if wishes were horses

Idioms  

1. If one could readily have what one wanted, life would be easy. For example, Wendy would love a brand-new car for her sixteenth birthday but—if wishes were horses. This expression is a shortening of If wishes were horses, beggars would ride, first recorded about 1628 in a collection of Scottish proverbs.

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Example Sentences

It is said "if wishes were horses, beggars would ride."

From Wit, Humor, Reason, Rhetoric, Prose, Poetry and Story Woven into Eight Popular Lectures by Bain, George W.

"Well, if wishes were horses, beggars would ride, as some old duffer said."

From Tom Slade at Temple Camp by Fitzhugh, Percy Keese

But if wishes were horses, beggars might ride!—And you've cut all your pretty bright flowers!

From Lewis Rand by Johnston, Mary

But, "if wishes were horses beggars might ride," as Laura pointed out The milk was spilled.

From The Girls of Central High on Lake Luna or, The Crew That Won by Morrison, Gertrude W.