open/close all folders
Anime & Manga
"Words hold power. Those who dwell beside you listen. We hear. We are all watching you, ready to act. Losing your bond should help you remember, have-nots!"
—- Ashen Eyes to Stella and Ethan post-reunion, The Ancient Magus' Bride episode 17
"What are you so afraid of, Cell? Isn't this what you wanted? I warned You! I told you what would happen if you pushed me too far, but you didn't listen. You forced me to awaken my hidden power, and now that you've seen it, you're afraid... because you know I'm going to destroy you."
— Gohan to Cell, Dragon Ball Z
Sho: I'm never coming home!!
Sho's mother: Fine by me!! I hope you never come back!!
Sho's mother: Fine by me!! I hope you never come back!!
— Drifting Classroom, the morning before Sho disappears off the Earth with his classmates.
The sage cries out.
"Open, Gates of heaven. Bless us and bestow miracles upon us!"
The sage cries out in regret.
"Close, Gates of heaven. Save us from all our sins and evil!'"
The curtain closes.
The millennium comes to a standstill.
Our dreams, our hope... was a forbidden "failure" from the start.
The stars fall out of the sky.
Space closes up into nothingness.
The pathway to the center is shrouded along with our sins.
"Open, Gates of heaven. Bless us and bestow miracles upon us!"
The sage cries out in regret.
"Close, Gates of heaven. Save us from all our sins and evil!'"
The curtain closes.
The millennium comes to a standstill.
Our dreams, our hope... was a forbidden "failure" from the start.
The stars fall out of the sky.
Space closes up into nothingness.
The pathway to the center is shrouded along with our sins.
— Ending poem of Fate/stay night, describing the magus' quest for the Root
"Every wish that does not fit within the bounds of reason inevitably gives birth to some kind of distortion. It is an obvious conclusion that the outcome would be the worst. If you consider that a betrayal, then making wishes is a mistake to begin with."
— Kyubey, Puella Magi Madoka Magica
Comic Books
"The mortals never understand. They only see the prize. They never think that the price of getting what you want is having what you once wanted."
— Morpheus, The Sandman (1989)
Bystander: Good luck! We miss Superman, but we're glad you're taking over for him!
Supergirl: [...] I never thought it would turn out this way... All the time I was Superman's secret emergency-weapon, I eagerly looked forward to the day when I could operate openly! Now that it's finally happened, I — I feel no happiness at the "glory" that's now... mine...
Supergirl: [...] I never thought it would turn out this way... All the time I was Superman's secret emergency-weapon, I eagerly looked forward to the day when I could operate openly! Now that it's finally happened, I — I feel no happiness at the "glory" that's now... mine...
"So you see, Kara... Sometimes, when we get the things we think we want most... they turn out to be a curse rather than a blessing!"
— Superman, Superman Vol 1 #282
"I rise and I walk and I work and day by day, I am growing younger. So, in the time that remains to me, I will write the last book that will ever be written and tell the story of the world that was. "Be careful what you wish for: it may come true." How I hated that simple-minded aphorism, and now, with ultimate irony, it seems to summarize my whole life's achievement. I wished for a world uncontaminated by the greed and brutality of man. I wished for a world that was the perfect playground of superhuman minds. And see! It has come to pass! And here I stand in this dreadful city of endless night. The last man. The last human being, his wishes fulfilled, watching a black sunset."
— Dr. Michael Peyne, extracts from "Seizing The Fire", Zenith
"Okay, here's the thing, you say you want a revolution, but are you ready for the future, friend? Let me tell you what is coming. Panic in the streets. Fire in the sky. Casualties. Agony."
— Iron Monger, Black Panther 2016
White Witch: Don't be so grim, though, sister — the Legionnaires protected me from the Servants of Darkness? Surely they can prevent your vision from becoming real.
Dream Girl: Maybe — But this isn't the kind of first mission I wanted as Legion leader.
Dream Girl: Maybe — But this isn't the kind of first mission I wanted as Legion leader.
"Ever since Dick began to suspect that Lena was Supergirl, he's danced only with her! I suppose I should be grateful his suspicions are turned away from me... But I'm not!"
— Linda Danvers, The Girl with the X-Ray Mind
Comic Strips
Donnie: If a genie granted you one wish, what would it be?
Heather: I would decline it.
Donnie: Why?
Heather: Genies are notorious for granting your wish in a way that creates some undesirable consequences that completely undermines whatever you asked for.
Donnie: [smitten] You just keep getting better.
Heather: Also, if anyone ever gave me a monkey's paw, I would chuck it into the ocean.
Heather: I would decline it.
Donnie: Why?
Heather: Genies are notorious for granting your wish in a way that creates some undesirable consequences that completely undermines whatever you asked for.
Donnie: [smitten] You just keep getting better.
Heather: Also, if anyone ever gave me a monkey's paw, I would chuck it into the ocean.
Fan Works
Shinji: Forgive him?! [...] He threw me away for over ten years like I was garbage! He only brought me back because I was "useful to him!" He made me fight or he'd have forced Rei to when she could barely get out of a hospital bed! He made me nearly kill my friend! He forced Asuka into a fight when she could barely synch as bait! And when she was being violated by the 15th Angel, he wouldn't let me save her! He made me sit there and listen while she screamed! [...] He can go to Hell!
Daniel: Be careful what you wish for around here, Shinji. If that's what you want, I can make it happen. I maintain and operate my own Hell, for those truly unworthy or unwilling to seek penance and redemption. And I know of even worse places than that.
