Wanting Is Better Than Having/Quotes

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


"There are two great tragedies in life. One is not getting what you want... the other is getting it."
—Oscar Wilde
"The honey doesn’t taste so good once it has been eaten; the goal doesn’t mean so much once it has been reached; the reward is not so rewarding once it has been given. If we add up all the rewards in our lives, we won’t have very much. But if we add up all the spaces between the rewards, we’ll come up with quite a bit. [ . . . ] Each time a goal is reached, it becomes Not So Much Fun, and we’re off to reach the next one, then the next one, then the next. That doesn’t mean the goal doesn’t count. They do, mostly because they cause us to go through the process, and it’s the process that makes us wise, happy, whatever. [ . . .] What could we call the moment before we eat the honey? Some call it anticipation, but we think it’s more than that. We could call it awareness. It is when we become happy and realize it, if only for an instant. By Enjoying the Process, we can stretch that awareness out so it’s no longer only a moment, but covers the whole thing. Then we can have a lot of fun."
—The Tao of Pooh
"Stonn, she is yours. After a time, you may find that having is not so pleasing a thing after all as wanting. It is not logical... but it is often true."
—Spock, Star Trek, "Amok Time"