--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: If men had all they wished, they would be…" description: "\"“If men had all they wished, they would be often ruined. The”\" — Aesop" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c33/aesop-1073_quote_if-men-had-all-they-wished-they-would-be_1226124.jpg" --- # If men had all they wished, they would be often ruined. The ![“If men had all they wished, they would be often ruined. The” quote by Aesop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c33/aesop-1073_quote_if-men-had-all-they-wished-they-would-be_1226124.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c33/aesop-1073_quote_if-men-had-all-they-wished-they-would-be_1226124.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c33/aesop-1073_quote_if-men-had-all-they-wished-they-would-be_1226124.jpg) > ““If men had all they wished, they would be often ruined. The”” [Aesop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aesop/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Unrestricted desires often lead to ruin; moderation is essential. **In simple terms:** If all wishes were granted, ruin follows. Key Takeaway Practice moderation to avoid self-destruction. Themes desire moderation consequence Mood cautionary reflective Type moral advice When to use this quote - financial planning - dieting - career ambition - personal goals Key Concepts greed self-control Questions to Reflect On - What desire have you overindulged? - How can you set realistic limits? A Different Perspective Total fulfillment is unrealistic and can cause harm. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet ## Related quotes > [“Monogamy was an invention of men who wished to reduce the power of women over them.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louis-de-bernieres/monogamy-was-an-invention-of-men-who-wished-to-reduce-the-power-of/) [Louis de Bernières](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louis-de-bernieres/) > [“His child. His child with Caroline. Their child. After the things he’d said to her this morning, this would likely be their only child.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rose-gordon/his-child-his-child-with-caroline-their-child-after-the-things-he-d/) [Rose Gordon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rose-gordon/) > [Betray a friend, and you'll often find you have ruined yourself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aesop/betray-a-friend-and-you-ll-often-find-you-have-ruined-yourself/) [Aesop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aesop/) > [I've come up in the scripted world, and I have wished there were more time slots for us to tell compelling scripted stories and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-macchio/i-ve-come-up-in-the-scripted-world-and-i-have-wished-there-were-more/) [Ralph Macchio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-macchio/) > [For quite sometime, I've secretly wished for a bigger butt.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sherlyn-chopra/for-quite-sometime-i-ve-secretly-wished-for-a-bigger-butt/) [Sherlyn Chopra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sherlyn-chopra/) > [Sometimes the soul takes pictures of the little things it has wished for, but never seen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne/sometimes-the-soul-takes-pictures-of-the-little-things-it-has-wished/) [Anne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne/) > [“I should be sorry if I only entertained them. I wished to make them better.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-frideric-handel/i-should-be-sorry-if-i-only-entertained-them-i-wished-to-make-them/) [George Frideric Handel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-frideric-handel/) > [I've never wished for people to recognise me or anything.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diljit-dosanjh/i-ve-never-wished-for-people-to-recognise-me-or-anything/) [Diljit Dosanjh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diljit-dosanjh/) > [I am going to that country which I have all my life wished to see.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-blake/i-am-going-to-that-country-which-i-have-all-my-life-wished-to-see/) [William Blake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-blake/) > [“You're everything I ever wished for. I just didn't wish for much.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-james-west/you-re-everything-i-ever-wished-for-i-just-didn-t-wish-for-much/) [Peter James West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-james-west/) > [“She wished he could make her somehow indelibly his; that they were still children so they could cut their fingers and mingle their blood…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meredith-duran/she-wished-he-could-make-her-somehow-indelibly-his-that-they-were/) [Meredith Duran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meredith-duran/) > [“And I wished I could believe him. I wished with all that I had. And when you're eleven, you're on the cusp between still…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-j-klune/and-i-wished-i-could-believe-him-i-wished-with-all-that-i-had-and/) [T.J. Klune](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-j-klune/) > [Last night, I felt like I wished I wasn't Chad Johnson. Last night, I felt like I wished I wasn't good. I had to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chad-ochocinco/last-night-i-felt-like-i-wished-i-wasn-t-chad-johnson-last-night-i/) [Chad Ochocinco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chad-ochocinco/) > [“I wished, as it were, to procrastinate all that related to my feelings of affection until the great object, which swallowed up every habit…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-shelley/i-wished-as-it-were-to-procrastinate-all-that-related-to-my-feelings/) [Mary Shelley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-shelley/) > [It was an odd coincidence that my career took off the same decade as having babies. I often wished it had been different, that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-kaczmarek/it-was-an-odd-coincidence-that-my-career-took-off-the-same-decade-as/) [Jane Kaczmarek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-kaczmarek/) ## More by Aesop > [“Lay not the blame on me, O sailor, but on the winds. By nature I am as calm and safe as the land itself,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aesop/lay-not-the-blame-on-me-o-sailor-but-on-the-winds-by-nature-i-am-as/) [Aesop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aesop/) > [It is in vain to expect our prayers to be heard, if we do not strive as well as pray.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aesop/it-is-in-vain-to-expect-our-prayers-to-be-heard-if-we-do-not-strive/) [Aesop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aesop/) > [Beware of a wolf in sheep's clothing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aesop/beware-of-a-wolf-in-sheep-s-clothing/) [Aesop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aesop/) > [Better a long life of toil than a short one of ease.