Grocott & Ward, comps. Grocott’s Familiar Quotations, 6th ed. 189-?.
Will
My will is something sorted with his wish:
Muse not that I thus suddenly proceed;
For what I will, I will, and there an end.
Shakespeare.—Two Gentlemen of Verona, Act I. Scene 3.
[Antonio to Proteus on hearing from him that Valentine desired his presence at the Emperor’s court.]
He that will not when he may,
When he will, he shall have nay.
Burton.—Anat. of Melancholy, Part III. Sect. 2. Memb. 5. Subsect. 5.
She that will not when she may,
When she will, she shall have nay.
Murphy.—The Upholsterer, Act II.
He that wold not when he might,
He shall not when he wold—a.
Percy Reliques, Vol. II. The Baffled Knight.
He that complies against his will,
Is of his own opinion still;
Which he may adhere to, yet disown,
For reasons to himself best known.
Butler.—Hudibras, Part III. Canto III. Line 547.
She can’t help her temper; and, if she complies against her will, you know it is the more obliging in her.
Fielding.—The Different Husbands, Act I. Scene 1.
In idle wishes fools supinely stay,
Be there a will, and wisdom finds a way.
Crabbe.—The Birth of Flattery.
And binding nature fast in fate,
Left free the human will.
Pope.—Universal Prayer, Verse 3.