Where There Is A Will There Is A Way - Wiktionary

Home » Where There Is A Will There's A Way » Where There Is A Will There Is A Way - Wiktionary

Maybe your like

Jump to content

Contents

move to sidebar hide
  • Beginning
  • 1 English Toggle English subsection
    • 1.1 Alternative forms
    • 1.2 Pronunciation
    • 1.3 Proverb
      • 1.3.2 Translations
    • 1.4 See also
    • 1.5 Further reading
  • Entry
  • Discussion
English
  • Read
  • Edit
  • View history
Tools Tools move to sidebar hide Actions
  • Read
  • Edit
  • View history
General
  • What links here
  • Related changes
  • Upload file
  • Page information
  • Cite this page
  • Get shortened URL
  • Download QR code
Print/export
  • Create a book
  • Download as PDF
  • Printable version
In other projects Appearance move to sidebar hide From Wiktionary, the free dictionary See also: where there is a will, there is a way

English

[edit] WOTD – 7 November 2019

Alternative forms

[edit]
  • where there is a will (ellipsis); where there is a will, there is a way; where there's a will there's a way

Pronunciation

[edit]
  • (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ʍɛə ˌðɛəɹ ɪz ə ˈwɪl ðɛəɹ ɪz ə ˈweɪ/, /wɛə-/
  • Audio (Southern England):(file)
  • (General American) IPA(key): /ʍɛɚ ˌðɛɚ ɪz ə ˈwɪl ðɛɚ ɪz ə ˈweɪ/, /wɛɚ-/

Proverb

[edit]

where there is a will there is a way

  1. If someone wants or wills something strongly enough, a way can be found to make it happen.
    • 1724, Pharmacopolæ Justificati: Or, Apothecaries Vindicated from the Imputation of Ignorance. Wherein is Shown, that an Academical Education is No Way Necessary to Qualify a Man for the Practice of Physick, London: Printed for J. Roberts, […], →OCLC, page 6:[I]f he leaves the School poſſeſs'd of a ſluggiſh indolent Diſpoſition, and of Learning rather forc'd upon him than choſen, it is probable he will forget what he brought thence; but if he be active, emulous and aſpiring, he will certainly find Time for Reading and Thinking; for tho' it be a homely, it is a true Saying, that where there is a Will, there is a Way.
    • 1796, Baron von Voght [i.e., Caspar Voght], “Account of the Management of the Poor in Hamburgh, between the Years 1788 and 1794. In a Letter to Some Friends of the Poor in Great Britain. […]”, in The Pamphleteer: Respectfully Dedicated to both Houses of Parliament, volume XI, number XXII, London: Printed by A[braham] J[ohn] Valpy, […]; sold by Rest Fenner, […]; Lloyd; Black, Kingsbury, and Co., […], published 1818, page 444:[H]ow far the particular practices in regard to Works of Industry may be usefully adopted, it is difficult to determine; but "where there is a will, there is a way:" local habits and circumstances must be the guides.
    • [1810, Pigault-Lebrun [pseudonym; Charles-Antoine-Guillaume Pigault de l’Espinoy], “My Grandfather Riboulard, and My Grandmother Rosalia, are Really Married”, in My Uncle Thomas. A Romance. In Two Volumes. From the French, volume I, New York, N.Y.: Printed [by Isaac Riley] for John Brannan, →OCLC, page 16:Unmindful of her former poverty, she was perpetually teasing Riboulard to take a lodging in Rue St. Honoré, and to allow her to dress in a style more suitable to her station. [...] It is an old saying, that where there is a will, there is always a way. At the end of a few months, Rosalia began to trick out her person, without the corporal's knowledge; [...]]
    • 1840 November, [Samuel] Laman Blanchard, “A Quarrel with Some Old Acquaintances”, in Theodore Hook, editor, The New Monthly Magazine and Humorist, volume LX, 3rd part, number CCXXXIX, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, section 10 (Where There’s a Will There’s a Way), page 408:The powerful and the fortunate are very fond of the maxim, "where there's a will there's a way;" and they rarely use it without expressing in very clear terms a cold, insolent, and uncharitable judgment upon exertions they are themselves not called upon to make, while they modestly declare that such exertions, if by them made, would be triumphant. They say, in sort, to the weak and unprosperous—You might succeed if you would, for effort is success, and we should find a certain and easy conquest where you have met but baffled hopes and continual defeat!
    • 1882 August 24, John McKenzie, “Land Boards Bill”, in New Zealand. Parliamentary Debates. First Session of the Eighth Parliament. […] (House of Representatives), volume XLIII, Wellington: G. Didsbury, government printer, →OCLC, page 550, column 2:Where there is a will there is a way; but where there is no will there is no way, and that is the case with my honorable friend opposite.
    • 1891, Thomas Hardy, chapter IV, in Tess of the d’Urbervilles: A Pure Woman Faithfully Presented […], volume I, London: James R[ipley] Osgood, McIlvaine and Co., […], →OCLC, phase the first (The Maiden), pages 40–41:Rolliver's inn, the single alehouse at this end of the long and broken village, could only boast of an off-license; [...] [T]hirsty strangers [...] wished they could have a restful seat inside. Thus the strangers. But there were also local customers who felt the same wish; and where there's a will there's a way. In a large bedroom upstairs, the window of which was thickly curtained with a great woollen shawl lately discarded by the landlady Mrs. Rolliver, were gathered on this evening nearly a dozen persons, all seeking vinous bliss; [...]
    • 1912 February 9, “a New York detective” [pseudonym], “The Bradys in Death Swamp: Or, Downing a Desperate Band”, in Secret Service: Old and Young King Brady, Detectives, number 681, New York, N.Y.: Frank Tousey, →OCLC, chapter IX (The Rescue of Master Monkey), page 20, column 1:I have learned during my long life the great lesson that where there is a will there is a way. Armed bands have failed against these people. I came here hoping to find the way because I already had the will. Perhaps I did find it when fate threw me in with you.
    • 1987 October 28, James Ezekiel Mbori, “Private Members’ Motions: Additional Water Pipeline from Mzima to Mombasa”, in Republic of Kenya: The National Assembly: Official Report […] (National Assembly of Kenya), volume LXXIII, Nairobi: Printed by the government printer, →OCLC, column 628:We have a saying in English: "Where there is a will there is a way". This House has a will, though the hon. Members of Parliament who represent the entire Kenya. [...] There will be funds made available because where there is a will there is a way. Funds will be made available, and this House always makes funds available every year.
    • [2007, Christopher J. Gallagher, S. Barry Issenberg, “Attendance and Scheduling Issues”, in Simulation in Anesthesia, Philadelphia, Pa.: Saunders Elsevier, →ISBN, page 64:Scheduling is the killer of Simulators. But where there's a will … you know the rest. Kill the Scheduling Monster before it kills you.]
[edit]
  • with a will