Daniel: Be careful what you wish for around here, Shinji. If that's what you want, I can make it happen. I maintain and operate my own Hell, for those truly unworthy or unwilling to seek penance and redemption. And I know of even worse places than that.
— A Crown of Stars, chapter 22
Rikku: (...I'm being princess-carried by Mash... I can die happy...)
Jack the Ripper: ...Oh? You came out here. All right. Hehe... what should we do? One, two, three, lots. Lots.
Rikku: I DON'T WANT TO DIE YET!
Jack the Ripper: ...Oh? You came out here. All right. Hehe... what should we do? One, two, three, lots. Lots.
Rikku: I DON'T WANT TO DIE YET!
Ritsuko: However she sees it is not really relevant. I do find it ironic that you were so concerned for her having some time off and now it bothers you that after next week she won't be required to pilot again. In essence, you have gotten just what you set out to get.
Misato: Be careful what you wish for, right?
Misato: Be careful what you wish for, right?
Shinjiro: THAT'S IT! I DEMAND A BADASS ENDING!
Takaya: (aiming)
Shinjiro: NOT THIS BADASS!
Takaya: (aiming)
Shinjiro: NOT THIS BADASS!
"You and the other members of SEELE wanted to shed your bodies and become one with a new god... well, no one ever said that God would be nice or particularly like you and your cronies for your involvement in its birth. I hope you prepared for the eventuality of an eternity being horrifically tortured by your worst nightmares."
— Black Pharaoh, Thousand Shinji
In any case, I ended one day anxious on how my world could possibly be over with a botched surgery... and woke up to the world ending by a botched attempt at saving it.
No, that wasn't fair.
That was misplaced anger at being helpless while news and radio were alight with how the tallest buildings were crumbling down onto innocent people, bemoaning the fact I couldn't be with my family during this ultimate betrayal. To rescue those in dire straights.
To be a hero once more.
Balls of fire rained down from the sky like falling stars, streaking through air that seemed to have been made dimmer.
Not through the smoke and ash of the burning debris, but by the fact that the world itself seemed to have been overlaid by a cosmic filter. Trees shattered into a shower of splinters, the ground exploded into craters larger than myself, and the people below cried out in fear and pain.
Wish fucking granted Victoria.
No, that wasn't fair.
That was misplaced anger at being helpless while news and radio were alight with how the tallest buildings were crumbling down onto innocent people, bemoaning the fact I couldn't be with my family during this ultimate betrayal. To rescue those in dire straights.
To be a hero once more.
Balls of fire rained down from the sky like falling stars, streaking through air that seemed to have been made dimmer.
Not through the smoke and ash of the burning debris, but by the fact that the world itself seemed to have been overlaid by a cosmic filter. Trees shattered into a shower of splinters, the ground exploded into craters larger than myself, and the people below cried out in fear and pain.
Wish fucking granted Victoria.
— Antares, Point Me at the Skyrim
"Be careful what you wish for, Marinette. You wanted Adrien’s life, and now you got it. Both the rise... and the fall."
— Tikki, Karmic Backlash
Film — Animated
Jafar: The universe is mine to command!! TO CONTROOOOOOOL!!!!
Aladdin: Not so fast, Jafar! Aren't you forgetting something?
Jafar: Huh?
Aladdin: You wanted to be a genie? You got it!
Jafar: (golden bracelets appear on his wrists) WHAT?!?
Aladdin: And everything that goes with it!
Jafar: (getting sucked into a black lamp) NO! NOOO! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!
Aladdin: Phenomenal cosmic powers... (Jafar gets sealed away, taking Iago with him) ...itty-bitty living space.
Aladdin: Not so fast, Jafar! Aren't you forgetting something?
Jafar: Huh?
Aladdin: You wanted to be a genie? You got it!
Jafar: (golden bracelets appear on his wrists) WHAT?!?
Aladdin: And everything that goes with it!
Jafar: (getting sucked into a black lamp) NO! NOOO! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!
Aladdin: Phenomenal cosmic powers... (Jafar gets sealed away, taking Iago with him) ...itty-bitty living space.
Joker: Don't you dare laugh at me!
Terry: [continues laughing tauntingly at the Joker] Why?! I thought the Joker always wanted to make Batman laugh!
Joker: YOU'RE NOT BATMAN!!!
Terry: [continues laughing tauntingly at the Joker] Why?! I thought the Joker always wanted to make Batman laugh!
Joker: YOU'RE NOT BATMAN!!!
That was two wishes. Take your time with the third... or you will wish that you'd never been born.
— Jafar, The Return of Jafar
I got everything I ever wanted... and it stinks.
You got what you wanted!
But you lost what you had!
But you lost what you had!
Kai: I took me 500 years to take Oogway's chi. I will have yours if it takes me 500 more!
Po: Chitty-chitty-chat-chat...chit-chat! (Kai charges) You want my chi so bad? Then take it!
Kai: Yes! The power...is mine! (Beat) Wait...no! It's too much! IT'S TOO MUCH! NO! NOOOOO!!!
Po: Chitty-chitty-chat-chat...chit-chat! (Kai charges) You want my chi so bad? Then take it!
Kai: Yes! The power...is mine! (Beat) Wait...no! It's too much! IT'S TOO MUCH! NO! NOOOOO!!!
