--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: If you want something you can have it…" description: "\"If you want something you can have it, but only if you want everything that goes with it, including all the hard work and the despair, and only if you'..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f7d/philip-pullman-525_despair_if-you-want-something-you-can-have-it-bu_1730433.png" --- # If you want something you can have it, but only if you… ![“If you want something you can have it, but only if you want everything that goes with it, including all the hard work and the despair, and only if you're willing to risk failure.” quote by Philip Pullman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f7d/philip-pullman-525_despair_if-you-want-something-you-can-have-it-bu_1730433.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f7d/philip-pullman-525_despair_if-you-want-something-you-can-have-it-bu_1730433.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f7d/philip-pullman-525_despair_if-you-want-something-you-can-have-it-bu_1730433.png) > “If you want something you can have it, but only if you want everything that goes with it, including all the hard work and the despair, and only if you're willing to risk failure.” [Philip Pullman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-pullman/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Desire for something entails accepting all its challenges and risks. **In simple terms:** Wanting includes hardship and risk. Key Takeaway Embrace full consequences. Themes desire risk commitment Mood reflective cautious Type philosophical advisory When to use this quote - career choice - entrepreneurship - relationships - creative pursuits Key Concepts trade‑offs resilience Questions to Reflect On - Are you prepared for the full cost? - What limits should you set? A Different Perspective Not all risks are worth taking. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Despair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/despair/) [Despair Willing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/despair-willing-1426135/) [Failure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/failure/) [Hard work](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hard-work/) [Risk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/risk/) [Risk Failure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/risk-failure-701314/) [Want](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/want/) [Wanted](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wanted/) [Willing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/willing/) [Willing Risk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/willing-risk-237036/) ## Related quotes > [The chaos in our world may have brought you close to despair, but if you are willing to look at reasons for hope, perhaps…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilyn-ferguson/the-chaos-in-our-world-may-have-brought-you-close-to-despair-but-if/) [Marilyn Ferguson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilyn-ferguson/) > [Being a pathfinder is to be willing to risk failure and still go on.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gail-sheehy/being-a-pathfinder-is-to-be-willing-to-risk-failure-and-still-go-on/) [Gail Sheehy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gail-sheehy/) > [One of the reasons people stop learning is that they become less and less willing to risk failure.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-w-gardner/one-of-the-reasons-people-stop-learning-is-that-they-become-less-and/) [John W. Gardner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-w-gardner/) > [You can't succeed unless you're willing to risk failure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raymond-e-feist/you-can-t-succeed-unless-you-re-willing-to-risk-failure/) [Raymond E. Feist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raymond-e-feist/) > [To believe in love, to be ready to give up anything for it, to be willing to risk your life for it, is the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonardo-dicaprio/to-believe-in-love-to-be-ready-to-give-up-anything-for-it-to-be/) [Leonardo DiCaprio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonardo-dicaprio/) > [If you want to do something extraordinary, there's always risk involved. I was always willing to take that risk.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/felix-baumgartner/if-you-want-to-do-something-extraordinary-there-s-always-risk/) [Felix Baumgartner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/felix-baumgartner/) > [“What am I willing to risk for the possibility of getting what I want?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maggie-stiefvater/what-am-i-willing-to-risk-for-the-possibility-of-getting-what-i-want/) [Maggie Stiefvater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maggie-stiefvater/) > [If you are not willing to risk, you cannot become your best, and if you cannot become your best, you cannot be happy. If…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/les-brown/if-you-are-not-willing-to-risk-you-cannot-become-your-best-and-if-you/) [Les Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/les-brown/) > [The 'Amazing' can only be created by facing fear, risk and failure during the process.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joel-brown/the-amazing-can-only-be-created-by-facing-fear-risk-and-failure/) [Joel Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joel-brown/) > [We as fighters and teams, we need to look out for our guys. We need to look out for the guys who are super…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-miller/we-as-fighters-and-teams-we-need-to-look-out-for-our-guys-we-need-to/) [Jim Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-miller/) > [Trusting others puts us at risk. Yet failure to trust entails risk as well. The ability to navigate through this minefield successfully is one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-h-frank/trusting-others-puts-us-at-risk-yet-failure-to-trust-entails-risk-as/) [Robert H. Frank](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-h-frank/) > [“The ability to overcome failure—to live through it and move on—is crucial. If we are not willing to face failure—if we don't have the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-hunter/the-ability-to-overcome-failure-to-live-through-it-and-move-on-is/) [John Hunter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-hunter/) > [The hardest things to do in any art is to risk failure and put yourself out on the line.