--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The force with which he wanted it both…" description: "\"The force with which he wanted it both ways made him grit his teeth. What kind of fool wanted it only one way?\" — Maile Meloy" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/787/maile-meloy-21701_fool_the-force-with-which-he-wanted-it-both-w_2714951.png" --- # The force with which he wanted it both ways made him grit… ![“The force with which he wanted it both ways made him grit his teeth. What kind of fool wanted it only one way?” quote by Maile Meloy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/787/maile-meloy-21701_fool_the-force-with-which-he-wanted-it-both-w_2714951.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/787/maile-meloy-21701_fool_the-force-with-which-he-wanted-it-both-w_2714951.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/787/maile-meloy-21701_fool_the-force-with-which-he-wanted-it-both-w_2714951.png) > “The force with which he wanted it both ways made him grit his teeth. What kind of fool wanted it only one way?” [Maile Meloy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maile-meloy/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Desiring contradictory outcomes creates inner tension; clarity comes from choosing a single direction. **In simple terms:** Avoid indecision, pick a path. Key Takeaway Commit to one clear goal. Themes decision‑making conflict focus Mood reflective determined Type advice inspirational When to use this quote - project planning - personal goals - artistic direction Key Concepts creative process goal setting Questions to Reflect On - What choice are you wavering on? - How can you resolve internal conflict? A Different Perspective Indecision may stall progress. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Fool](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fool/) [Fool Wanted](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fool-wanted-2837709/) [Force](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/force/) [Force Wanted](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/force-wanted-2837708/) [Grit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/grit/) [Kind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/kind/) [Made](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/made/) [Mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mind/) [Teeth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/teeth/) [Wanted](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wanted/) [Wanted Way](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wanted-way-262942/) [Wanted Ways](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wanted-ways-2837710/) [Way](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/way/) ## Related quotes > [“You don’t run from someone and expect them to follow unless you want a stalker," he said. "You fool. All I wanted was to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donna-lynn-hope/you-don-t-run-from-someone-and-expect-them-to-follow-unless-you-want/) [Donna Lynn Hope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donna-lynn-hope/) > [I wanted to show a different side of ourselves. I wanted to see in what ways I could explore something new. I felt like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zachary-cole-smith/i-wanted-to-show-a-different-side-of-ourselves-i-wanted-to-see-in/) [Zachary Cole Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zachary-cole-smith/) > [Up to now I've done everything I've wanted to do the way I wanted to do myself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hasil-adkins/up-to-now-i-ve-done-everything-i-ve-wanted-to-do-the-way-i-wanted-to/) [Hasil Adkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hasil-adkins/) > [“He wanted her now in a way that was barely human.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-ranney/he-wanted-her-now-in-a-way-that-was-barely-human/) [Karen Ranney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-ranney/) > ['Wanted' is about a girl I was friends with, but at the time it was teetering on the edge of something more. I wanted…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hunter-hayes/wanted-is-about-a-girl-i-was-friends-with-but-at-the-time-it-was/) [Hunter Hayes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hunter-hayes/) > [“If God had wanted you to be anything other than who and what you are, He would have made you that way.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carla-laureano/if-god-had-wanted-you-to-be-anything-other-than-who-and-what-you-are/) [Carla Laureano](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carla-laureano/) > [You never wanted me the way I needed you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patience/you-never-wanted-me-the-way-i-needed-you/) [Patience](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patience/) > [“up into my face, promising that there was no one in the world she so much wanted to see. That was a way she…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/f-scott-fitzgerald/up-into-my-face-promising-that-there-was-no-one-in-the-world-she-so/) [F. Scott Fitzgerald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/f-scott-fitzgerald/) > [Her parents wanted her to find her own way in life. That’s what they’d said countless times in the past. Of course, they’d been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derek-landy/her-parents-wanted-her-to-find-her-own-way-in-life-that-s-what-they-d/) [Derek Landy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derek-landy/) > [I was in 'Fiesta,' but only because Aaliyah said she wanted me to do it that way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/damon-dash/i-was-in-fiesta-but-only-because-aaliyah-said-she-wanted-me-to-do-it/) [Damon