Film — Live-Action
“Everyone gets everything he wants. I wanted a mission, and for my sins, they gave me one.”
"There is no out. There never was. I came here to be at one with nature; well I got what I wanted. Now I have to live with it."
— Megan, Dog Soldiers
Well, it's everything you've ever wanted — eternal life as part of the One. You're not going to like it.
— Doctor Strange, Doctor Strange
Be careful how you wish, for wishes can come true
Be sure that every wish you make is one that's right for you
So many people find their happiness in dreaming
But dreams can fool you, and they very often do
Be careful how you wish, remember when you start
To only wish for things you really want with all your heart
And don't go chasing every rainbow in the blue
What more is there to wish than to know that the one that you love loves you
Be sure that every wish you make is one that's right for you
So many people find their happiness in dreaming
But dreams can fool you, and they very often do
Be careful how you wish, remember when you start
To only wish for things you really want with all your heart
And don't go chasing every rainbow in the blue
What more is there to wish than to know that the one that you love loves you
— "Be Careful How You Wish", The Incredible Mr. Limpet
Well, I believe you may get your headlines, Mr. Ismay.
—Captain Smith, Titanic (1997), upon learning that the Titanic will sink with room in her lifeboats for barely half those on board.
Wonka: Charlie, don't forget about the guy who got everything he wanted.
Charlie: What happened to him?
Wonka: Well, he lived happily ever after!
Charlie: What happened to him?
Wonka: Well, he lived happily ever after!
[During the Battle in the Center of the Mind while David Banner, as Absorbing Man, tries to absorb the Hulk:]
David Banner: Sleep now, Bruce, and forget forever. Struggle no more... and give me all of your power.
Bruce Banner: You think you can handle it? Take it!
[Snapping back to the real world; as Hulk:]
Hulk: TAKE IT ALL!!!
[Hulk roars with rage...]
David Banner: Yes! Yes!
[But Hulk keeps roaring...]
David Banner: Agghhhh... no! Take it... back! It's not... stopping! TAKE IT BACK!!!
David Banner: Sleep now, Bruce, and forget forever. Struggle no more... and give me all of your power.
Bruce Banner: You think you can handle it? Take it!
[Snapping back to the real world; as Hulk:]
Hulk: TAKE IT ALL!!!
[Hulk roars with rage...]
David Banner: Yes! Yes!
[But Hulk keeps roaring...]
David Banner: Agghhhh... no! Take it... back! It's not... stopping! TAKE IT BACK!!!
— Hulk
Battletrap: Someone give me a real fight!
Optimus Primal: [catches Battletrap's mace in his hands] If it's a fight you want... you got one!
[cue Optimus Prime leaping in and helping Optimus Primal effortlessly kill the Terrorcon]
Optimus Primal: [catches Battletrap's mace in his hands] If it's a fight you want... you got one!
[cue Optimus Prime leaping in and helping Optimus Primal effortlessly kill the Terrorcon]
Literature
Controller Captain: I am off this tiresome detail! For capturing one of the Andalite bandits, I'll be Visser Three's new aide.
Ax: <Be careful what you wish for, Yeerk. I've seen the fools who work closely with Visser Three. I've seen their heads go rolling across the ground when the Visser gets mad.>
Ax: <Be careful what you wish for, Yeerk. I've seen the fools who work closely with Visser Three. I've seen their heads go rolling across the ground when the Visser gets mad.>
— Animorphs #15: The Escape
We are evil, according to your morality. We have chosen not to harm you any longer. We are useless, according to your economics. We have chosen not to exploit you any longer. We are dangerous and to be shackled, according to your politics. We have chosen not to endanger you, nor to wear the shackles any longer. We are only an illusion, according to your philosophy. We have chosen not to blind you any longer and have left you free to face reality — the reality you wanted, the world as you see it now, a world without mind. We have granted you everything you demanded of us.
— John Galt, Atlas Shrugged
It was the only thing I ever wanted badly... and when I got it, it turned to dust in my hand.
There are only two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, 'Thy will be done,' and those to whom God says, in the end, 'Thy will be done.'."
I just wanted to warn you about it. It only has a few wishes available per person, and...
Let me guess: "Be careful what you wish for because it might not be what you expect?" Bob had a distinct feeling he was being played, and that he knew all the lines to boot.
Oh good, you understand. I was just afraid you were like most mor—locals and didn't know about such things. You wouldn't believe how big of a mess they can get themselves into when they don't understand the rules.
Let me guess: "Be careful what you wish for because it might not be what you expect?" Bob had a distinct feeling he was being played, and that he knew all the lines to boot.
Oh good, you understand. I was just afraid you were like most mor—locals and didn't know about such things. You wouldn't believe how big of a mess they can get themselves into when they don't understand the rules.
— Case Study: How Not To Wish, a few pages before Bob inadvertently merges himself with a girl's vagina
He thought he heard the crow speak to him.
"You're a world-famous writer now, Donald," it said, a snap and bite to its eerie voice. "Just as you always wished!"
He leaned against the windowpane, icy and dark, and he managed, for a moment, to speak through this child, knowing he would never be able to do so ever again, nor influence his environment or host.
Merely suffer.
"You're a world-famous writer now, Donald," it said, a snap and bite to its eerie voice. "Just as you always wished!"
He leaned against the windowpane, icy and dark, and he managed, for a moment, to speak through this child, knowing he would never be able to do so ever again, nor influence his environment or host.
Merely suffer.
