20 Quotes That Capture The Agony Of Wanting Something You Can't Have

“Yes, we could kiss. I could kiss you and you could kiss me. There's no science, plane ticket or clock stopping us. But if we kiss, it will end the world. And I've ended the world before. No one survived.”

— Iain Thomas, amazon.com

“Oh no. Don't smile. You'll kill me. I stop breathing when you smile.”

— Tessa Dare, amazon.com

“If something's going to happen for you, it will, you can't make it happen. And it never does happen until you're past the point where you care whether it happens or not. I guess it's for your own good that it always happens that way, because after you stop wanting things is where having them won't m…”

— Andy Warhol, amazon.com

“As soon as you stop wanting something, you get it.”

— Any Warhol, amazon.com

“I wasn't much of a petty thief. I wanted the whole world or nothing.”

— Charles Bukowski, amazon.com

“The one you love and the one who loves you are never, ever the same person.”

— Chuck Palahniuk, amazon.com

“The most exciting thing is not doing it. If you fall in love with someone and never do it, it's much more exciting.”

— Andy Warhol, anngora.com

“People don't want their lives fixed. Nobody wants their problems solved. Their dramas. their distractions. Their stories resolved. Their messes cleaned up. Because what would they have left? Just the big scary unknown.”

— Chuck Palahniuk, amazon.com

“I don't want whatever I want. Nobody does. Not really. What kind of fun would it be if I just got everything I ever wanted just like that, and it didn't mean anything? What then?”

— Neil Gaiman, amazon.com

“There are two tragedies in life. One is to lose your heart's desire. The other is to gain it.”

— George Bernard Shaw, amazon.com

“Offer them what they secretly want and they of course immediately become panic-stricken.”

— Jack Kerouac, amazon.com

“The idea of waiting for something makes it more exciting.”

— Andy Warhol, amazon.com

“A lot of people get so hung up on what they can't have that they don't think for a second about whether they really want it.”

— Lionel Shriver, amazon.com

“As long as you lack something you yearn for it without cease. if only I could have that one thing, you tell yourself, all my problems would be solved. But once you get it, once the object of your desires is thrust into your hands, it begins to lose its charm. Other wants assert themselves, other des…”

— Paul Auster, amazon.com

“Wanting was a wilderness.”

— Cheryl Strayed, amazon.com

“To burn with desire and keep quiet about it is the greatest punishment we can bring on ourselves.”

— Federico García Lorca, amazon.com

“You think it can't get worse than wanting someone and not having them, but it can. You can want someone, have them, and want them more. Still. Always. You can never get enough.”

— Michelle Hodkin, amazon.com

“The way to not give a shit about something is to give way more of a shit about something else.”

— Derek Doepker, amazon.com

“The wanting comes in waves.”

— The Decemberists, youtube.com

“Remember that sometimes not getting what you want is a wonderful stroke of luck.”

— Dalai Lama, goodreads.com