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Desire19 quotes
I desire to press in my arms the loveliness which has not yet come into the world. — James Joyce · 1915By night on my bed I sought him whom my soul loveth. — Song of Solomon 3:1 · 965 BCLonging on a large scale is what makes history. — Don DeLillo · 1997Imagine that human existence is defined by an Ache: the Ache of our not being, each of us, the center of the universe; of our desires forever outnumbering our means of satisfying them. — Jonathan Franzen · 1996Longing, we say, because desire is full of endless distances. — Robert Hass · 1979I put for a general inclination of all mankind, a perpetual and restless desire of power after power, that ceaseth only in death. — Thomas Hobbes · 1651All 19 quotes →
It is not the man who has too little, but the man who craves more, that is poor. — Seneca · 65It is the nature of desire not to be satisfied, and most men live only for the gratification of it. The beginning of reform is not so much to equalize property as to train the noble sort of natures not to desire more, and to prevent the lower from getting more. — Aristotle · 350 BCWhen in recollection he withdraws all his senses from the attractions of the pleasures of sense, even as a tortoise withdraws all his limbs, then his is a serene wisdom. — Bhagavad Gita · 200 BC
Human nature3 quotes
I put for a general inclination of all mankind, a perpetual and restless desire of power after power, that ceaseth only in death. — Thomas Hobbes · 1651A human being has a natural desire to have more of a good thing than he needs. — Mark Twain · 1897To deny our own impulses is to deny the very thing that makes us human. — Mouse · 1999
It is not the man who has too little, but the man who craves more, that is poor. — Seneca · 65It is the nature of desire not to be satisfied, and most men live only for the gratification of it. The beginning of reform is not so much to equalize property as to train the noble sort of natures not to desire more, and to prevent the lower from getting more. — Aristotle · 350 BC
Appetite2 quotes
A human being has a natural desire to have more of a good thing than he needs. — Mark Twain · 1897How strongly does this bear out the truth of Plato's maxim, that he who wishes to be really rich ought to lessen his desires rather than increase his property, because if a man places no bounds to his covetousness, he never will be free from want and misery. — Plutarch
Excess2 quotes
Can one desire too much of a good thing? — William Shakespeare · 1616A human being has a natural desire to have more of a good thing than he needs. — Mark Twain · 1897
Materialism2 quotes
It is not the man who has too little, but the man who craves more, that is poor. — Seneca · 65It is the nature of desire not to be satisfied, and most men live only for the gratification of it. The beginning of reform is not so much to equalize property as to train the noble sort of natures not to desire more, and to prevent the lower from getting more. — Aristotle · 350 BC
Imagine that human existence is defined by an Ache: the Ache of our not being, each of us, the center of the universe; of our desires forever outnumbering our means of satisfying them. — Jonathan Franzen · 1996The desires of the heart are as crooked as corkscrews. Not to be born is the best for man. — W.H. Auden · 1937
How strongly does this bear out the truth of Plato's maxim, that he who wishes to be really rich ought to lessen his desires rather than increase his property, because if a man places no bounds to his covetousness, he never will be free from want and misery. — Plutarch
Delusion1 quote
People of this world are deluded. They're always longing for something-always, in a word, seeking. — Bodhidharma · 528 BC
I put for a general inclination of all mankind, a perpetual and restless desire of power after power, that ceaseth only in death. — Thomas Hobbes · 1651
Desire makes everything blossom; possession makes everything wither and fade. — Marcel Proust · 1896
Longing on a large scale is what makes history. — Don DeLillo · 1997
Freedom1 quote
How strongly does this bear out the truth of Plato's maxim, that he who wishes to be really rich ought to lessen his desires rather than increase his property, because if a man places no bounds to his covetousness, he never will be free from want and misery. — Plutarch
Hope1 quote
I desire to press in my arms the loveliness which has not yet come into the world. — James Joyce · 1915
Impulse1 quote
To deny our own impulses is to deny the very thing that makes us human. — Mouse · 1999
Love1 quote
By night on my bed I sought him whom my soul loveth. — Song of Solomon 3:1 · 965 BC
Power1 quote
I put for a general inclination of all mankind, a perpetual and restless desire of power after power, that ceaseth only in death. — Thomas Hobbes · 1651
It is the nature of desire not to be satisfied, and most men live only for the gratification of it. The beginning of reform is not so much to equalize property as to train the noble sort of natures not to desire more, and to prevent the lower from getting more. — Aristotle · 350 BC
Seeking1 quote
People of this world are deluded. They're always longing for something-always, in a word, seeking. — Bodhidharma · 528 BC
Sex1 quote
By night on my bed I sought him whom my soul loveth. — Song of Solomon 3:1 · 965 BC
Temptation1 quote
When in recollection he withdraws all his senses from the attractions of the pleasures of sense, even as a tortoise withdraws all his limbs, then his is a serene wisdom. — Bhagavad Gita · 200 BC
Wealth1 quote
How strongly does this bear out the truth of Plato's maxim, that he who wishes to be really rich ought to lessen his desires rather than increase his property, because if a man places no bounds to his covetousness, he never will be free from want and misery. — Plutarch
Thy wish was father…to that thought. — William Shakespeare · 1597