— The Crow: Quoth the Crow
The witch cocked its head straight again and narrowed its ancient eyes. "Can you not live as you are now?"
Darren wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. "Live? Call this livin'? No one even knows I'm alive."
The witch thought for a moment, the ghost of a smile playing on imperceptibly shrivelling lips. "Then surely, you are free?"
Darren snorted, looked away and then back. "Free? To do what? Yeah?"
"To do as you please. Without interference. Without impediment. Without judgement or consequence." It leaned forward. "Is that not the ultimate goal of those who seek fame and power?"
Darren wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. "Live? Call this livin'? No one even knows I'm alive."
The witch thought for a moment, the ghost of a smile playing on imperceptibly shrivelling lips. "Then surely, you are free?"
Darren snorted, looked away and then back. "Free? To do what? Yeah?"
"To do as you please. Without interference. Without impediment. Without judgement or consequence." It leaned forward. "Is that not the ultimate goal of those who seek fame and power?"
— Forgotten, by Muriel Gray
Come in through the gold gates or not at all.
Take of my fruit for others, or forbear.
For those who steal, or those who climb the wall
Shall find their heart's desire and find despair.
Take of my fruit for others, or forbear.
For those who steal, or those who climb the wall
Shall find their heart's desire and find despair.
Thibor Ferenczy: You wanted the secrets of the Wamphyri. Very well, they are yours. For now you are Wamphyri! As he grows within you, so the knowledge will come. He has arts which you will learn together.
Boris Dragosani: What? My impregnation by a vampire, with a vampire, was your part of the bargain? What the hell was that for a bargain? I wanted knowledge, wanted it now, Thibor! For myself — not as the black, rotten fruit of some unnatural, unwanted liaison with a damned parasite thing!
Boris Dragosani: What? My impregnation by a vampire, with a vampire, was your part of the bargain? What the hell was that for a bargain? I wanted knowledge, wanted it now, Thibor! For myself — not as the black, rotten fruit of some unnatural, unwanted liaison with a damned parasite thing!
Kristine Kochanski: Sometimes having your dreams come true can be the worst thing that can ever happen to you.
Kryten: What do you mean?
Kristine Kochanski: I read an article once about people who were blind from childhood who'd had their sight restored. All their lives, they'd dreamt about being able to see, but after they'd had the operation, you know what a lot of them did?
Kryten: What?
Kristine Kochanski: They committed suicide.
Kryten: Oh, nice story. Walt Disney could have used a story like that.
Kristine Kochanski: The point I'm making, Kryten, is that restoring their sight wasn't the panacea for their problems. And becoming human isn't going to solve yours.
Kryten: What do you mean?
Kristine Kochanski: I read an article once about people who were blind from childhood who'd had their sight restored. All their lives, they'd dreamt about being able to see, but after they'd had the operation, you know what a lot of them did?
Kryten: What?
Kristine Kochanski: They committed suicide.
Kryten: Oh, nice story. Walt Disney could have used a story like that.
Kristine Kochanski: The point I'm making, Kryten, is that restoring their sight wasn't the panacea for their problems. And becoming human isn't going to solve yours.
— Red Dwarf: Last Human
But it was too late. Frili was speaking into the Thing®. "My ankle hurts," he said, "and nothing else."
Instantly it was true to say that Frili's ankle no longer hurt. At the same instant, it was the case that something else was true. The something else was hideous, ghastly, and -- over a period of thirty seconds or so -- fatal to the gasping, writhing dwarf.
It was unspeakable.
The group was silent for many minutes.
"Nobody," said Bingo fiercely, snatching the Thing® from Frili's cold and deformed hand, "is to use this device any more. Do we understand one another? Is it understood?"
Instantly it was true to say that Frili's ankle no longer hurt. At the same instant, it was the case that something else was true. The something else was hideous, ghastly, and -- over a period of thirty seconds or so -- fatal to the gasping, writhing dwarf.
It was unspeakable.
The group was silent for many minutes.
"Nobody," said Bingo fiercely, snatching the Thing® from Frili's cold and deformed hand, "is to use this device any more. Do we understand one another? Is it understood?"
— The Soddit
Rune Haako: Stop! Enough! We surrender, do you understand? You can't just kill us—
Darth Vader: Can't I?
Rune Haako: We're unarmed! We surrender! Please—please, you're a Jedi!
Darth Vader: You just fought a war to destroy the Jedi. Congratulations on your success.
Darth Vader: Can't I?
Rune Haako: We're unarmed! We surrender! Please—please, you're a Jedi!
Darth Vader: You just fought a war to destroy the Jedi. Congratulations on your success.
There was an old proverb his grandfather had taught him when he'd been a boy: "Take care what you wish for, Tenn — you might get it." Now he understood exactly what that meant. He had wanted to fire the big gun, and he had gotten to do just that. The only man in the galaxy who had shot it for real, at real targets, and look what it had brought him: misery beyond his ugliest dreams.
— Tenn Graneet, Star Wars: Death Star
Cersei: When will I wed the Prince?
Maggy: Never. You will wed the King.
Cersei: I will be queen, though?
Maggy: Aye. Queen you shall be ... until there comes another, younger and more beautiful, to cast you down and take all you hold dear. [...] And when your tears have drowned you, the valonqar shall wrap his hands about your pale white throat and choke the life from you.
Maggy: Never. You will wed the King.
Cersei: I will be queen, though?
