There are many things I wish I had time to tell you, so I will say just this: These past few
days have been some of the best days of my life. Because of you.
My fervent hope is that you are safe and well as you read this letter. That you will have all
the happiness I wish I could have shared with you. And that you will remember me not as a
failed husband, but one who was still trying, til the very end.
Yours always,
Leo”

— Sherry Thomas

“I wish I could have won a lot more tournaments, but I got injured every time I played well.”

— Marat Safin

“I'm not very good with on-the-spot motivational speech," I say to her. "Sometimes at night, I'll rewrite conversations I had during the day, but I'll change them up to reflect everything I wish I could have said in the moment.”

— Colleen Hoover

“Sometimes at night, I'll rewrite conversations I had during the day, but I'll change them up to reflect everything I wish I could have said in the moment. So I just want you to know that tonight when I write this conversation down on paper, I'll say something really heroic and it'll make you feel really good about your life.”

— Colleen Hoover

“I wish I could have your bright outlook on life, but unfortunately I cannot help looking around at the world and noticing that we are surrounded by idiots.”

— Cassandra Clare

“Sometimes I wish I could have religion their way. You know, no responsibilities in life but to cut down people who don't think the way you do.”

— Chris Crutcher

“I'm kind of a nerd when it comes to literature and theory. I wish I could have more of that in life, but I don't because I'm always reading scripts or things to prepare for movies when I'm reading.”

— Elizabeth Olsen

“Sometimes I wish I could have been a bit more relaxed, but then I wouldn't have been the same player.”

— Steffi Graf

“There's mistakes that I have made. Some chances I just threw away. Some roads I never should've taken. Been some signs I didn't see. Hearts that I hurt needlessly. Some wounds that I wish I could have one more chance to mend, but it don't make no difference: The past can't be rewritten. You get the life you're given.”

— Carrie Underwood

“I wish I could have a clone to do all the stuff that I don't like doing, like the red carpet stuff.”

— V V Brown

“Pretty much I don't regret anything that has happened in my life. One thing is I wish I could have spent more time with my mama and my pa.”

— Kurupt

“Yeah, I wish I could have stayed awake long enough to see your face when I changed over. (Wren) No, you don't. I assure you, it wasn't pretty. (Maggie) There's never anything about you that isn't pretty, Maggie. You're the most beautiful woman I've ever seen. (Wren)”

— Sherrilyn Kenyon

“I've learned ... That I wish I could have told my Mom that I love her one more time before she passed away.”

— Andy Rooney

“I wish I could have hung out with Patti Smith in the seventies, and also have some crazy times.”

— Ellie Goulding

“Hiding is not an option and you're going to step out and you're going to make mistakes. I'm going to look stupid. I'm going to say things I want to retract. I'm going to sing notes I wish I could have back, there's just no getting around the stumble, but if you stumble enough times you're going to fall off the edge and have no choice but to freakin' fly.”

— Ben Harper

“When you do a normal film, you play the character for three months and you say goodbye to him. And then, when you watch the movie, you say, "I wish I could have done that differently. I wish I could have added this to it."”

— Taylor Lautner

“As to the kindness you mention, I wish I could have been of more service to you than I have been, but if I had, the only thanks that I should desire are that you would always be ready to serve any other person that may need your assistance, and so let good offices go around, for humankind are all of a family. As for my own part, when I am employed in serving others I do not look upon myself as conferring favors but paying debts.”

— Benjamin Franklin

“You hung with me when all the others turned away, turned up their noses We liked the same music, we liked the same bands, we liked the same clothes Yeah we told each other that we were the wildest, the wildest things we'd ever seen Now I wish you would have told me, I wish I could have talked to you Just to say goodbye, Bobby Jean.”

— Bruce Springsteen

“I take responsibility for the times I was arrested and the things that I did. Me being 33 now, I look back on those times and I wish that a lot of things I didn't do. I wish I could have back because I see how much I influence people. People wanna follow in my footsteps and I wish that I can now do more positive things, and that back then I'd done more positive things.”

— Gucci Mane

“Nobody's good. I hate it. I truly hate it. I mean, there's a lot of guys doing stuff I admire, but stand-up-wise I feel very alone. I really miss Bill Hicks. I wish I could have put him on my show. And I really miss Sam Kinison a lot. Richard Pryor's sick ... It's like you get here and then, oh wait a minute, there's nobody here any more. I feel like the guy who finally got into Studio 54, three years too late, Duh, where are all the famous people?”

— Chris Rock

“I'm a better actor now than I ever was, I wish I could have hurried that up, but there's no way. Anyway, I always wanted to be around for a long time. Like a European actor, I hope I live a long time and that I'm acting until I finish.”

— Christopher Walken

“I wish I could have a little tape-and-loudspeaker arrangement sewn into the binding of this magazine, to be triggered off by the light reflected from the reader's eyes on to this part of the page, and set to bawl out at several bels: MORE WILL MEAN WORSE.”

— Kingsley Amis