About Desire

The wise man will love; all others will desire.
Afranius
One must not lose desires. They are mighty stimulants to creativeness, to love, and to long life.
Alexander A. Bogomoletz
Man is an animal which, alone among the animals, refuses to be satisfied by the fulfilment of animal desires.
Alexander Graham Bell (1847 - 1922)
Dwell not upon thy weariness, thy strength shall be according to the measure of thy desire.
Arab Proverb
Again, men in general desire the good, and not merely what their fathers had.
Aristotle (384 BC - 322 BC), Politics
I count him braver who overcomes his desires than him who overcomes his enemies.
Aristotle (384 BC - 322 BC), In Stobaeus, Florilegium
It is the nature of desire not to be satisfied, and most men live only for the gratification of it.
Aristotle (384 BC - 322 BC), Politics
How helpless we are, like netted birds, when we are caught by desire!
Belva Plain
If you greatly desire something, have the guts to stake everything on obtaining it.
Brendan Francis
In men of the highest character and noblest genius there is to be found an insatiable desire for honour, command, power, and glory.
Cicero (106 BC - 43 BC)
Let your desires be ruled by reason.(Appetitus Rationi Pareat)
Cicero (106 BC - 43 BC)
He who desires is always poor.
Claudianus
There are two tragedies in life. One is not to get your heart's desire. The other is to get it.
George Bernard Shaw (1856 - 1950), "Man and Superman" (1903), act 4
Man is the only animal whose desires increase as they are fed; the only animal that is never satisfied.
Henry George (1839 - 1897)
Manifest plainness,Embrace simplicity,Reduce selfishness,Have few desires.
Lao-tzu (604 BC - 531 BC), The Way of Lao-tzu
There is no calamity greater than lavish desires.There is no greater guilt than discontentment.And there is no greater disaster than greed.
Lao-tzu (604 BC - 531 BC), The Way of Lao-tzu
Some prices are just too high, no matter how much you may want the prize. The one thing you can't trade for your heart's desire is your heart.
Lois McMaster Bujold, "Memory", 1996
One must desire something to be alive.
Margaret Deland, O Magazine, September 2002
A human being has a natural desire to have more of a good thing than he needs.
Mark Twain (1835 - 1910), Following the Equator
When you relinquish the desire to control your future, you can have more happiness.
Nicole Kidman, in The Scotsman
We desire nothing so much as what we ought not to have.
Publilius Syrus (~100 BC), Maxims
Desire creates the power.
Raymond Holliwell
Life ought to be a struggle of desire toward adventures whose nobility will fertilize the soul.
Rebecca West (1892 - 1983)
What makes the engine go? Desire, desire, desire.
Stanley Kunitz, O Magazine, September 2003
Those who restrain desire, do so because theirs is weak enough to be restrained.
William Blake (1757 - 1827), The Marriage of Heaven and Hell (c. 1790-1793)
Every man has business and desire, Such as it is.
William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616), "Hamlet", Act 1 scene 5