Maggy: Aye. Queen you shall be ... until there comes another, younger and more beautiful, to cast you down and take all you hold dear. [...] And when your tears have drowned you, the valonqar shall wrap his hands about your pale white throat and choke the life from you.
I thought I'd give anything to be a worker, but somehow this feels like a hideous violation of my childhood fantasy.
What's the point of pretending to be anything less than the most talented practitioner of the very rarest curses? Except, I guess I'm not pretending anymore.
There's no need to be afraid, Verus. I looked into your memories, and is this exactly what you always wanted? To be powerful enough that you needn't be afraid anymore? Soon, you'll be the most powerful mage in the world. Well, it won't exactly be you. But you'll still be in there, watching everything that happens.
— Abithriax, Fated
Live-Action TV
Ophelia: I gave everyone what they wanted. What's wrong with that?
Daisy: Because sometimes what people want isn't what they need.
Daisy: Because sometimes what people want isn't what they need.
Once, long ago, a fisherman caught a magic haddock. The haddock offered him three wishes in return for its life. The fisherman said, "I'd like for my son to come home from the war. And a hundred pieces of gold." The problem is that magic haddock, like robots, don't think like people. The fisherman's son came home from the war, in a coffin. And the king sent a hundred gold pieces in recognition of his heroic death. The fisherman had one wish left. What do you think he wished for? Some people say he should have wished for an infinite series of wishes, but if your city proves anything, it is that granting all your wishes is not a good idea. [...] In fact, the fisherman wished he hadn't wished the first two wishes.
— The Doctor, Doctor Who
He never raised his voice. That was the worst thing. The fury of the Time Lord. And then we discovered why, why this Doctor who'd fought with gods and demons, why he'd run away from us and hidden. He was being kind. He wrapped my father in unbreakable chains forged in the heart of a dwarf star. He tricked my mother into the event horizon of a collapsing galaxy, to be imprisoned there... forever. He still visits my sister, once a year, every year. I wonder if one day he might forgive her, but there she is, can you see her? He trapped her inside a mirror. Every mirror. If ever you look at your reflection and see something move behind you, just for a second, that's her. That's always her. As for me, I was suspended in time and the Doctor put me to work standing over the fields of England as their protector. We wanted to live forever. So the Doctor made sure that we did.
— Son of Mine, Doctor Who
Everyone wants to know their future... until they know their future.
— Maggy the Frog warning Cersei why she wouldn’t want to learn what her future has in store for her,Game of Thrones
Viserys Targaryen: Will I be remembered as a good King?
Lyonel Strong: Your Grace?
Viserys Targaryen: What will they say of me, when the histories are written? I have neither fought nor conquered, nor suffered any great defeat.
Lyonel Strong: Well, some might call that good fortune.
Viserys Targaryen: Hardly makes a good song, though, does it. To be sung at feasts in a hundred years, or five hundred...
Lyonel Strong: You have carried King Jaehaerys's legacy and kept the Realm strong. Is that not better? To have lived in peace than to have songs sung after you are dead?
Viserys Targaryen: Perhaps. But...there is a part of me that wishes I had been tested. I often think that, in the crucible, I might have been forged a different man.
Lyonel Strong: Many that are tested only wish to have been spared it.
Viserys Targaryen: ::sighs:: Perhaps it's better not to know...::drifts off to sleep::
Lyonel Strong: Your Grace?
Viserys Targaryen: What will they say of me, when the histories are written? I have neither fought nor conquered, nor suffered any great defeat.
Lyonel Strong: Well, some might call that good fortune.
Viserys Targaryen: Hardly makes a good song, though, does it. To be sung at feasts in a hundred years, or five hundred...
Lyonel Strong: You have carried King Jaehaerys's legacy and kept the Realm strong. Is that not better? To have lived in peace than to have songs sung after you are dead?
Viserys Targaryen: Perhaps. But...there is a part of me that wishes I had been tested. I often think that, in the crucible, I might have been forged a different man.
Lyonel Strong: Many that are tested only wish to have been spared it.
Viserys Targaryen: ::sighs:: Perhaps it's better not to know...::drifts off to sleep::
Roger: My mother always said, "Be careful what you wish for, because you'll get it. And then people get jealous, and try and take it away from you."
Don: I don't think that's how that goes...
Don: I don't think that's how that goes...
— Mad Men
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: The Original Series
"When I was a kid I dreamed of outer space. And then I got here, I dream of Earth. Lately none of my dreams work."
— John Crichton, Farscape, "Dog With Two Bones"
Music
You'd better watch out
Oh, what you wish for
It'd better be worth it
So much to die for
Oh, what you wish for
It'd better be worth it
So much to die for
— Hole, "Celebrity Skin"
When all of your wishes are granted
many of your dreams will be destroyed
many of your dreams will be destroyed
— Marilyn Manson, "The Man That You Fear"
Now I can say when you want to be the one
What you start to realize is
You're the only one
What you start to realize is
You're the only one
— The Megas, "History Repeating Pt. 1"
Careful what you wish
Careful what you say
Careful what you wish
You may regret it
Careful what you wish
You just might get it
Careful what you say
Careful what you wish
You may regret it
Careful what you wish
You just might get it
— Metallica, "King Nothing"
Be careful what you wish for, 'cause you just might get it
You just might get it
You just might get it (get it).
You just might get it
You just might get it (get it).
— The Pussycat Dolls, "When I Grow Up"
Watch out!
You might get what you're after!
You might get what you're after!