Dash](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/damon-dash/) > [“No one was truly awake. No one was truly alive. They must have wanted it that way. Checking”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hugh-howey/no-one-was-truly-awake-no-one-was-truly-alive-they-must-have-wanted/) [Hugh Howey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hugh-howey/) > [I was a shy kid, I would never ask for what I wanted. I would go out of my way to avoid confrontation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/josh-taylor/i-was-a-shy-kid-i-would-never-ask-for-what-i-wanted-i-would-go-out-of/) [Josh Taylor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/josh-taylor/) > [I had all my own teeth and I wanted to keep it that way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-glavine/i-had-all-my-own-teeth-and-i-wanted-to-keep-it-that-way/) [Tom Glavine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-glavine/) > [“I wanted to find a way to share it with him, show him there was more in the world than blood and shadow.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cassandra-rose-clarke/i-wanted-to-find-a-way-to-share-it-with-him-show-him-there-was-more/) [Cassandra Rose Clarke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cassandra-rose-clarke/) > [I listened more than I asked. There's a lot of information online, so many Youtube videos, countless interviews with all those obvious questions that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vera-farmiga/i-listened-more-than-i-asked-there-s-a-lot-of-information-online-so/) [Vera Farmiga](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vera-farmiga/) ## More by Maile Meloy > [“He held his hands tightly together and cursed his daughter for bringing the terrible world, with its humiliation and longing, back to his door.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maile-meloy/he-held-his-hands-tightly-together-and-cursed-his-daughter-for/) [Maile Meloy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maile-meloy/) > [When they started to drain a swamp where birds and fish had lived, for a new housing development down the road from his apartment,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maile-meloy/when-they-started-to-drain-a-swamp-where-birds-and-fish-had-lived-for/) [Maile Meloy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maile-meloy/) > [“It takes experience to know what is a catastrophe (Richard Hughes, 'A High Wind in Jamaica'),”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maile-meloy/it-takes-experience-to-know-what-is-a-catastrophe-richard-hughes-a/) [Maile Meloy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maile-meloy/) > [“Civilization, her mother had told her since she was small, was a series of agreements about what was good for everyone, enforced by law.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maile-meloy/civilization-her-mother-had-told-her-since-she-was-small-was-a-series/) [Maile Meloy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maile-meloy/) > [“Children were experiments, and his had failed.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maile-meloy/children-were-experiments-and-his-had-failed/) [Maile Meloy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maile-meloy/) > [To be a kid is to be invisible and to listen, and to interpret things that aren't necessarily meant for you to hear--because how…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maile-meloy/to-be-a-kid-is-to-be-invisible-and-to-listen-and-to-interpret-things/) [Maile Meloy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maile-meloy/) > [“Maybe we made her feel safe,' Aaron said. 'So she can be brave.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maile-meloy/maybe-we-made-her-feel-safe-aaron-said-so-she-can-be-brave/) [Maile Meloy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maile-meloy/) > [“All the while, Everett felt both the threat of disorder and the steady, thrumming promise of having everything he wanted, all at once.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maile-meloy/all-the-while-everett-felt-both-the-threat-of-disorder-and-the-steady/) [Maile Meloy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maile-meloy/) > [“We're creating little hedonists,' Frank used to say. 'Nothing will be as pleasurable as this for the rest of their lives. They'll search everywhere…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maile-meloy/we-re-creating-little-hedonists-frank-used-to-say-nothing-will-be-as/) [Maile Meloy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maile-meloy/) > [“Benjamin called it “estro-lock,” the way the two women could talk for hours and lose track of time. They ended up in conversation across…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maile-meloy/benjamin-called-it-estro-lock-the-way-the-two-women-could-talk-for/) [Maile Meloy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maile-meloy/) > [“Whenever we tamper with natural laws, there are consequences,” the count said. “The larger the disruption, the larger the consequence.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maile-meloy/whenever-we-tamper-with-natural-laws-there-are-consequences-the-count/) [Maile Meloy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maile-meloy/) > [His heart felt dangerously full, for the first time in years. That dried-up battered organ, suddenly flush with love. It could kill him.