Dictionary

where there is a will there is a way en · X

Pronunciation

• /ʍɛɚ ˌðɛɚ ɪz ə ˈwɪl ðɛɚ ɪz ə ˈweɪ/ (General-American)
• /ʍɛə ˌðɛəɹ ɪz ə ˈwɪl ðɛəɹ ɪz ə ˈweɪ/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• (Southern-England) audio
• /wɛə-/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• /wɛɚ-/ (General-American)

Meanings

1. If someone wants or wills something strongly enough, a way can be found to make it happen.
   • [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. 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:
   • 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. 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:
   • 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. 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:
   • [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. 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:
   • 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. 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:
   • 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; [...] 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:
   • 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; [...] [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:
   • 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! 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:
   • Scheduling is the killer of Simulators. But where there's a will … you know the rest. Kill the Scheduling Monster before it kills you. [2007, Christopher J. Gallagher, S. Barry Issenberg, “Attendance and Scheduling Issues”, in Simulation in Anesthesia, Philadelphia, Pa.: Saunders Elsevier, →ISBN, page 64:

Forms

Relateds

seek and ye shall find · with a will

Translations (72)

sv viljan kan berg (if someone wants or wills something strongly enough, a way can be found) · it volere è potere (if someone wants or wills something strongly enough, a way can be found) · ja 精神一到何事か成らざらん (if someone wants or wills something strongly enough, a way can be found) · de wer will, findet Wege, wer nicht will, findet Gründe (if someone wants or wills something strongly enough, a way can be found) · eo kion oni volas, tion oni povas (if someone wants or wills something strongly enough, a way can be found) · nl willen is kunnen (if someone wants or wills something strongly enough, a way can be found) · gd far am bi toil, bidh gnìomh (if someone wants or wills something strongly enough, a way can be found) · ja 蟻の思いも天に登る (if someone wants or wills something strongly enough, a way can be found) · da hvor der er vilje, er der vej (if someone wants or wills something strongly enough, a way can be found) · he אֵין דָּבָר הָעוֹמֵד בִּפְנֵי הָרָצוֹן (if someone wants or wills something strongly enough, a way can be found) · tr iman varsa imkan da vardır (if someone wants or wills something strongly enough, a way can be found) · hi जहाँ चाह वहाँ राह (if someone wants or wills something strongly enough, a way can be found) · bg с воля всичко се постига (if someone wants or wills something strongly enough, a way can be found) · nl waar een wil is, is een weg (if someone wants or wills something strongly enough, a way can be found) · cs když se chce, všechno jde (if someone wants or wills something strongly enough, a way can be found) · es más hace el que quiere que el que puede (if someone wants or wills something strongly enough, a way can be found) · pl chcącemu nic nie trudno, niechcącemu wszytko (if someone wants or wills something strongly enough, a way can be found) · zza taqet esto se rayê zi este (if someone wants or wills something strongly enough, a way can be found) · is allt er hægt ef viljinn er fyrir hendi (if someone wants or wills something strongly enough, a way can be found) · pam istung mikaburi mikiparalan (if someone wants or wills something strongly enough, a way can be found) · ta மனமிருந்தால் மார்க்கமுண்டு (if someone wants or wills something strongly enough, a way can be found) · el το θέλειν είναι δύναμις (if someone wants or wills something strongly enough, a way can be found) · fr vouloir c'est pouvoir (if someone wants or wills something strongly enough, a way can be found) · fr à cœur vaillant rien d'impossible (if someone wants or wills something strongly enough, a way can be found) · pl chcieć to móc (if someone wants or wills something strongly enough, a way can be found) · de es ist Platz in der kleinsten Hütte (if someone wants or wills something strongly enough, a way can be found) · ja 蟻の思いも天に届く (if someone wants or wills something strongly enough, a way can be found) · ja 思う念力岩をも通す (if someone wants or