— Talking Heads, "Burning Down the House"
Harold: He is in a tire somewhere in West Virginia, he got his wish.
Don: Well it just goes to show you, be careful what you ask for, because you'll might get it, it could be trouble
Harold: I'm asking for a good show
Don: Well it just goes to show you, be careful what you ask for, because you'll might get it, it could be trouble
Harold: I'm asking for a good show
— The Statler Brothers "The Statler Brothers Show"
Radio
Julius Caesar: Brutus, why does this [brown-nosing minstrel] follow such a profession?
Brutus: For money, Caesar. He tells me he wants to die rich.
Julius Caesar: And so he shall. Give him this sack of gold and then strangle him.
Brutus: For money, Caesar. He tells me he wants to die rich.
Julius Caesar: And so he shall. Give him this sack of gold and then strangle him.
— The Goon Show, "The Histories of Pliny the Elder"
Tabletop Games
It offers you what you want, not what you need.
An Ork with dreams of finding a shortcut to power will sometimes make the terrible mistake of volunteering to be a Deff Dread pilot. He believes that once he is in control of an enormous metal machine bristling with the deadliest of weaponry, nothing can stand in the way of his ambitions. However, they soon find out that the disadvantage to being permanently wired into an enclosed metal can is being permanently wired into an enclosed metal can. This tends to drive the new pilot a bit crazy, and hence new Deff Dreads need "runnin' in," often at the expense of nearby buildings.
— Warhammer 40,000: Codex — Orks (4th ed)
What happens when a local teen miscreant starts getting straight A's and joins the swim team, all because his parents wished it — and as a result, he's some kind of automaton? Or when an overweight woman wishes she could lose weight, and wakes up at a dangerously low 90 pounds and goes into insulin shock? Or anybody who goes into the local library finds their voices stolen, because the librarian wished that everybody would just be quiet? Old people become young again, but are still afflicted with things like arthritis, cancer or Alzheimer's. Or a blizzard strikes in June, or it becomes a blistering 100 degrees because someone wished for a change of seasons.
— "The Swimming Hole," Mysterious Places
You look like a vampire, you dress like a vampire, you act like a vampire, you immerse yourself in vampire chic. And now I've introduced you to a vampire — a real, dead vampire. Don't you want to be a vampire, just like me? Oh sure, there are "real" vampires, honey — or at least, the kind you'd call real, the kind you ape in your condescending pretentiousness: art-fag Toreador, too-rich-for-your-blood Ventrue, Lost Boys- wannabe Brujah — the beautiful people. But they don't want you. They've got more important people to suck. Nope, you're getting a one-way ticket to hell courtesy of Clan Nosferatu.
— Vampire: The Masquerade — Clanbook: Nosferatu
"So, the knowledge I wished for is mine at last, as is the immortality. This is what I should have learned even before I became a magus. The experience I have denied myself, I am now forced to endure for eternity: I am everyone's reflection, doomed to live a hundred thousand lives and more — a hundred thousand miseries — doomed to learn and never to know."
"Oh yes," says the demon in my head again. "You will wish you could step out of the mirror; you may even beg for death's compassionate release — but I grant no wishes this side of the glass."
"Oh yes," says the demon in my head again. "You will wish you could step out of the mirror; you may even beg for death's compassionate release — but I grant no wishes this side of the glass."
— Mage: The Sorcerer's Crusade Companion
"The Dungeons & Dragons community was plagued with a common archetype: The Drow Ranger. People who read The Legend of Drizzt made their own Drizzt clone. It got so bad that it seeped into other games, too. For years this thing plagued us and we wished for nothing more than for something besides the Legend of Drizzt to introduce people to the TTRPG hobby. And then along came Critical Role. We got our wish... oh boy did we ever get our wish. We don't have to deal with Drizzt clones. Instead? We're dealing with Grog and Jester clones."
— A post with regards to the popularity of Critical Role.
Theatre
I wish, more than anything, more than life...
— Everyone from Into the Woods, generally right before it goes From Bad to Worse
Wishes come true, not free.
— Everyone from Into the Woods, once they've learned their lessons
"I remember having read somewhere, in some strange book, that when the gods wish to punish us they answer our prayers."
— Sir Robert Chiltern, An Ideal Husband
"Never pray for death, never pray for death,
He is here all too soon.
He strikes from the clear sky like a hawk,
He hides behind green leaves, or he waits
Around the corner of the wall.
O never pray for death, never pray for death—
Because that prayer will be answered."
He is here all too soon.
He strikes from the clear sky like a hawk,
He hides behind green leaves, or he waits
Around the corner of the wall.
O never pray for death, never pray for death—
Because that prayer will be answered."
Video Games
Now I need to reconstruct my life. My life without Aiden. For as long as I can remember, I dreamt of living without him. Untied... without his constant presence by my side. I got what I wanted. I've never been so unhappy in my life. I feel like... a part of me has been amputated. I'm crying all day. I know it's stupid. Shit... I miss him so much.
— Jodie Holmes, Beyond: Two Souls
You wanted into the Fade?
— The Inquisitor to Corypheus, Dragon Age: Inquisition
I didn't care if I was in Heaven or Hell — all I wanted was to kill my assassins. Sometimes you get what you wish for. The Necromancer Mortanius offered me a chance for vengeance, and like a fool, I jumped at his offer without considering the cost.
Nothing is free... not even revenge.
Nothing is free... not even revenge.
