quotations about desire
Women believe -- or at least often pretend to believe -- that all our tenderness for them springs from desire; that we love them when we have not for a time enjoyed them, and dismiss them when we are sated, or to express it more precisely, exhausted. There is no truth in this idea, though it may be made to appear true. When we are rigid with desire, we are apt to pretend a great tenderness in the hope of satisfying that desire; but at no other time are we in fact so liable to treat women brutally, and so unlikely to feel any deep emotion but one.
GENE WOLFE
The Claw of the Conciliator
Desires are central to the soul's unfolding and should not be dismissed before giving them careful attention.
THOMAS MOORE
Soul Mates
I'm touched with desire
What don't I do?
I'll throw the logs on the fire
I'll build my world around you
BOB DYLAN
"Beyond the Horizon"
Love and Desire contended for primacy, "Without me," said Love, "was nothing created." "Nor without me," answered Desire, "was anything begotten." Then Love admitted Desire to his companionship; but, when they walk together, Love always goes first.
RICHARD GARNETT
De Flagello Myrtes
Plant the seed of desire in your mind and it forms a nucleus with power to attract to itself everything needed for its fulfillment.
ROBERT J. COLLIER
attributed, Wisdom for the Soul
My thoughts of longing are like the smoke grass,
That grows always in profusion, winter or spring!
LI BAI
"To His Three Friends"
My wants are many, and, if told,
Would muster many a score;
And were each wish a mint of gold,
I still would want for more.
JOHN QUINCY ADAMS
The Quincy Patriot, Sep. 25, 1841
If you have desired your object only for one day, your love perhaps will not last more than three nights.
HONORÉ DE BALZAC
Physiology of Marriage
God has given you these desires ... He gives us carnal love for a purpose, for mutual delight, to produce children, and the sanctification of the soul. Cast yourself headlong on God's love, begging His grace to help you in the perfection of the nature He gave you. To love another so deeply that we seek union with the beloved, by that to bring an immortal soul into this world and care for and shape it ... that is to imitate God Himself in His splendor!
S. M. STIRLING
The Sunrise Lands
Naked I seek the camp of those who desire nothing.
HORACE
Odes
Man's many desires are like the small metal coins he carries about in his pocket. The more he has the more they weight him down.
SATYA SAI BABA
Sai Baba: Man of Miracles
It seems to me we can never give up longing and wishing while we are thoroughly alive. There are certain things we feel to be beautiful and good, and we must hunger after them. How can we ever be satisfied without them until our feelings are deadened?
GEORGE ELIOT
The Mill on the Floss