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maile-meloy/his-heart-felt-dangerously-full-for-the-first-time-in-years-that/) [Maile Meloy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maile-meloy/) > [“They had started one of those wish-fulfillment kids’ adventure books, where the boy hero has exactly the qualities he needs to triumph, at every…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maile-meloy/they-had-started-one-of-those-wish-fulfillment-kids-adventure-books/) [Maile Meloy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maile-meloy/) > [I settled in with The Uninvited Guests thinking I knew what kind of Edwardian pleasures were in store: the fraught dinner party in an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maile-meloy/i-settled-in-with-the-uninvited-guests-thinking-i-knew-what-kind-of/) [Maile Meloy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maile-meloy/) > [“There's a look little girls have who are adored by their fathers," Bea said. "It's that facial expression of being totally impervious to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maile-meloy/there-s-a-look-little-girls-have-who-are-adored-by-their-fathers-bea/) [Maile Meloy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maile-meloy/) [Explore all 27 Maile Meloy quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maile-meloy/) ## More Fool quotes > [Do I look like a fool to you](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tamika-leeigh/do-i-look-like-a-fool-to-you/) [Tamika-leeigh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tamika-leeigh/) > [So the fool, as distinct from the scoundrel, is completely self- satisfied; in fact, he can easily become dangerous, as it does not take…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dietrich-bonhoeffer/so-the-fool-as-distinct-from-the-scoundrel-is-completely-self/) [Dietrich Bonhoeffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dietrich-bonhoeffer/) > [There are various orders of beauty, causing men to make fools of themselves in various styles.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/there-are-various-orders-of-beauty-causing-men-to-make-fools-of/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [“Not wise, perhaps, to be rude to the Pope's favorite son, but my viper tongue still required a fool now and then on which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-quinn/not-wise-perhaps-to-be-rude-to-the-pope-s-favorite-son-but-my-viper/) [Kate Quinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-quinn/) > [He's a fool that marries; but he's a greater fool that does not marry a fool.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-wycherley/he-s-a-fool-that-marries-but-he-s-a-greater-fool-that-does-not-marry/) [William Wycherley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-wycherley/) > [It's very easy to fool yourself that you're working, you know, when you're really not working very hard. I mean, I'm very lazy. So…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-caro/it-s-very-easy-to-fool-yourself-that-you-re-working-you-know-when-you/) [Robert Caro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-caro/) > [A fool and his money get a lot of publicity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/al-bernstein/a-fool-and-his-money-get-a-lot-of-publicity/) [Al Bernstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/al-bernstein/) > [There are different kinds of fire; there is false fire. No one knows this better than we do, but we are not such fools…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-booth/there-are-different-kinds-of-fire-there-is-false-fire-no-one-knows/) [William Booth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-booth/) > [Every man must wear out at least one pair of fools shoes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/earl-derr-biggers/every-man-must-wear-out-at-least-one-pair-of-fools-shoes/) [Earl Derr Biggers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/earl-derr-biggers/) > [If at first you don't succeed, try, try again. Then quit. No use being a damn fool about it](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wc-fields/if-at-first-you-don-t-succeed-try-try-again-then-quit-no-use-being-a/) [WC Fields](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wc-fields/) > [There is nothing that we can properly call our own but our time, and yet everybody fools us out of it who has a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seneca-the-younger/there-is-nothing-that-we-can-properly-call-our-own-but-our-time-and/) [Seneca the Younger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seneca-the-younger/) > [I'd be a fool to be in this for the money.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benny-hinn/i-d-be-a-fool-to-be-in-this-for-the-money/) [Benny Hinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benny-hinn/) > [It is a fool of a shepherd who culls his dogs.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jefferson-smith/it-is-a-fool-of-a-shepherd-who-culls-his-dogs/) [Jefferson Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jefferson-smith/) > [Prefer to be defeated in the presence of the wise than to excel among fools.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/prefer-to-be-defeated-in-the-presence-of-the-wise-than-to-excel-among/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [A mistake doesnt make you a fool, but denying it surely makes you one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vikrant-parsai/a-mistake-doesnt-make-you-a-fool-but-denying-it-surely-makes-you-one/) [Vikrant Parsai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vikrant-parsai/) [Browse all 5,535 Fool quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fool/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The force with which he wanted it both ways made him grit his teeth. 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