— Kain, Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain
I'm gonna get stronger. ...I'm gonna get so strong even Dragos won't stand a chance against me!
— Claus, Mother 3, before being turned into an unfeeling killer cyborg
An elderly man was sitting alone on a dark path, right? He wasn't certain of which direction to go, and he'd forgotten both where he was traveling to and who he was. He'd sat down for a moment to rest his weary legs, and suddenly looked up to see an elderly woman before him. She grinned toothlessly and with a cackle, spoke: "Now your third wish. What will it be?"
"Third wish?" The man was baffled. "How can it be a third wish if I haven't had a first and second wish?"
"You've had two wishes already," the hag said, "but your second wish was for me to return everything to the way it was before you had made your first wish. That's why you remember nothing; because everything is the way it was before you made any wishes." She cackled at the poor berk. "So it is that you have one wish left."
"All right," said the man, "I don't believe this, but there's no harm in wishing. I wish to know who I am."
"Funny," said the old woman as she granted his wish and disappeared forever. "That was your first wish."
"Third wish?" The man was baffled. "How can it be a third wish if I haven't had a first and second wish?"
"You've had two wishes already," the hag said, "but your second wish was for me to return everything to the way it was before you had made your first wish. That's why you remember nothing; because everything is the way it was before you made any wishes." She cackled at the poor berk. "So it is that you have one wish left."
"All right," said the man, "I don't believe this, but there's no harm in wishing. I wish to know who I am."
"Funny," said the old woman as she granted his wish and disappeared forever. "That was your first wish."
— Morte telling a story in the Brothel of Slaking Intellectual Lusts, Planescape: Torment
Sub-Zero: I seek a worthy kombatant.
Superman: Careful what you wish for.
Sub-Zero: You have yet to prove yourself.
Superman: Careful what you wish for.
Sub-Zero: You have yet to prove yourself.
Norman Osborn: Please... Just give me back my son.
Venom: We ARE your son! Look at us! We are healthy, strong. This is what you wanted. Isn't it?
Venom: We ARE your son! Look at us! We are healthy, strong. This is what you wanted. Isn't it?
I got precisely what He promised me. Nothing more, nothing less. Fortune, wealth — a second chance at happiness. Yet... No matter how big the ballroom, how glorious the dresses... I found myself feeling out of place. None of it came close to what I sacrificed, it all felt... Vapid... Worthless... Far from what I truly wanted...
—Elise die Heilige (née Liedl), Little Goody Two Shoes
Webcomics
Sometimes the most sadistic thing the DM can do to is to let the players have their own way.
Parson: What's the lesson here? "Be careful what you wish for?" This isn't what I wished for!
Wanda: Ha! You didn't wish for this world, Parson Gotti. It wished for you.
Wanda: Ha! You didn't wish for this world, Parson Gotti. It wished for you.
— Erfworld
"I don't know why you'd be unhappy. This is what you wanted. This is what we fought over. [...] Well, you win. Now you get dozens and hundreds of animals, all ready to join the ECP. You just can't bring yourself to turn them down, no matter how much it costs, because you think there's always more. [...] I'm bankrupting you, Mr. Milton. The ECP is already on shaky ground, but you'll rescue everyone. And waste every cent doing it."
— Herman Steward, Housepets!
Tarquin: I swear, Nale, I don't even know what you want from me anymore.
Nale: NOTHING! I want NOTHING from you! I am my own man, not some cog in your latest oh-so-clever scheme! I don't want your nepotism or your charity or your pity! I want NOTHING!
Tarquin: Is that really how you feel?
Nale: YES!
Tarquin: (sigh) As you wish, Son. (stabs him) What did you think the price for killing my best friend was going to be? Really, Nale, you would have been dead years ago if it weren't for my protection.
Nale: NOTHING! I want NOTHING from you! I am my own man, not some cog in your latest oh-so-clever scheme! I don't want your nepotism or your charity or your pity! I want NOTHING!
Tarquin: Is that really how you feel?
Nale: YES!
Tarquin: (sigh) As you wish, Son. (stabs him) What did you think the price for killing my best friend was going to be? Really, Nale, you would have been dead years ago if it weren't for my protection.
"Now normally I hate victim blaming. But when you LITERALLY asked for it, well..."
— Noah, Ennui GO!, "The Penetrat-her
" (NSFW)
" (NSFW) Web Original
There are two main types of MMO. In Player vs. Environment (PVE), everyone's in it together fighting the monsters, and in Player vs. Player (PVP), you can kill each other...because everyone thinks they're going to be Mad Max instead of the guy who tries to catch the razor boomerang.
Angwe taught them the error of their ways. He was like dropping Libertarians into Somalia: the embodiment of everything they claimed to want, and it was killing them. He camped a bottlenecked route to Menethil Harbor, the only path to a couple of mid-level Alliance destinations, and murdered every single person who passed every single time they tried.
There was more online rage against Angwe than against everyone else who's ever been compared to Hitler combined. There is no body part he hasn't been accused of sucking, eating, being or enjoying his mother's. He received death threats, but World of Warcraft death threats are less worrying than fireballs, which can at least pretend to hurt something. Angwe even had an Alliance account so he could listen to his victims, and in an act of combat dickery worthy of the U.S. Army Psychological Ops division it was called "Angwespy."
