quote · Words worth keeping
Thy wish was father, Harry, to that thought.
Thy wish was father, Harry, to that thought.
Approximate author period: c. 1590 AD · renaissance
Understand the thought
Meaning in plain English
Someone's belief may have been produced by what they want to be true, rather than by good evidence that it is true.
What the words are saying
'Father' is a metaphor for origin: the wish gives birth to the thought. The person first desires an outcome and then finds it easy to believe that the outcome has happened or will happen. This reverses the order of reasoning in which evidence is considered before a conclusion is accepted. The saying is useful for distinguishing hope from a factual judgement. It does not say that hoping is wrong, only that a desire cannot by itself establish a fact.
Everyday example
Someone wants a friend to visit so much that they interpret a vague 'perhaps' as a definite promise. Their expectation is stronger than the evidence they were given.
When to use it
Use it when a conclusion seems to depend mainly on how welcome it would be if it were true.
What it does not mean
A hoped-for conclusion can still be correct. The problem is the reasoning used to support it, not simply the presence of a wish.
Agent-assisted editorial interpretation. This explains the words; it does not by itself verify their author or earliest origin.
Attribution & collection notes
- Author or tradition
- William Shakespeare
Attribution: attributed - Country attributed
- Not established
A country attribution does not establish the earliest origin. - Historical period
- Approximate author period: c. 1590 AD · renaissance
author lifetime midpoint
An author lifetime, approximate period or collection date is not necessarily the date when these words were first written or spoken. - Recorded source
- Familiar Quotations, ninth edition (1905 printing) (1905 AD)
King Henry IV. Part II. Act iv. Sc. 5.
A collection's publication date can be later than the words it records.
The voice behind the words.
Listed in the author section of Bartlett’s ninth-edition anthology, in the linked 1905 printing. Dates reflect that historical edition and may differ from modern scholarship.
More from William Shakespeare ↗