Translations

[edit] if someone wants or wills something strongly enough, a way can be found
  • Arabic: إِنَ مَفَاتِيحُ الأُمُورٍ العَزَائِمَ (ʔina mafatiḥu alʔumūri alʕazaʔima)
  • Basque: non gogoa, han zangoa (eu)
  • Bengali: please add this translation if you can
  • Catalan: voler és poder (ca)
  • Chinese: Mandarin: 有志者事竟成 (zh) (yǒuzhìzhě shì jìngchéng), 世上無難事，只要肯攀登 / 世上无难事，只要肯攀登 (shìshàng wú nánshì, zhǐyào kěn pāndēng), 世上無難事，只怕有心人 / 世上无难事，只怕有心人 (shìshàng wú nánshì, zhǐpà yǒuxīnrén)
  • Czech: když se chce, všechno jde (cs), kdo chce, hledá způsoby, kdo nechce, hledá důvody, kde je vůle, tam je cesta
  • Danish: hvor der er vilje, er der vej
  • Dutch: waar een wil is, is een weg, willen is kunnen
  • Esperanto: kion oni volas, tion oni povas
  • Finnish: jos tahtoa on, niin keinot kyllä löytyvät
  • French: à cœur vaillant rien d'impossible (fr), quand on veut, on peut (fr), vouloir c'est pouvoir (fr)
  • Galician: querer é poder
  • German: wo ein Wille ist, ist auch ein Weg (de); wer will, findet Wege, wer nicht will, findet Gründe; wer will, der kann; man muss nur wollen, es ist Platz in der kleinsten Hütte
  • Greek: το θέλειν είναι δύναμις (to thélein eínai dýnamis), θέλειν εστί δύνασθαι (thélein estí dýnasthai)
  • Hebrew: אֵין דָּבָר הָעוֹמֵד בִּפְנֵי הָרָצוֹן (he) (’ein davar ha‘oméd bifnei haratzon), אִם תִּרצוּ אֵין זוֹ אַגָּדָה (he) (’im tirtzu ’ein zo ’aggadah)
  • Hindi: जान है तो जहान है (jān hai to jahān hai), जहाँ चाह वहाँ राह (jahā̃ cāh vahā̃ rāh)
  • Hungarian: nincs lehetetlen, csak tehetetlen (literally “there is no impossible, only powerless”)
  • Icelandic: allt er hægt ef viljinn er fyrir hendi
  • Italian: volere è potere
  • Japanese: 精神一到何事か成らざらん (seishin ittō nanigoto ka narazaran), 愚公山を移す (ja) (gukō yama o utsusu), 思う念力岩をも通す (omou nenriki iwa o mo tōsu), 百姓の息が天に昇る (hyakushō no iki ga ten ni noboru), 為せば成る (ja) (naseba naru), 蟻の思いも天に届く (ari no omoi mo ten ni todoku), 蟻の思いも天に登る (ari no omoi mo ten ni noboru)
  • Kapampangan: patie ating buri ating paralan, istung mikaburi mikiparalan
  • Luxembourgish: wou e Wëllen ass, do ass e Wee
  • Malay: di mana ada kemahuan, di situ ada jalan, ada padi semua kerja jadi, ada beras semua kerja deras
  • Norwegian: please add this translation if you can
  • Persian: خواستن توانستن است (xâstan tavânestan ast, literally “wanting is being able to”)
  • Polish: dla chcącego nic trudnego (pl), dla chcącego nie ma nic trudnego, chcieć to móc (pl), chcącemu nic nie trudno, niechcącemu wszytko
  • Portuguese: querer é poder
  • Russian: бы́ло бы жела́ние, а спо́соб найдётся (býlo by želánije, a spósob najdjótsja), где хоте́ние, там и уме́ние (gde xoténije, tam i uménije)
  • Scottish Gaelic: far am bi toil, bidh gnìomh
  • Serbo-Croatian: sve se može kad se hoće, gdje ima volje, ima i načina
  • Spanish: querer es poder (es), más hace el que quiere que el que puede
  • Swahili: penye nia pana njia
  • Swedish: att vilja är att kunna, viljan kan berg, finns det hjärterum så finns det stjärterum
  • Tagalog: kapag may gusto, may paraan
  • Tajik: хостан тавонистан аст (xostan tavonistan ast)
  • Tamil: மனமிருந்தால் மார்க்கமுண்டு (maṉamiruntāl mārkkamuṇṭu)
  • Thai: ความพยายามอยู่ที่ไหน ความสำเร็จอยู่ที่นั่น (kwaam-pá-yaa-yaam-yùu-tîi-nǎi kwaam-sǎm-rét-yùu-tîi-nân)
  • Turkish: iman varsa imkan da vardır
  • Urdu: please add this translation if you can
  • Vietnamese: có chí thì nên (vi)
  • Zazaki: taqet esto se rayê zi este