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-isaac/the-hardest-things-to-do-in-any-art-is-to-risk-failure-and-put/) [Oscar Isaac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-isaac/) > [The risk of failure is part of the fun of what I do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-simon/the-risk-of-failure-is-part-of-the-fun-of-what-i-do/) [Paul Simon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-simon/) > [The only risk of failure is promotion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-adams/the-only-risk-of-failure-is-promotion/) [Scott Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-adams/) ## More by Philip Pullman > [The state of mind which I put myself when I tell a story is one in which superstition flourishes very easily. And I welcome…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-pullman/the-state-of-mind-which-i-put-myself-when-i-tell-a-story-is-one-in/) [Philip Pullman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-pullman/) > [Religion grants its adherents malign, intoxicating and morally corrosive sensations. Destroying intellectual freedom is always evil, but only religion makes doing evil feel quite…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-pullman/religion-grants-its-adherents-malign-intoxicating-and-morally/) [Philip Pullman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-pullman/) > [We don't need lists of rights and wrongs, tables of do's and don'ts: we need books, time, and silence. Thou shalt not is soon…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-pullman/we-don-t-need-lists-of-rights-and-wrongs-tables-of-do-s-and-don-ts-we/) [Philip Pullman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-pullman/) > [I have stolen ideas from every book I have ever read.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-pullman/i-have-stolen-ideas-from-every-book-i-have-ever-read/) [Philip Pullman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-pullman/) > [All the stories of the Bible that I know came to me first from my grandfather's lips... He would see stories in everything. He…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-pullman/all-the-stories-of-the-bible-that-i-know-came-to-me-first-from-my/) [Philip Pullman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-pullman/) > [What I do say is that I can write verse, and that the writing of verse in strict form is the best possible training…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-pullman/what-i-do-say-is-that-i-can-write-verse-and-that-the-writing-of-verse/) [Philip Pullman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-pullman/) > [Writing is tyranny ... but reading is democracy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-pullman/writing-is-tyranny-but-reading-is-democracy/) [Philip Pullman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-pullman/) > [“Middlemarch is a novel that is diminished by being put on the screen. It can't help but be, because so much of what we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-pullman/middlemarch-is-a-novel-that-is-diminished-by-being-put-on-the-screen/) [Philip Pullman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-pullman/) > [I have maintained a passionate interest in education, which leads me occasionally to make foolish and ill-considered remarks alleging that not everything is well…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-pullman/i-have-maintained-a-passionate-interest-in-education-which-leads-me/) [Philip Pullman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-pullman/) > [And think what worrying does: has anyone ever added a single hour to the length of his life by worrying about it?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-pullman/and-think-what-worrying-does-has-anyone-ever-added-a-single-hour-to/) [Philip Pullman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-pullman/) > [“The question authors get asked more than any other is "Where do you get your ideas from?" And we all find a way of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-pullman/the-question-authors-get-asked-more-than-any-other-is-where-do-you/) [Philip Pullman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-pullman/) > [“We are all subject to the fates. But we must all act as if we are not,” said the witch, “or die of despair.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-pullman/we-are-all-subject-to-the-fates-but-we-must-all-act-as-if-we-are-not/) [Philip Pullman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-pullman/) > [Lonely? I don't know. They tell me this is cold. I don't know what cold is, because I don't freeze. So I don't know…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-pullman/lonely-i-don-t-know-they-tell-me-this-is-cold-i-don-t-know-what-cold/) [Philip Pullman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-pullman/) > [Just finished 'Secrecy' - truly enthralling both as a love story and as a tale of suspense - but much more than both.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-pullman/just-finished-secrecy-truly-enthralling-both-as-a-love-story-and-as-a/) [Philip Pullman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-pullman/) > [“As Auden is believed to have said, no poem saved a single Jew from the gas chambers. Never mind. Write the poems anyway. Play…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-pullman/as-auden-is-believed-to-have-said-no-poem-saved-a-single-jew-from-the/) [Philip Pullman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-pullman/) [Explore all 479 Philip Pullman quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-pullman/) ## More Despair quotes > [“As ofttimes as it rains on my little spot of earth, you'd think I'd grow accustomed to the gloom.