He was the incarnation of Player vs. Player. People asked if he ever worked. Some wondered if he even slept. They wrote entire FAQs on how to get past him involving teleportation stones, clone characters and leaping from the boat and swimming along the shore instead of going through the port. Players regularly went through more hassle to get past Angwe than real people did to get into America. He was less a dick than a force of nature, a landscape-altering dick deforming the entire world like Zeus or Odin. Beating him was an achievement back before that was a thing.
Angwe taught them the error of their ways. He was like dropping Libertarians into Somalia: the embodiment of everything they claimed to want, and it was killing them. He camped a bottlenecked route to Menethil Harbor, the only path to a couple of mid-level Alliance destinations, and murdered every single person who passed every single time they tried.
There was more online rage against Angwe than against everyone else who's ever been compared to Hitler combined. There is no body part he hasn't been accused of sucking, eating, being or enjoying his mother's. He received death threats, but World of Warcraft death threats are less worrying than fireballs, which can at least pretend to hurt something. Angwe even had an Alliance account so he could listen to his victims, and in an act of combat dickery worthy of the U.S. Army Psychological Ops division it was called "Angwespy."
He was the incarnation of Player vs. Player. People asked if he ever worked. Some wondered if he even slept. They wrote entire FAQs on how to get past him involving teleportation stones, clone characters and leaping from the boat and swimming along the shore instead of going through the port. Players regularly went through more hassle to get past Angwe than real people did to get into America. He was less a dick than a force of nature, a landscape-altering dick deforming the entire world like Zeus or Odin. Beating him was an achievement back before that was a thing.
Sephiroth: Before I leave, there is something I must tell you.
Cloud: Oh good, you're gonna apologize! Well, I acc-
Sephiroth: I murdered your mother, Cloud.
Cloud: ...Excuse me?
Sephiroth: You admired me so much, and now you've experienced the pain I've felt for so long. We finally have something in common. Isn't that what you've always wanted? To be just. Like. ME?
Cloud: Oh good, you're gonna apologize! Well, I acc-
Sephiroth: I murdered your mother, Cloud.
Cloud: ...Excuse me?
Sephiroth: You admired me so much, and now you've experienced the pain I've felt for so long. We finally have something in common. Isn't that what you've always wanted? To be just. Like. ME?
So she sat there and started crying about how messed up she was and how she had promised to stop using and now she was with me gettin' high and how she wished that she was dead. And I thought "well..."
Tumblr user: So when is Marvel going to turn you lose on Dr. Strange and the magical end of the MU? I'd love to see you take a shot at Defenders or even a Strange solo.
Kieron Gillen: When friends and I are making jokes on twitter about a 90s-style reboot of Strange involving him wielding a cannon called DOCTOR STRANGE: SORCERER EXTREME, it’s probably the wrong day for this question.
Kieron Gillen: When friends and I are making jokes on twitter about a 90s-style reboot of Strange involving him wielding a cannon called DOCTOR STRANGE: SORCERER EXTREME, it’s probably the wrong day for this question.
— Tumblr
And the world seems to hold its breath as it faces the horror of getting what they asked for: someone with unstoppable power who will destroy all forms of terror — and realized that anything like that is itself terrifying.
Western Animation
You see, Jake, there's rules to this stuff, wishing an event to be changes elements before and after it. Memories will be destroyed, babies will not be born, potential worlds could be evaporated by your wish!
— Prismo, Adventure Time
Red not like Terrance words. Red not mean like Terrance. Red not bad like Terrance. RED NICE GUY! But if you want Red to be bad... let Red START... with TERRANCE!!
Bill: I wish I had a son that kicked me in the nuts.
(Dale kicks Bill in the nuts)
Dale: Be careful what you wish for!
(Dale kicks Bill in the nuts)
Dale: Be careful what you wish for!
Don't wish for elephants unless you own a zoo,
'Cause wishes have a way of coming true!
'Cause wishes have a way of coming true!
I wanted all the attention, and instead it was going to you! I even started hoping that you would do something silly, so your modeling career would be over, but then, when it started happening, all I could think was, how could I want you to fail at something you love so much?
— Rarity to Fluttershy, My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic
You finally have everything you ever wanted. Call me when you get over it.
— Stacy Hirano to Candace Flynn, Phineas and Ferb, "Phineas and Ferb Get Busted"
Splinter: Do you think Timothy is happy with his new state of being?
Leonardo: Seems that way. He wanted to be a mutant and he got his wish.
Leonardo: Seems that way. He wanted to be a mutant and he got his wish.
"I... vote for Sierra. She's like the stalker girlfriend I always thought I wanted... until I got one!"
— Cody Anderson, Total Drama World Tour, "The Am-AH-Zon Race"
Bart Simpson: I'll admit, I did make a voodoo doll of Mrs. Trunch. But I just asked for a stomach ache, not a baby!
Principal Skinner: Classic wishmaker's mistake: vague language.
Real Life
The desired outcome may not be as desirable once it has been attained.
— Wiktionary definition of the phrase
Your typical Lovecraftian protagonist is the scholar who seeks to touch the face of God... and having succeeded, becomes desperate to forget the existence of his own hands.
— Zack Hanlon
Democracy is the theory that the common people know what they want, and deserve to get it good and hard.
— H. L. Mencken, "A Few Pages of Notes", in The Smart Set (January 1915)
There are more tears shed over answered prayers than over unanswered prayers.
— attributed to St. Teresa of Avila in Answered Prayers by Truman Capote
"The worst punishment for an idiot is to give them what they want."
— Italian saying.
