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Quotations by Subject: Desire
(Related Subjects: Hope)
Showing quotations 1 to 30 of 30 quotations in our collections

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
While we don't have much say over the desires that we have, we certainly can decide which we prefer-and then search for ways to act on that basis.: Daniel Akst, We Have Met the Enemy: Self-Control in an Age of Excess, 2011
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
If we desire to avoid insult, we must be able to repel it; if we desire to secure peace, one of the most powerful instruments of our rising prosperity, it must be known, that we are at all times ready for War.: George Washington (1732 - 1799), Fifth annual address to Congress, December 13, 1793
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
Desires are only the lack of something: and those who have the greatest desires are in a worse condition than those who have none, or very slight ones.: Plato (427 BC - 347 BC)
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


Showing quotations 1 to 30 of 30 quotations in our collections
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