where there is a will, there is a way

A form of where there is a will there is a way — If someone wants or wills something strongly enough, a way can be found to make it happen.

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Meanings

proverb
  1. alternativeAlternative form of where there is a will there is a way.

    There is more than enough legislation to deal with illegal traveller encampments. It is also important to remember that where there is a will, there is a way.

    2014 July 31, Bianca Castro, quoting Robert Halfon, “MP criticises senior police for failing to deal with travellers”, in Harlow Star, Harlow, Essex, page 7, column 4
    2 more examples

    [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

    [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
Cite this entry
APA

where there is a will, there is a way. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/where%20there%20is%20a%20will%2C%20there%20is%20a%20way

MLA

“where there is a will, there is a way.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/where%20there%20is%20a%20will%2C%20there%20is%20a%20way. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “where there is a will, there is a way,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/where%20there%20is%20a%20will%2C%20there%20is%20a%20way.

Source: where there is a will, there is a way on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.