People will insist on treating the mons Veneris as though it were Mount Everest. Too silly!
—Aldous Huxley (1894–1963) English Humanist, Pacifist, Essayist, Short Story Writer, Satirist
The desire is thy prayers; and if thy desire is without ceasing, thy prayer will also be without ceasing. The continuance of your longing is the continuance of your prayer.
—Augustine of Hippo (354–430) Roman-African Christian Philosopher
I have looked on a lot of women with lust. I’ve committed adultery in my heart many times. God recognizes I will do this and forgives me.
—Jimmy Carter (b.1924) American Head of State, Military Leader
No one every suddenly became depraved.
—Juvenal (c.60–c.136 CE) Roman Poet
If I discover within myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world
—C. S. Lewis (1898-1963) Irish-born British Academic, Author, Literary Scholar
A desire to be observed, considered, esteemed, praised, beloved, and admired by his fellows is one of the earliest as well as the keenest dispositions discovered in the heart of man.
—John Adams (1735–1826) American Head of State, Lawyer
We accomplish things by directing our desires, not by ignoring them.
—Unknown
You need to be right, you need to make money, you need to be successful. It’s the neediness that’s the problem. Instead, become that which attracts those things.
—David R. Hawkins (1913–2002) American Philosopher, Academic
When you know what you want, and want it bad enough, you will find a way to get it.
—Jim Rohn (1930–2009) American Entrepreneur, Author, Motivational Speaker
I do want to get rich but I never want to do what there is to do to get rich.
—Gertrude Stein (1874–1946) American Writer
Ignore what a man desires, and you ignore the very source of his power.
—Walter Lippmann (1889–1974) American Journalist, Political Commentator, Writer
Be careful the environment you choose for it will shape you; be careful the friends you choose for you will become like them.
—W. Clement Stone (1902–2002) American Self-help Guru, Entrepreneur
There are no better masters than poverty and wants.
—Dutch Proverb
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 Collier (1885–1950) American Self-Help Author
Desire is a powerful force that can be used to make things happen.
—Marcia Wieder
Dreams do come true, if we only wish hard enough, You can have anything in life if you will sacrifice everything else for it.
—J. M. Barrie (1860–1937) Scottish Novelist, Dramatist
The distance between success and failure can only be measured by one’s desire.
—Unknown
The keener the want the lustier the growth.
—Wendell Phillips (1811–84) American Abolitionist, Lawyer, Orator
Through some strange and powerful principle of “mental chemistry” which she has never divulged, nature wraps up in the impulse of strong desire, “that something” which recognizes no such word as “impossible,” and accepts no such reality as failure.
—Napoleon Hill (1883–1970) American Author, Journalist, Attorney, Lecturer
A desire arises in the mind. It is satisfied immediately another comes. In the interval which separates two desires a perfect calm reigns in the mind. It is at this moment freed from all thought, love or hate. Complete peace equally reigns between two mental waves.
—Sivananda Saraswati (1887–1963) Indian Hindu Spiritual Teacher
O lyric Love, half angel and half bird. And all a wonder and a wild desire.
—Robert Browning (1812–89) English Poet
I can teach anybody how to get what they want out of life. The problem is that I can’t find anybody who can tell me what they want.
—Mark Twain (1835–1910) American Humorist
The first principle of success is desire—knowing what you want. Desire is the planting of your seed.
—Robert Collier (1885–1950) American Self-Help Author
As long as I have a want, I have a reason for living. Satisfaction is death.
—George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950) Irish Playwright
It is not Justice the servant of men, but accident, hazard, Fortune-the ally of patient Time-that holds an even and scrupulous balance.
—Mario Andretti (b.1940) Italian-born American Sportsperson
Those who restrain their desires, do so because theirs is weak enough to be restrained.
—William Blake (1757–1827) English Poet, Painter, Printmaker
A woman never knows what she really wants until she fins out what her husband cannot afford.
—Unknown
All joy emphasises our pilgrim status; always reminds, beckons, awakens desire. Our best havings are wantings.
—C. S. Lewis (1898-1963) Irish-born British Academic, Author, Literary Scholar
When once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been and there you will always long to return.
—Leonardo da Vinci (1452–1519) Italian Polymath, Painter, Sculptor, Inventor, Architect
Try to eliminate the word SHOULD from your vocabulary. And try doing so without replacing it with OUGHT or YOU BETTER.
—Unknown
I discovered a long time ago that if I helped people get what they wanted, I would always get what I wanted and I would never have to worry.
—Tony Robbins (b.1960) American Self-Help Author, Entrepreneur
Supply always comes on the heels of demand.
—Robert Collier (1885–1950) American Self-Help Author
You can have anything you want—if you want it badly enough. You can be anything you want to be, have anything you desire, accomplish anything you set out to accomplish—if you will hold to that desire with singleness of purpose.
—Robert Collier (1885–1950) American Self-Help Author
He begins to die that quits his desires.
—George Herbert (1593–1633) Welsh Anglican Poet, Orator, Clergyman
Want is a growing giant whom the coat of Have was never large enough to cover.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
Desire is the essence of a man.
—Baruch Spinoza (1632–77) Dutch Philosopher, Theologian
Desire and force between them are responsible for all our actions; desire causes our voluntary acts, force our involuntary.
—Blaise Pascal (1623–62) French Mathematician, Physicist, Theologian
While man’s desires and aspirations stir he cannot choose but err.
—Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832) German Poet
Manifest plainness, embrace simplicity, reduce selfishness, have few desires.
—Laozi (fl.6th Century BCE) Chinese Philosopher, Sage
The starting point of all achievement is desire. Keep this constantly in mind. Weak desires bring weak results, just as a small amount of fire makes a small amount of heat.
—Napoleon Hill (1883–1970) American Author, Journalist, Attorney, Lecturer
The desire of our soul is to thy name, and to the remembrance of thee.
—The Holy Bible Scripture in the Christian Faith
He who desires but does not act, breeds pestilence.
—William Blake (1757–1827) English Poet, Painter, Printmaker
The desire for success lubricates secret prostitution’s in the soul.
—Norman Mailer (1923–2007) American Novelist Essayist
A successful man is one who lays a firm foundation with the bricks that others throw at him.
—Swami Chinmayananda (1916–93) Indian Hindu Spiritual Teacher
Those who really desire to attain an independence, have only set their minds upon it, and adopt the proper means, as they do in regard to any other object which they wish to accomplish, and the thing is easily done.
—P. T. Barnum (1810–91) American Businessperson, Entertainer
First deserve then desire.
—Common Proverb
Unbridled gratification produces unbridled desire.
—Common Proverb
We don’t know what we want, but we are ready to bite somebody to get it.
—Will Rogers (1879–1935) American Actor, Rancher, Humorist
A burning desire is the greatest motivator of every human action. The desire for success implants “success consciousness” which, in turn, creates a vigorous and ever-increasing “habit of success.”
—Paul J. Meyer
The more clear you are on what you want, the more power you will have.
—Unknown