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richelle-e-goodrich/as-ofttimes-as-it-rains-on-my-little-spot-of-earth-you-d-think-i-d/) [Richelle E. Goodrich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richelle-e-goodrich/) > [“She searched her mind for a single day when it had felt good to be alive. There must have been one, surely?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-abbott/she-searched-her-mind-for-a-single-day-when-it-had-felt-good-to-be/) [Rachel Abbott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-abbott/) > [“Men circle like bees around honey, buzzing to communicate their sexual despair.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carla-h-krueger/men-circle-like-bees-around-honey-buzzing-to-communicate-their-sexual/) [Carla H Krueger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carla-h-krueger/) > [I think what was special about 'Music by Prudence' was the classic story of the title subject's life path - from being an outcast…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-ross-williams/i-think-what-was-special-about-music-by-prudence-was-the-classic/) [Roger Ross Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-ross-williams/) > [Your spirit is the part of you that seeks meaning and purpose. It's the part drawn to hope, that will not give in to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/caroline-myss/your-spirit-is-the-part-of-you-that-seeks-meaning-and-purpose-it-s/) [Caroline Myss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/caroline-myss/) > [My God, whose son, as on this night, took on Him the form of man, and for man vouchsafed to suffer and bleed, controls…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-bronte/my-god-whose-son-as-on-this-night-took-on-him-the-form-of-man-and-for/) [Charlotte Bronte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-bronte/) > [The modernist writers found despair inspirational.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-cooley/the-modernist-writers-found-despair-inspirational/) [Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-cooley/) > [The skin and shell of things Though fair are not Thy wish nor prayer but got My meer despair of wings.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-vaughan/the-skin-and-shell-of-things-though-fair-are-not-thy-wish-nor-prayer/) [Henry Vaughan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-vaughan/) > [“A fine setting for a fit of despair,” it occurred to him, “if I were only standing here by accident instead of design.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/franz-kafka/a-fine-setting-for-a-fit-of-despair-it-occurred-to-him-if-i-were-only/) [Franz Kafka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/franz-kafka/) > [Enough for this bow & arrow. It caused me nothing but sorrow. No need for another tomorrow. In your heart, I will never be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louaiq8/enough-for-this-bow-arrow-it-caused-me-nothing-but-sorrow-no-need-for/) [Louaiq8](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louaiq8/) > [True repentance never leads to despair. Its leads home. It leads to grace.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-ortberg/true-repentance-never-leads-to-despair-its-leads-home-it-leads-to/) [John Ortberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-ortberg/) > [Do not consider despair as a thick and high wall standing on your way; it is just a darkness and you can still walk…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/do-not-consider-despair-as-a-thick-and-high-wall-standing-on-your-way/) [Mehmet Murat ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/) > [Despair is the price one pays for setting oneself an impossible aim. It is, one is told, the unforgivable sin, but it is a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/despair-is-the-price-one-pays-for-setting-oneself-an-impossible-aim/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [A speculative despair is unpardonable where it our duty to act.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-burke/a-speculative-despair-is-unpardonable-where-it-our-duty-to-act/) [Edmund Burke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-burke/) > [I have noticed that there is no dissatisfaction like that of the rich. Feed a man, clothe him, put him in a good house,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/i-have-noticed-that-there-is-no-dissatisfaction-like-that-of-the-rich/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) [Browse all 3,181 Despair quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/despair/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "If you want something you can have it, but only if you want everything that goes with it, including all the hard work and the despair, and only if you're willing to risk failure.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Philip Pullman" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-pullman/if-you-want-something-you-can-have-it-but-only-if-you-want-everything/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Despair" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-pullman/if-you-want-something-you-can-have-it-but-only-if-you-want-everything/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f7d/philip-pullman-525_despair_if-you-want-something-you-can-have-it-bu_1730433.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f7d/philip-pullman-525_despair_if-you-want-something-you-can-have-it-bu_1730433.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f7d/philip-pullman-525_despair_if-you-want-something-you-can-have-it-bu_1730433.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“If you want something you can have it, but only if you want everything that goes with it, including all the…” — Philip Pullman", "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": "Philip Pullman", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-pullman/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "If you want something you can...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-pullman/if-you-want-something-you-can-have-it-but-only-if-you-want-everything/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-pullman/if-you-want-something-you-can-have-it-but-only-if-you-want-everything/#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 } } ] } ```