If I Could Quotes - Page 20

• I'd shrink government in a minute, if I could shrink GM, Bank of America, and all these immoral corporations that operate by an undemocratic code, with no soul and no conscience.

  Jerry Brown

  America, Government, Soul

  "As Mayor of Oakland, Jerry Brown Woos Business and Trumpets Order". www.wsj.com. August 10, 1999.

  4 Copy quote

  Show source

• I wish I could write a book that will be read for as long as our civilization lasts. I would value it much more highly than any business success if I could contribute to an understanding of the world in which we live or, better yet, if I could help to preserve the economic and political system that has allowed me to flourish as a participant.

  George Soros

  Book, Writing, Civilization

  "The Winning Investment Habits of Warren Buffett & George Soros". Book by Mark Tier, 2006.

  9 Copy quote

  Show source

• I should be glad of loneliness      And hours that go on broken wings,A thirsty body, a tired heart      And the unchanging ache of things,If I could make a single song      As lovely and as full of light,As hushed and brief as a falling star      On a winter night.

  Sara Teasdale

  Song, Stars, Loneliness

  Sara Teasdale (1920). “Flame and Shadow”, p.31, Рипол Классик

  6 Copy quote

  Show source

• I didn't get playing professional golf until I was 25 years old. And I always said that if I could make it work, I would play as long as I could walk.

  Arnold Palmer

  Golf, Years, Play

  PGA Championship Q&A, www.pga.com. May 24, 2005.

  7 Copy quote

  Show source

• I doubt if I could love anyone who did not wish to see Look Back in Anger.

  Kenneth Tynan

  Doubt, Wish, Looks

  1956 In the Observer, 13 May

  4 Copy quote

  Show source

• I sometimes wish desperately that I could write like someone else, be someone else. No one particularly. Just if I could put the pen down on paper and suddenly come out in a totally different way.

  Harold Pinter

  Writing, Wish, Different

  Harold Pinter, Mel Gussow (1996). “Conversations with Pinter”, p.24, Grove Press

  7 Copy quote

  Show source

• Your men are brave men, And you have won. I can live with that, Earl of Bronze a poor man would I be if I could not.

  David Gemmell

  Men, Brave, Poor

  "Legend". Book by David Gemmell, pt 1: Against the Horde, ch. 31, 1988.

  4 Copy quote

  Show source

• I was a Teletype operator in the army, so that's where I learned to type. One day, I went downstairs to see if I could still type - I hadn't done it for four or five years after the war. So I typed out a page and I showed it to my wife and she said, "Where did you get this?" I said I wrote it. "You wrote this?" It was something very funny. I went and wrote another page, another couple of pages, and by the time I was finished I had 13 little short stories, humorous short stories.

  Carl Reiner

  Couple, War, Humorous

  "Carl Reiner on writing a children's book, tweeting, and joking around with Mel Brooks". Interview with Katherine Brodsky, tv.avclub.com. June 23, 2015.

  20 Copy quote

  Show source

• I really think for the good of this world that, if I could have it my way, the whole world would be vegan and straightedge. So that's why I feel it's important to create an awareness of this lifestyle, create an awareness of the choices people make. To bring awareness about those lifestyles can bring a positive change, if only on the level of an individual.

  Davey Havok

  Thinking, People, Choices

  "The Fly" Magazine, November 2009.

  4 Copy quote

  Show source

• If I could act like This was my real life, And not some cage where I've been placed, Well then, I could tell you The truth like I used to And not be afraid of sounding fake.

  Conor Oberst

  Real, Fake, Cages

  4 Copy quote

• I was surprised when I was asked to play Miss Daisy and wondered if I could - only in part because she was Jewish but, also because she was a Southern woman who has hardly opened her mouth before she declares she's not prejudiced, and yet everything she does shows how totally prejudiced she is.

  Vanessa Redgrave

  Play, Southern, Missing

  "The Saturday interview: Vanessa Redgrave". Interview with Stuart Jeffries, www.theguardian.com. September 9, 2011.