See also

[edit]
  • seek and ye shall find

Further reading

[edit]
  • inveniam viam on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
  • “where there’s a will there’s a way, phrase”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
Retrieved from "https://en.wiktionary.org/w/index.php?title=where_there_is_a_will_there_is_a_way&oldid=88594648" Categories:
  • English terms with IPA pronunciation
  • English terms with audio pronunciation
  • English lemmas
  • English proverbs
  • English multiword terms
  • English terms with quotations
Hidden categories:
  • Word of the day archive/2019
  • Word of the day archive
  • Word of the day archive/2019/November
  • Pages with entries
  • Pages with 1 entry
  • Entries with translation boxes
  • Arabic terms with non-redundant manual transliterations
  • Terms with Arabic translations
  • Terms with Basque translations
  • Requests for translations into Bengali
  • Terms with Catalan translations
  • Mandarin terms with non-redundant manual transliterations
  • Terms with Mandarin translations
  • Terms with Czech translations
  • Terms with Danish translations
  • Terms with Dutch translations
  • Terms with Esperanto translations
  • Terms with Finnish translations
  • Terms with French translations
  • Terms with Galician translations
  • Terms with German translations
  • Terms with Greek translations
  • Terms with Hebrew translations
  • Terms with Hindi translations
  • Terms with Hungarian translations
  • Terms with Icelandic translations
  • Terms with Italian translations
  • Terms with Japanese translations
  • Terms with Kapampangan translations
  • Terms with Luxembourgish translations
  • Terms with Malay translations
  • Requests for translations into Norwegian
  • Terms with Persian translations
  • Terms with Polish translations
  • Terms with Portuguese translations
  • Terms with Russian translations
  • Terms with Scottish Gaelic translations
  • Terms with Serbo-Croatian translations
  • Terms with Spanish translations
  • Terms with Swahili translations
  • Terms with Swedish translations
  • Terms with Tagalog translations
  • Terms with Tajik translations
  • Terms with Tamil translations
  • Terms with Thai translations
  • Terms with Turkish translations
  • Requests for translations into Urdu
  • Terms with Vietnamese translations
  • Terms with Zazaki translations
Search Search Toggle the table of contents where there is a will there is a way 7 languages Add topic

Tag » Where There Is A Will There's A Way