---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: If the desire to kill and the opportunity…"
description: "\"If the desire to kill and the opportunity to kill came always together, who would escape hanging?\" — Mark Twain"
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/631/mark-twain-22_always-together_if-the-desire-to-kill-and-the-opportunit_2662263.png"
---

#  If the desire to kill and the opportunity to kill came…

![“If the desire to kill and the opportunity to kill came always together, who would escape hanging?” quote by Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/631/mark-twain-22_always-together_if-the-desire-to-kill-and-the-opportunit_2662263.png)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/631/mark-twain-22_always-together_if-the-desire-to-kill-and-the-opportunit_2662263.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/631/mark-twain-22_always-together_if-the-desire-to-kill-and-the-opportunit_2662263.png)

> “If the desire to kill and the opportunity to kill came always together, who would escape hanging?”

[Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

If killing desire and opportunity always coincide, everyone would face execution, highlighting the rarity of such alignment.

**In simple terms:** If desire and chance to kill always met, all would be executed.

Key Takeaway

Cultivate self‑control.

Themes

morality human nature justice

Mood

reflective serious

Type

literary philosophical

When to use this quote

- legal system
- personal ethics
- education
- conflict resolution

Key Concepts

ethical philosophy psychology

Questions to Reflect On

- What controls harmful urges?
- How does society deter violence?

A Different Perspective

Not all violent impulses lead to action.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Always together](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/always-together-6939/) [Desire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/desire/) [Desire Kill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/desire-kill-382842/) [Escape Hanging](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/escape-hanging-2437079/) [Hanging](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hanging/) [Ifs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ifs/) [Integrity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/integrity/) [Kill Opportunity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/kill-opportunity-1382299/) [Opportunity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/opportunity/) [Opportunity Kill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/opportunity-kill-2437080/) [Together](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/together/)

## Related quotes

> [If the desire to kill and the opportunity to kill always came together, who would escape hanging? Framed in a more positive light, this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/if-the-desire-to-kill-and-the-opportunity-to-kill-always-came/)

[Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/)

> [One way to kill an opportunity is to avoid taking it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-canfield/one-way-to-kill-an-opportunity-is-to-avoid-taking-it/)

[Jack Canfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-canfield/)

> [Dont wait for perfect moment.go for a kill the opportunity you have got & thus make the moment perfect one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dranil-kr-sinha/dont-wait-for-perfect-moment-go-for-a-kill-the-opportunity-you-have/)

[DrAnil Kr Sinha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dranil-kr-sinha/)

> [There's a difference between logic and what maybe people see when they're presented evidence and justice and that they're not always together.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rafe-esquith/there-s-a-difference-between-logic-and-what-maybe-people-see-when/)

[Rafe Esquith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rafe-esquith/)

> [Arrow to the heart. Cupid did his part. Always to be together; Never to be apart.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/selene-c/arrow-to-the-heart-cupid-did-his-part-always-to-be-together-never-to/)

[Selene C](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/selene-c/)

> [You and your friends...always together, No time for the B-I-G, so I'm O-U-T. The sex was great, but the headaches I can't take. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/the-notorious-b-i-g/you-and-your-friends-always-together-no-time-for-the-b-i-g-so-i-m-o-u/)

[The Notorious B.I.G](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/the-notorious-b-i-g/)

> [Even though we can't be holding hands right now, even though we can't be looking each other in the eyes right now, I can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/min/even-though-we-can-t-be-holding-hands-right-now-even-though-we-can-t/)

[Min](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/min/)

> [There are not three stages in spiritual life-worship, waiting, and work. Some of us go in jumps like spiritual frogs. We jump from worship…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oswald-chambers/there-are-not-three-stages-in-spiritual-life-worship-waiting-and-work/)

[Oswald Chambers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oswald-chambers/)

> [“I wanted to kiss her, she was beautiful again to me. But I dared not risk it. It wasn't only that I would have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-rice/i-wanted-to-kiss-her-she-was-beautiful-again-to-me-but-i-dared-not/)

[Anne Rice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-rice/)

> [“Passion is not only a strong desire to love, but also a strong desire to kill.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claire-amber/passion-is-not-only-a-strong-desire-to-love-but-also-a-strong-desire/)

[Claire Amber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claire-amber/)

> [The desire to kill is like the desire to attack another with a red hot iron. I have to pick up the incandescent metal…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-merton/the-desire-to-kill-is-like-the-desire-to-attack-another-with-a-red/)

[Thomas Merton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-merton/)

> [I was literally singing to myself on my way home, after the killing. The tension, the desire to kill a woman had built up…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-berkowitz/i-was-literally-singing-to-myself-on-my-way-home-after-the-killing/)

[David Berkowitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-berkowitz/)

> [Many desire to kill me, and many wish to spend an hour chatting with me. The law protects me from the former.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-kraus/many-desire-to-kill-me-and-many-wish-to-spend-an-hour-chatting-with/)

[Karl Kraus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-kraus/)

> [“I got both hands on her throat and there was nothing inside me but the black madness of that desire to kill her, to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-williams/i-got-both-hands-on-her-throat-and-there-was-nothing-inside-me-but/)

[Charles Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-williams/)

> [The desire to kill is like the desire to attack another with an ingot of red -hot iron: I have to pick up the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-merton/the-desire-to-kill-is-like-the-desire-to-attack-another-with-an-ingot/)

[Thomas Merton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-merton/)