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aesop/better-a-long-life-of-toil-than-a-short-one-of-ease/) [Aesop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aesop/) > [Don't let your special character and values, the secret that you know and no one else does, the truth - don't let that get…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aesop/don-t-let-your-special-character-and-values-the-secret-that-you-know/) [Aesop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aesop/) > [Every man carries two bags about him, one in front and one behind, and both are full of faults. The bag in front contains…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aesop/every-man-carries-two-bags-about-him-one-in-front-and-one-behind-and/) [Aesop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aesop/) > [It pays to be content with your lot.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aesop/it-pays-to-be-content-with-your-lot/) [Aesop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aesop/) > [Be content with your lot; one cannot be first in everything.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aesop/be-content-with-your-lot-one-cannot-be-first-in-everything/) [Aesop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aesop/) > [Equals make the best friends.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aesop/equals-make-the-best-friends/) [Aesop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aesop/) > [once upon a time all the rivers combined to protest against the action of the sea in making their waters salt. "When we come…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aesop/once-upon-a-time-all-the-rivers-combined-to-protest-against-the/) [Aesop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aesop/) > [In union there is strength.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aesop/in-union-there-is-strength/) [Aesop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aesop/) > [“Be content with your lot; once cannot be first in everything.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aesop/be-content-with-your-lot-once-cannot-be-first-in-everything/) [Aesop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aesop/) > [False friends leave you in times of trouble.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aesop/false-friends-leave-you-in-times-of-trouble/) [Aesop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aesop/) > [Better beans and bacon in peace than cakes and ale in fear.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aesop/better-beans-and-bacon-in-peace-than-cakes-and-ale-in-fear/) [Aesop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aesop/) > [“The Sun is bad enough even while he is single, drying up our marshes with his heat as he does. But what will become…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aesop/the-sun-is-bad-enough-even-while-he-is-single-drying-up-our-marshes/) [Aesop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aesop/) [Explore all 297 Aesop quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aesop/) ## More Ruined quotes > [A poet is wounded into speech, and he examines these wounds, meticulously, to discover how to heal them. The bad poet harangues at the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-r-delany/a-poet-is-wounded-into-speech-and-he-examines-these-wounds/) [Samuel R. Delany](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-r-delany/) > [“I don't drink since it ruined the best thing I ever had.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kimberly-lauren/i-don-t-drink-since-it-ruined-the-best-thing-i-ever-had/) [Kimberly Lauren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kimberly-lauren/) > [I think we've all had enough of Coltrane saxophonists. There's a case of someone ruining a generation of saxophonists, as Louis Armstrong may have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-bley/i-think-we-ve-all-had-enough-of-coltrane-saxophonists-there-s-a-case/) [Paul Bley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-bley/) > [I ruined my hands in the ring. The referee kept stepping on them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-hope/i-ruined-my-hands-in-the-ring-the-referee-kept-stepping-on-them/) [Bob Hope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-hope/) > [Nobody wants to see someone's life ruined over a small-time lapse in judgment.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-baker/nobody-wants-to-see-someone-s-life-ruined-over-a-small-time-lapse-in/) [Charlie Baker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-baker/) > [Many people become bankrupt through having invested too heavily in the prose of life. To have ruined one's self over poetry is an honor.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/many-people-become-bankrupt-through-having-invested-too-heavily-in/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [I hope the day will come when a wasp-waist and a pair of thin shoulders will not be esteemed beauty: we have had our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julia-mcnair-wright/i-hope-the-day-will-come-when-a-wasp-waist-and-a-pair-of-thin/) [Julia McNair Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julia-mcnair-wright/) > [The day the army of Virginia allows a negro regiment to enter their lines as soldiers they will be degraded, ruined, and disgraced.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-toombs/the-day-the-army-of-virginia-allows-a-negro-regiment-to-enter-their/) [Robert Toombs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-toombs/) > [CGI has fully ruined car crashes. Because how can you be impressed with them now? When you watch them in the '70s, it was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/quentin-tarantino/cgi-has-fully-ruined-car-crashes-because-how-can-you-be-impressed/) [Quentin Tarantino](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/quentin-tarantino/) > [Out of the ruined lodge and forgotten mansion, bowers that are trodden under foot, and pleasure-houses that are dust, the poet calls up a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-de-quincey/out-of-the-ruined-lodge-and-forgotten-mansion-bowers-that-are-trodden/) [Thomas de Quincey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-de-quincey/) > [Once upon a time, there was a boy and a girl who both loved each other. Then a slut came along and ruined everything.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/once-upon-a-time-there-was-a-boy-and-a-girl-who-both-loved-each-other/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [We seem to be young, in a very old Galaxy. We're like kids tiptoeing through a ruined mansion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-baxter/we-seem-to-be-young-in-a-very-old-galaxy-we-re-like-kids-tiptoeing/) [Stephen Baxter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-baxter/) > [The man of power is ruined by power, the man of money by money, the submissive man by subservience, the pleasure seeker by pleasure.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hermann-hesse/the-man-of-power-is-ruined-by-power-the-man-of-money-by-money-the/) [Hermann Hesse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hermann-hesse/) > [Don't ruin the present with the ruined past.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-gilchrist/don-t-ruin-the-present-with-the-ruined-past/) [Ellen Gilchrist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-gilchrist/) > [More people are ruined by victory, I imagine, than be defeat.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eleanor-roosevelt/more-people-are-ruined-by-victory-i-imagine-than-be-defeat/) [Eleanor Roosevelt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eleanor-roosevelt/) Browse all 771 Ruined quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“If men had all they wished, they would be often ruined. 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