wills something strongly enough, a way can be found) · cs kdo chce, hledá způsoby, kdo nechce, hledá důvody (if someone wants or wills something strongly enough, a way can be found) · sv att vilja är att kunna (if someone wants or wills something strongly enough, a way can be found) · uk де хотіння, там і вміння (if someone wants or wills something strongly enough, a way can be found) · tl walang matigas na tinapay sa mainit na kape (if someone wants or wills something strongly enough, a way can be found) · ru бы́ло бы жела́ние, а спо́соб найдётся (if someone wants or wills something strongly enough, a way can be found) · cmn 有志者事竟成 (if someone wants or wills something strongly enough, a way can be found) · ms ada padi semua kerja jadi, ada beras semua kerja deras (if someone wants or wills something strongly enough, a way can be found) · sw penye nia pana njia (if someone wants or wills something strongly enough, a way can be found) · cmn 只要肯攀登 (if someone wants or wills something strongly enough, a way can be found) · ru где хоте́ние, там и уме́ние (if someone wants or wills something strongly enough, a way can be found) · ja 百姓の息が天に昇る (if someone wants or wills something strongly enough, a way can be found) · pam patie ating buri ating paralan (if someone wants or wills something strongly enough, a way can be found) · he אִם תִּרצוּ אֵין זוֹ אַגָּדָה (if someone wants or wills something strongly enough, a way can be found) · ms di mana ada kemahuan, di situ ada jalan (if someone wants or wills something strongly enough, a way can be found) · tg хостан тавонистан аст (if someone wants or wills something strongly enough, a way can be found) · hi जान है तो जहान है (if someone wants or wills something strongly enough, a way can be found) · ca voler és poder (if someone wants or wills something strongly enough, a way can be found) · vi có chí thì nên (if someone wants or wills something strongly enough, a way can be found) · fi jos tahtoa on, niin keinot kyllä löytyvät (if someone wants or wills something strongly enough, a way can be found) · pl dla chcącego nic trudnego (if someone wants or wills something strongly enough, a way can be found) · ja 為せば成る (if someone wants or wills something strongly enough, a way can be found) · pt querer é poder (if someone wants or wills something strongly enough, a way can be found) · cmn 只怕有心人 (if someone wants or wills something strongly enough, a way can be found) · lb wou e Wëllen ass, do ass e Wee (if someone wants or wills something strongly enough, a way can be found) · de wo ein Wille ist, ist auch ein Weg (if someone wants or wills something strongly enough, a way can be found) · sv finns det hjärterum så finns det stjärterum (if someone wants or wills something strongly enough, a way can be found) · th ความพยายามอยู่ที่ไหน ความสำเร็จอยู่ที่นั่น (if someone wants or wills something strongly enough, a way can be found) · cmn 世上無難事，只要肯攀登 /世上无难事 (if someone wants or wills something strongly enough, a way can be found) · el θέλειν εστί δύνασθαι (if someone wants or wills something strongly enough, a way can be found) · es querer es poder (if someone wants or wills something strongly enough, a way can be found) · tl kapag may gusto, may paraan (if someone wants or wills something strongly enough, a way can be found) · de wer will, der kann (if someone wants or wills something strongly enough, a way can be found) · eu non gogoa, han zangoa (if someone wants or wills something strongly enough, a way can be found) · fr quand on veut, on peut (if someone wants or wills something strongly enough, a way can be found) · pl dla chcącego nie ma nic trudnego (if someone wants or wills something strongly enough, a way can be found) · ja 愚公山を移す (if someone wants or wills something strongly enough, a way can be found) · de man muss nur wollen (if someone wants or wills something strongly enough, a way can be found) · cs kde je vůle, tam je cesta (if someone wants or wills something strongly enough, a way can be found) · ar إِنَ مَفَاتِيحُ الأُمُورٍ العَزَائِمَ (if someone wants or wills something strongly enough, a way can be found) · sh gdje ima volje, ima i načina (if someone wants or wills something strongly enough, a way can be found) · cmn 世上無難事，只怕有心人 /世上无难事 (if someone wants or wills something strongly enough, a way can be found) · gl querer é poder (if someone wants or wills something strongly enough, a way can be found) · sh sve se može kad se hoće (if someone wants or wills something strongly enough, a way can be found) · hu nincs lehetetlen, csak tehetetlen (if someone wants or wills something strongly enough, a way can be found)