## More by Mark Twain

> [Sing like no one's listening, love like you've never been hurt, dance like nobody's watching, and live like its heaven on earth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/sing-like-no-one-s-listening-love-like-you-ve-never-been-hurt-dance/)

[Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/)

> [If you had made the acquiring of ignorance the study of your life, you could not have graduated with higher honor than you could…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/if-you-had-made-the-acquiring-of-ignorance-the-study-of-your-life-you/)

[Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/)

> [“The Creator sat upon the throne, thinking. Behind him stretched the illimitable continent of heaven, steeped in a glory of light and color; before…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/the-creator-sat-upon-the-throne-thinking-behind-him-stretched-the/)

[Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/)

> [It's easy to quit smoking. I've done it hundreds of times.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/it-s-easy-to-quit-smoking-i-ve-done-it-hundreds-of-times/)

[Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/)

> [“It is never wrong to do the right thing.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/it-is-never-wrong-to-do-the-right-thing/)

[Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/)

> [A man accustomed to American food and American domestic cookery would not starve to death suddenly in Europe, but I think he would gradually…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/a-man-accustomed-to-american-food-and-american-domestic-cookery-would/)

[Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/)

> [There is nothing training can't cannot do. Nothing is above its reach.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/there-is-nothing-training-can-t-cannot-do-nothing-is-above-its-reach/)

[Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/)

> [I never write Metropolis for seven cents because I can get the same price for city. I never write policeman because I can get…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/i-never-write-metropolis-for-seven-cents-because-i-can-get-the-same/)

[Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/)

> [The higher animals get their teeth without pain or inconvenience. Man gets his through months and months of cruel torture; he will never get…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/the-higher-animals-get-their-teeth-without-pain-or-inconvenience-man/)

[Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/)

> [“As far as I can see, Italy, for fifteen hundred years, has turned all her energies, all her finances, and all her industry to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/as-far-as-i-can-see-italy-for-fifteen-hundred-years-has-turned-all/)

[Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/)

> [Begin with the determination to succeed and the work is half done already.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/begin-with-the-determination-to-succeed-and-the-work-is-half-done/)

[Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/)

> [Many public-school children seem to know only two dates—1492 and 4th of July; and as a rule they don't know what happened on either…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/many-public-school-children-seem-to-know-only-two-dates-1492-and-4th/)

[Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/)

> [If we could imagine such a man, that is a man who could invent the fly and send him out on his mission and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/if-we-could-imagine-such-a-man-that-is-a-man-who-could-invent-the-fly/)

[Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/)

> [You perceive, now, that these things are all impossible except in a dream. You perceive that they are pure and puerile insanities, the silly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/you-perceive-now-that-these-things-are-all-impossible-except-in-a/)

[Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/)

> [Lord save us all from a hope tree that has lost the faculty of putting out blossoms.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/lord-save-us-all-from-a-hope-tree-that-has-lost-the-faculty-of/)

[Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/)

[Explore all 3,277 Mark Twain quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/)

## More Always together quotes

> [There are not three stages in spiritual life-worship, waiting, and work. Some of us go in jumps like spiritual frogs. We jump from worship…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oswald-chambers/there-are-not-three-stages-in-spiritual-life-worship-waiting-and-work/)

[Oswald Chambers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oswald-chambers/)

> [You and your friends...always together, No time for the B-I-G, so I'm O-U-T. The sex was great, but the headaches I can't take. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/the-notorious-b-i-g/you-and-your-friends-always-together-no-time-for-the-b-i-g-so-i-m-o-u/)

[The Notorious B.I.G](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/the-notorious-b-i-g/)

> [Arrow to the heart. Cupid did his part. Always to be together; Never to be apart.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/selene-c/arrow-to-the-heart-cupid-did-his-part-always-to-be-together-never-to/)

[Selene C](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/selene-c/)

> [There's a difference between logic and what maybe people see when they're presented evidence and justice and that they're not always together.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rafe-esquith/there-s-a-difference-between-logic-and-what-maybe-people-see-when/)

[Rafe Esquith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rafe-esquith/)

> [Even though we can't be holding hands right now, even though we can't be looking each other in the eyes right now, I can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/min/even-though-we-can-t-be-holding-hands-right-now-even-though-we-can-t/)

[Min](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/min/)

[Browse all 6 Always together quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/always-together-6939/)

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "If the desire to kill and the opportunity to kill came always together, who would escape hanging?",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Mark Twain"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/if-the-desire-to-kill-and-the-opportunity-to-kill-came-always/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Always together"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/if-the-desire-to-kill-and-the-opportunity-to-kill-came-always/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/631/mark-twain-22_always-together_if-the-desire-to-kill-and-the-opportunit_2662263.png",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/631/mark-twain-22_always-together_if-the-desire-to-kill-and-the-opportunit_2662263.png",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/631/mark-twain-22_always-together_if-the-desire-to-kill-and-the-opportunit_2662263.png",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“If the desire to kill and the opportunity to kill came always together, who would escape hanging?” — Mark Twain",
                "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                "creator": {
                    "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                }
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "BreadcrumbList",
            "itemListElement": [
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 1,
                    "name": "Home",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 2,
                    "name": "Quotes",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 3,
                    "name": "Mark Twain",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "If the desire to kill and...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/if-the-desire-to-kill-and-the-opportunity-to-kill-came-always/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/if-the-desire-to-kill-and-the-opportunity-to-kill-came-always/#breadcrumb"
        },
        {
            "@type": "WebSite",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "publisher": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "Organization",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "logo": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png",
                "width": 512,
                "height": 512
            }
        }
    ]
}
```