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• Where there's a will, there's a way
  Where there's a will, there's a way

  If you want something badly enough, you can find the means to get it.
• where there's a will, there's a way
  where there's a will, there's a way

  If one really wants to do something, one can. For example, Max has no idea of how to get the money to repair his boat, but where there's a will. This proverb was stated slightly differently in 1640 (To him that will, ways are not wanting) but has been repeated in its present form since the early 1800s. It is so well known it is often shortened, as in the example.

Where there's a will, there's a way

Cultural  

1. If you want something badly enough, you can find the means to get it.

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where there's a will, there's a way Idioms  

1. If one really wants to do something, one can. For example, Max has no idea of how to get the money to repair his boat, but where there's a will. This proverb was stated slightly differently in 1640 (To him that will, ways are not wanting) but has been repeated in its present form since the early 1800s. It is so well known it is often shortened, as in the example.

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

Where there's a will, there's a way where there's a will, there's a way

Where there’s a will, there’s a way to achieve far more successful recycling rates than the dismal performance in New York and most of the country.

From New York Times ● Apr. 14, 2010

"Where there's a will there's a way," he murmured.

From Jonah and Co. by Dornford Yates

The old saw, Where there's a will there's a way, means—if it means anything—that a great deal may be effected by energy.

From Willis the Pilot by Paul Adrien

Where there’s a will there’s a way, that’s one comfort; and, by my faith, what I’ve seen of some of those little rebel colonists, they are well worth winning.”

From Hurricane Hurry by William Henry Giles Kingston

"Where there's a will, there's a way," thought Mr. Galloway.

From The Channings by Mrs. Henry Wood

And where there’s a will, there’s a way.

From Slate ● Mar. 24, 2026

I’m just hoping where there’s a will, there’s a way.

From Salon ● Apr. 8, 2025

Indeed, where there’s a will, there’s a way.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 15, 2025

He argued that all too often, promises made at global summits were not met, but he insisted that "where there's a will, there's a way".

From BBC ● Aug. 3, 2023

So they went to work with a will and "where there's a will there's a way," in evil as well as good.

From From Boyhood to Manhood Life of Benjamin Franklin by William M. (William Makepeace) Thayer