Just imagine you’re four years old, and someone makes the following proposal: If you’ll wait until after he runs an errand, you can have two marshmallows for a treat. If you can’t wait until then, you can have only one—but you can have it right now. It is a challenge sure to try the soul of any four-year-old, a microcosm of the eternal battle between impulse and restraint, id and ego, desire and self-control, gratification and delay… There is perhaps no psychological skill more fundamental than resisting impulse. It is the root of all emotional self-control, since all emotions, by their very nature, led to one or another impulse to act.
—Daniel Goleman (b.1946) American Psychologist, Author, Science Journalist
Bounded in his nature, infinite in his desires, man is a fallen god who has a recollection of heaven.
—Alphonse de Lamartine (1790–1869) French Poet, Politician, Historian
The first principle of success is desire—knowing what you want. Desire is the planting of your seed. Very few persons, comparatively, know how to Desire with sufficient intensity. They do not know what it is to feel and manifest that intense, eager, longing, craving, insistent, demanding, ravenous Desire which is akin to the persistent, insistent, ardent, overwhelming desire of the drowning man for a breath of air; of the shipwrecked or desert-lost man for a drink of water; of the famished man for bread and meat.
—Robert Collier (1885–1950) American Self-Help Author
Desire is the starting point of all achievement, not a hope, not a wish, but a keen pulsating desire which transcends everything.
—Napoleon Hill (1883–1970) American Author, Journalist, Attorney, Lecturer
Fear, desire, hope, still push us on toward the future.
—Michel de Montaigne (1533–92) French Essayist
We accomplish things by directing our desires, not by ignoring them.
—Unknown
Everything is perfect in the universe—even your desire to improve it.
—Wayne Dyer (1940–2015) American Self-Help Author
Manifest plainness, embrace simplicity, reduce selfishness, have few desires.
—Laozi (fl.6th Century BCE) Chinese Philosopher, Sage
All human actions have one or more of these seven causes: chance, nature, compulsion, habit, reason, passion, and desire.
—Aristotle (384BCE–322BCE) Ancient Greek Philosopher, Scholar
I never desired to please the rabble. What pleased them, I did not learn; and what I knew was far removed from their understanding.
—Epicurus (c.341–270 BCE) Greek Philosopher
The more clear you are on what you want, the more power you will have.
—Unknown
Which 20% of sources are causing 80% of my problems and unhappiness? Which 20% of sources are resulting in 80% of my desired outcomes and happiness?
—Tim Ferriss (b.1977) American Self-help Author
The man never feels the want of what it never occurs to him to ask for.
—Arthur Schopenhauer (1788–1860) German Philosopher
Your desires and true beliefs have a way of playing blind man’s bluff. You must corner the inner facts…
—David Seabury (1885–1960) American Psychologist
I believe that the very purpose of life is to be happy. From the very core of our being, we desire contentment. In my own limited experience I have found that the more we care for the happiness of others, the greater is our own sense of well-being. Cultivating a close, warmhearted feeling for others automatically puts the mind at ease. It helps remove whatever fears or insecurities we may have and gives us the strength to cope with any obstacles we encounter. It is the principal source of success in life. Since we are not solely material creatures, it is a mistake to place all our hopes for happiness on external development alone. The key is to develop inner peace.
—The 14th Dalai Lama (b.1935) Tibetan Buddhist Leader, Civil Rights Advocate, Author
If you are bored with life, if you don’t get up every morning with a burning desire to do things—you don’t have enough goals.
—Lou Holtz (1893–1980) American Stage Performer
Man is a creation of desire, not a creation of need.
—Gaston Bachelard (1884–1962) French Philosopher, Psychoanalyst, Poet
The Coach is the antidote to the Victim’s Rescuer in the DDT…Mainly, a Coach supports, assists, and facilitates the Creator in manifesting a desired outcome. A Coach holds others to be whole, resourceful, and creative…They help you dig deep inside yourself to gain clarity about what you want to create in your life.
—David Emerald
If we go down into ourselves, we find that we possess exactly what we desire.
—Simone Weil (1909–1943) French Philosopher, Political Activist
Concentrated thoughts produce desired results.
—Zig Ziglar (1926–2012) American Author
Much pleasure and little grief is every man’s desire.
—Spanish Proverb
Every sale has five basic obstacles: no need, no money, no hurry, no desire, and no trust.
—Zig Ziglar (1926–2012) American Author
Every desire bears its death in its very gratification.—Curiosity languishes under repeated stimulants, and novelties cease to excite surprise, until at length we do not wonder even at a miracle.
—Washington Irving (1783–1859) American Essayist, Biographer, Historian
Before we passionately desire anything which another enjoys, we should examine as to the happiness of its possessor.
—Francois de La Rochefoucauld (1613–80) French Writer
Unlawful desires are punished after the effect of enjoying; but impossible desires are punished in the desire itself.
—Philip Sidney (1554–86) English Soldier Poet, Courtier
Don’t allow your animal nature to rule your reason.
—Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Rumi (1207–73) Persian Muslim Mystic
The stoical schemes of supplying our wants by lopping off our desires, is like cutting off our feet when we want shoes.
—Jonathan Swift (1667–1745) Irish Satirist
The individual who wants to reach the top in business must appreciate the might of the force of habit and must understand that practices are what create habits. He must be quick to break those habits that can break him and hasten to adopt those practices that will become the habits that help him achieve the success he desires.
—J. Paul Getty (1892–1976) American Art Collector, Philanthropist, Businessperson
If you desire faith, then you have faith enough.
—Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806–61) English Poet
Have the courage of your desire.
—George Gissing (1857–1903) English Novelist
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