  5 Copy quote

  Show source

• If I could repeat my childhood, I would repeat it exactly as it was, with the poverty, the cold, little food, with the flies and pigs, all that.

  Jose Saramago

  Pigs, Childhood, Littles

  Interview with Edney Silvestre, 2007.

  4 Copy quote

  Show source

• If I could predict what my day would exactly look like, I would feel a little bit dead.

  Nassim Nicholas Taleb

  Looks, Littles, Feels

  Nassim Nicholas Taleb (2016). “Incerto 4-Book Bundle: Fooled by Randomness The Black Swan The Bed of Procrustes Antifragile”, p.97, Random House

  11 Copy quote

  Show source

• Other men have said, "If I could only live, I would establish and perpetuate an empire." This Christ of Galilee says, "My death shall do it." Other martyrs have died in simple fidelity to truth. This martyr dies that He may make His truth mighty over all hearts. He was a man; but was He only a man?

  Herrick Johnson

  Heart, Simple, Men

  Herrick Johnson (1881). “Christianity's Challenge: And Some Phases of Christianity Submitted for Candid Consideration”

  7 Copy quote

  Show source

• How happy I would be if I could give figurative expression to the unconscious feeling that often murmurs so softly and sweetly within me.

  Paula Modersohn-Becker

  Expression, Giving, Feelings

  Diary entry in 1898. "Painting in the Twentieth Century, an Analysis of the Artists and Their Work". Book by Werner Haftmann, p. 82, 1966.

  16 Copy quote

  Show source

• The thing that happened in Washington -- it happened. All you can do is just grow from it. That took a toll on me. That was probably -- I think if I could've bounced mentally out of that situation faster than I did, I would probably still be in the NBA. But since I couldn't understand why they were trying to treat me like that, I basically gave up. I just didn't want to be a part of it anymore.

  Gilbert Arenas

  Thinking, Nba, Trying

  10 Copy quote

• I would love to love something, especially if I could do it without feeling like I was watching it die right in front of me.

  Vanessa Veselka

  Feelings, Dies, Ifs

  6 Copy quote

• Gisele Bundchen I always admired. I think she is an example for all models. If I could have just a little bit of her career would already be a happy girl. She seems to be a determined woman, a fighter, very strong. I think she is an icon of Brazilian people. Gisele is a woman who is extremely inspiring, not only in the fashion world, she also does great things for the world.

  Rosie Huntington-Whiteley

  Girl, Fashion, Strong

  10 Copy quote

• All of nature talks to me - if I could just figure out what it's saying - trees are swinging in the breeze. They're talking to me. Insects are rubbing their legs together. They're all talking. They're talking to me.

  Laurie Anderson

  Talking, Tree, Together

  RoseLee Goldberg, Laurie Anderson (2000). “Laurie Anderson”, Harry N Abrams Incorporated

  8 Copy quote

  Show source

• If I could reincarnate as another player, I might want to reincarnate as Thierry Henry at the top of his game.

  Cesc Fabregas

  Player, Games, Want

  10 Copy quote

• If I could patent 'being real', I think I could own that.

  Tupac Shakur

  Real, Thinking, Patents

  7 Copy quote

• I thought if I could face the worst danger voluntarily, and triumph, I would forever have power over it.

  Maya Angelou

  Inspirational, Forever, Triumph

  Maya Angelou (2012). “The Collected Autobiographies of Maya Angelou”, p.13, Modern Library

  4 Copy quote

  Show source

• I always shoot at privates. It was they who did the shooting and killing, and if I could kill a wound a private, why, my chances were so much the better. I always looked upon officers as harmless personages.

  Sam Watkins

  War, History, Shooting

  24 Copy quote

• If I could have my way I would place the Deity on half-pay as the Government of this Country did the subaltern officers.

  George Holyoake

  Country, Government, Atheism

  6 Copy quote

• My biggest regret was letting my lifetime average drop below .300. I always felt I was a .300 hitter, and if I could change one thing that would be it.

  Mickey Mantle

  Baseball, Regret, Average

  4 Copy quote