History Quotes / WantingIsBetterThanHaving

-->-- '''Music/IrvingBerlin''', "After You Get What You Want, You Don't Want It",

->'''King:''' You know, Steve, I always wanted to have power and command respect and fear! So, now that I kinda have all that, why does my stomach feel all... ugh?\\

-->-- '''Spock''', ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries, "[[Recap/StarTrekS2E1AmokTime Amok Time]]"''

[[LonelyAtTheTop Alone again,]]\\

-->-- ''Literature/LifesLittleInstructionBook, Vol. II''

-->-- ''Literature/LifesLittleInstructionBook''

->Tom said to himself that it was not such a hollow world, after all. He had discovered a great law of human action, without knowing it -- namely, that in order to make a man or a boy covet a thing, it is only necessary to make the thing difficult to attain."

->"There are two great tragedies in life. One is not getting what you want... the other is getting it."
-->-- '''Creator/OscarWilde'''

->"We would often be sorry if our wishes were gratified."
-->-- {{Aesop}}

->"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."

->''So when the race is won\\
And there's nothing left to do\\
[[LonelyAtTheTop Alone again,]]\\
But where are you?''
-->-- '''Graham Gouldman''', "Love's Not For Me", ''WesternAnimation/{{Animalympics}}''

->"I had five mates, before I joined the Yolsh. All gone now. And the one I really wanted, well, the thrill is in the chase, never the capture, and [[TheOneThatGotAway she was too fast for me]]."

->'''Peter:''' ''(walks in)'' Hey, I'm home. I got groceries.
->'''Lois:''' You what?
->'''Peter:''' Yeah, I was driving past there and we were out of some stuff, so I--''(Lois tackles him)''
->'''Lois:''' ''You listen to me, you son of a bitch! I've got'' '''''one thing''''' ''in this lifetime!'' '''''ONE THING!''''' ''(punches Peter in the face)''
->'''Peter:''' Y-You always say I never do anything around here!
->'''Lois:''' ''(teeth clenched)'' Yeah, I like saying that more than I like you doing things!
-->-- ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'', "Vestigial Peter"

->''"Some things are beautiful because they cannot be obtained."''
-->-- '''Gilgamesh''', ''VisualNovel/FateStayNight''

->''[[EvilCannotComprehendGood "You really don't understand, do you?]] 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? [[ItsTheJourneyThatCounts Just like that, and it didn't mean anything.]] What then?"''
-->-- ''Literature/{{Coraline}}''

->The tree was clearly taking their bait, or they were taking its bait, or both. Either way, here it was, the adventure had arrived. There was a time when [[LongingForFictionland this had been his most passionate hope]], when it would have ravished him with happiness. Why now, when it was actually happening, did the seductions of [[MagicLand Fillory]] feel so crude and unwanted? Its groping hands so clumsy? He thought he'd left this feeling behind long ago in Brooklyn, or at least at [[WizardingSchool Brakebills]]. How could it have followed him here, of all places? How far did he have to run? If Fillory failed him he would have nothing left! A wave of frustration and panic surged through him. He had to get rid of it, break the pattern!
-->-- ''Literature/TheMagicians''

-> Everest, it turned out, was never more beautiful than looking up from below.

->It all comes back to, again, the ravening beast that is hype culture. A beast that seems--from my observations over the past few years--to have only gotten bigger and more terrible, despite customers getting burnt by misleading PR and overhyped products time and time again. Did you learn nothing from ''VideoGame/{{Titanfall}}''? From ''VideoGame/{{WatchDogs}}''? From all the other games that you were whipped up into a piranha-like frenzy over, only to finally get them in your hands and realize that--at best--you had yet another video game; not the second coming of Jesus arsehole-ing Christ.
-->-- '''WebVideo/{{Jimquisition}}''' on fan responses to ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXV'' getting delayed.

->'''J.D.'s narration''': [[DiscussedTrope I think that the problem with most people who want what they can't have is that, when they actually get the thing they covet, they don't want it anymore.]] [[SubvertedTrope But not this guy.]]\\
'''Elliot''': Well, Dr. Dorian, you have me. You finally have me.\\
'''J.D.'s thoughts''': [[spoiler: [[DoubleSubversion Oh, my God! I DON'T WANT HER!]]]]
-->-- ''Series/{{Scrubs}}'', ''My Fault''

->'''J.D.'s narration''': ''"[[DiscussedTrope I think that the problem with most people who want what they can't have is that, when they actually get the thing they covet, they don't want it anymore.]] [[SubvertedTrope But not this guy.]]"''\\
'''Elliot''': ''"Well, Dr. Dorian, you have me. You finally have me."''\\
'''J.D.'s thoughts''': ''[[spoiler: [[DoubleSubversion "Oh, my God! I DON'T WANT HER!"]]]]''

->'''Creator/JohnOliver:''' If you are feeling miserable about the situation we're in, the only consolation I may offer you is, I'm not sure that Trump is entirely happy, either. You've seen him enjoy the rallies and the attention and the fact that he can say he's the president. The most telling photo taken of him so far is [[https://www.ft.com/__origami/service/image/v2/images/raw/http%3A%2F%2Fcom.ft.imagepublish.prod.s3.amazonaws.com%2F11a3bb60-df49-11e6-9d7c-be108f1c1dce?fit=scale-down&source=next&width=700 this one]]. That was taken on his inauguration day, at a luncheon thrown in his honor. Look at his face. He looks like he's at the funeral for every dog. If you think I'm projecting this onto him, listen to an interview Trump gave at the 100-day mark of his presidency and tell me if this is a guy who sounds like he's happy.
->'''UsefulNotes/DonaldTrump:''' (''from audio clip'') I loved my previous life... This is more work than my previous life. I thought it would be easier... I do miss my old life. I like to work, that's not a problem, but this is actually more work.
->'''John:''' Of course being president is harder than your old job. Of course it is! Your old job was basically having a name, letting other people pay you to use that name, and [[Series/TheApprentice firing]] [[Music/TwistedSister Dee Snider]]. It was fucking easy! Although, I will say this: I have something in common with Donald Trump. I, too, preferred my previous life before he became president. That is why this is truly "[[IdiotPlot Stupid]] [[{{Scandalgate}} Watergate]]". We are in for an agonizingly long period of leaks, allegations and recriminations, all over a presidential campaign to put a man in power, who may not entirely want to be there. Say what you want about [[UsefulNotes/RichardNixon Nixon]], at least he wanted the fucking job!
-->-- ''Series/LastWeekTonightWithJohnOliver''

->It all comes back to, again, the ravening beast that is hype culture. A beast that seems--from my observations over the past few years--to have only gotten bigger and more terrible, despite customers getting burnt by misleading PR and overhyped products time and time again. Did you learn nothing from ''VideoGame/Titanfall''? From ''VideoGame/Watch_Dogs''? From all the other games that you were whipped up into a piranha-like frenzy over, only to finally get them in your hands and realize that--at best--you had yet another video game; not the second coming of Jesus arsehole-ing Christ.

-->-- '''WebVideo/Jimquisition''' on fan responses to ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXV'' getting delayed.