Anna Freud
Psychoanalyst
"If some longing goes unmet, don't be astonished. We call that Life."
Longing quotes
Longing
228 quotes on this topic — from poets, philosophers, and thinkers across history.
William Shakespeare
Playwright, Poet
"Give me my robe, put on my crown; I have Immortal longings in me."
Morrie Schwartz
Professor, Author
"Do the kind of things that come from the heart, When you do, you won't be dissatisfied, you won't be envious, you won't be longing for somebody else's things. On the contrary, you'll be overhelmed with what comes back"
Martin Heidegger
Philosopher
"Longing is the agony of the nearness of the distant."
Esther Perel
Psychotherapist, Author
"Sometimes it has to do with other longings that are much more existential. Sometimes you go elsewhere not because you are not liking the one you are with; you are not liking the person you have become."
Explore further
Topics related to Longing
Browse quotes that often appear alongside longing — connected by shared ideas and recurring themes.
Quote collection
Longing quotes (page 1 of 12)
Follow a thought to its author, or read the full quote page.
"Art is born and takes hold wherever there is a timeless and insatiable longing for the spiritual..."
Read quote
36 likes
"The desire is thy prayers; and if thy desire is without ceasing, thy prayer will also be without ceasing. The continuance of your longing is the continuance of your prayer."
Read quote
28 likes
"On the whole, the longing for solitude is a sign that there still is spirit in a person and is a measure of what spirit there is."
Read quote
25 likes
"The longing for light is the longing for consciousness."
Read quote
24 likes
"Creativity springs from the yearning to be the fullness of who you are."
Read quote
24 likes
"At the centre of the human heart is the longing for an absolute good, a longing which is always there and is never appeased by any object in this world."
Read quote
20 likes
"Birdsong brings relief to my longing. I am just as ecstatic as they are, but with nothing to say."
Read quote
18 likes
"The longing for Paradise is man's longing not to be man."
Read quote
17 likes
"It is my inner conviction that the development of science seeks in the main to satisfy the longing for pure knowledge."
Read quote
15 likes
"only an aching heart Conceives a changeless work of art."
Read quote
14 likes
"She was lost in her longing to understand."
Read quote
13 likes
"My love is as a fever, longing still."
Read quote
12 likes
"Love in the form of longing and deprivation lowers the self regard."
Read quote
12 likes
"The Heart is like a candle, longing to be lit!"
Read quote
11 likes
"There are lovers content with longing. I’m not one of them."
Read quote
11 likes
"I have always at least, ever since I can remember had a kind of longing for death."
Read quote
10 likes
"How can one live without hope and longing?"
Read quote
10 likes
"We are all the same ... all the same... longing to find our way back ... back to the One ... back to the Only One!"
Read quote
10 likes
"What hidden, hoarded longings there are in all of us."
Read quote
10 likes
"I never found beauty in longing for the impossible and never found the possible to be beyond my reach."
Read quote
9 likes