--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: But what are wishes, compared with…" description: "\"But what are wishes, compared with longings?\" — Sylvia Townsend Warner" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d75/sylvia-townsend-warner-7063_desire_but-what-are-wishes-compared-with-longin_1989376.jpg" --- # But what are wishes, compared with longings? ![“But what are wishes, compared with longings?” quote by Sylvia Townsend Warner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d75/sylvia-townsend-warner-7063_desire_but-what-are-wishes-compared-with-longin_1989376.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d75/sylvia-townsend-warner-7063_desire_but-what-are-wishes-compared-with-longin_1989376.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d75/sylvia-townsend-warner-7063_desire_but-what-are-wishes-compared-with-longin_1989376.jpg) > “But what are wishes, compared with longings?” [Sylvia Townsend Warner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-townsend-warner/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The quote contrasts fleeting wishes with deeper, persistent longings, suggesting true desire is more enduring than momentary hopes. **In simple terms:** Wishes are fleeting; longings endure. Key Takeaway Focus on lasting passions, not fleeting wishes. Themes desire reflection time Mood contemplative melancholic Type poetic philosophical When to use this quote - personal growth - creative projects - relationship goals - career aspirations Key Concepts existentialism psychology Questions to Reflect On - What longings drive you beyond temporary wishes? - How can you nurture deeper desires? A Different Perspective Wishes may be easier to achieve but lack depth. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Compared](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/compared/) [Compared Longings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/compared-longings-3441494/) [Desire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/desire/) [Longing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/longing/) [Longings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/longings/) [Nostalgia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nostalgia/) [Wish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wish/) [Wishes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wishes/) [Wishes Compared](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wishes-compared-3441495/) ## Related quotes > [Sometimes it has to do with other longings that are much more existential. 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As cages…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/libba-bray/how-terrible-it-is-to-have-no-cares-no-longings-i-do-not-fit-i-feel/) [Libba Bray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/libba-bray/) > [One of the greatest human longings is to be close to someone.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathleen-r-fischer/one-of-the-greatest-human-longings-is-to-be-close-to-someone/) [Kathleen R Fischer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathleen-r-fischer/) > [Never cut loose from your longings.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amos-oz/never-cut-loose-from-your-longings/) [Amos Oz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amos-oz/) > [...all his longings came out as a kind of disdain for what he longed for.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-hollinghurst/all-his-longings-came-out-as-a-kind-of-disdain-for-what-he-longed-for/) [Alan Hollinghurst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-hollinghurst/) > [The life of woman is full of woe, Toiling on and on and on, With breaking heart, and tearful eyes, The secret longings that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/the-life-of-woman-is-full-of-woe-toiling-on-and-on-and-on-with/) [Henry Wadsworth Longfellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/) > [It is a time when one’s spirit is subdued and sad, one knows not why; when the past seems a storm-swept desolation, life a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/it-is-a-time-when-one-s-spirit-is-subdued-and-sad-one-knows-not-why/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [I wish I was still that little girl..the one that the only kind of hurt was when I scraped my knees. 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Our spirits yearn…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vaughn-heppner/trifles-cannot-satisfy-our-longings-sensual-pleasures-power-over-our/) [Vaughn Heppner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vaughn-heppner/) > [“This is what we do with books: we put our longings and our questions and our angst onto trading ships and send them out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julian-darius/this-is-what-we-do-with-books-we-put-our-longings-and-our-questions/) [Julian Darius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julian-darius/) > [ “\[She was\] a creature full of eager, passionate longings for all that was beautiful and glad; thirsty for all knowledge; with an ear straining… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/she-was-a-creature-full-of-eager-passionate-longings-for-all-that-was/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [“Out of infinite longings rise finite deeds like weak fountains, falling back just in time and trembling. 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