Desire quotes

Desire

4.5K quotes on this topic — from poets, philosophers, and thinkers across history.

4.5K quotes

Explore further

Browse quotes that often appear alongside desire — connected by shared ideas and recurring themes.

Men 68.6K quotes People 100.4K quotes Thinking 95.1K quotes Heart 24K quotes Want 24.4K quotes Mind 16.4K quotes

Quote collection

Desire quotes (page 56 of 225)

Follow a thought to its author, or read the full quote page.

Jane Austen Novelist
Desire

"Upon the whole, therefore, she found, what has been sometimes found before, that an event to which she had looked forward with impatient desire, did not in taking place, bring all the satisfaction she had promised herself. It was consequently necessary to name some other period for the commencement of actual felicity; to have some other point on which her wishes and hopes might be fixed, and by again enjoying the pleasure of anticipation, console herself for the present, and prepare for another disappointment."

Names Desire Disappointment
Read quote 4 likes
Jean-Paul Sartre Philosopher, Writer
Desire

"And I too wanted to be. That is all I wanted; and this is the last word. At the bottom of all these attempts which seemed without bounds, I find the same desire again: to drive existence out of me, to rid the passing moments of their fat, to twist them, dry them, purify myself, harden myself, to give back at last the sharp, precise sound of a saxophone note. That could even make an apologue: there was a poor man who got in the wrong world."

Men Giving Desire
Read quote 4 likes
Joseph Conrad Novelist, Short Story Writer
Desire

"I had no particular desire to enlighten them, but I had some difficulty in restraining myself from laughing in their faces, so full of stupid importance."

Desire Stupid Laughing
Read quote 4 likes
Joseph Conrad Novelist, Short Story Writer
Desire

"That faculty of beholding at a hint the face of his desire and the shape of his dream, without which the earth would know no lover and no adventurer."

Dream Desire Adventure
Read quote 4 likes
John Calvin Theologian, Reformer
Desire

"Though Satan instils his poison, and fans the flames of our corrupt desires within us,we are yet not carried by any external force to the commission of sin, but our own flesh entices us, and we willingly yield to its allurements."

Desire Flames Yield
Read quote 4 likes
John Carroll Actor
Desire

"For Dostoevsky, Fourier is one of the industrious ant-hill engineers, busy, protected by the delusion that his goal, the will-ordered society, is the summation of all his desires."

Goal Desire Ants
Read quote 4 likes
Jim George Artist
Desire

"A man after God's own heart is... a man who yearns to please God, a man who desires to grow spiritually, a man who had a heart that obeys."

Men Heart Desire
Read quote 4 likes
Meir Shalev Author
Desire

"Human memory awakens and extinguishes at will. It dulls and sharpens actions, enlarges and shrinks those who perform them. It humbles and exalts as it desires. When summoned, it slips away, and when it returns, it will do so at the time and place that suits it. It recognizes no chief, no overseer, no classifier, no ruler. Stories mix and mingle, facts sprout new shoots. The situations and words and scents-oh, the scents!-encrusted there are stored in the most disorganized and wonderful manner, not chronologically, not according to size or importance or even the alphabet."

Stories Memories Desire
Read quote 4 likes
Louisa May Alcott Novelist, Poet
Desire

"...and the most intense desire gave force to her passionate words as the girl glanced despairingly about the dreary room like a caged creature on the point of breaking loose."

Girl Desire Passionate
Read quote 4 likes
E. M. Forster Novelist, Essayist
Desire

"It is obvious enough for the reader to conclude, "She loves young Emerson." A reader in Lucy's place would not find it obvious. Life is easy to chronicle, but bewildering to practice, and we welcome "nerves" or any other shibboleth that will cloak our personal desire. She loved Cecil; George made her nervous; will the reader explain to her that the phrases should have been reversed?"

Desire Practice Should Have
Read quote 3 likes
D. H. Lawrence Novelist, Poet
Desire

"There is the unknown and the unknowable which propounds all creation. This we cannot love , we can only accept it as a term of our own limitation and ratification. We can only know that from the unknown, profound desires enter in upon us, and that the fulfilling of these desires is the fulfilling of creation."

Desire Profound Creation
Read quote 3 likes
Dalai Lama Spiritual Leader
Desire

"If there are sound reasons or bases for the points you demand, then there is no need for violence. On the other hand, when there is no sound reason that concessions should be made to you but mainly your own desire, then reason cannot work and you have to rely on force. Thus using force is not a sign of strength but rather a sign of weakness."

Hands Desire Violence
Read quote 3 likes
Dalai Lama Spiritual Leader
Desire

"It is my fundamental belief that all human beings share the same basic aspirations: that we all want hapiness and that we all share suffering. Asians, just like Americans, Europeans, and the rest of the world, share a desire to live life to its fullest, to better ourselves and the lives of our loved ones."

Desire Suffering Live Life
Read quote 3 likes