O lyric Love, half angel and half bird. And all a wonder and a wild desire.
—Robert Browning (1812–89) English Poet
The desire of power in excess caused angels to fall; the desire of knowledge in excess caused man to fall; but in charity is no excess, neither can man or angels come into danger by it.
—Francis Bacon (1561–1626) English Philosopher
First the stalk—then the roots. First the need—then the means to satisfy that need. First the nucleus—then the elements needed for its growth.
—Robert Collier (1885–1950) American Self-Help Author
In this world there are only two tragedies. One is not getting what one wants, and the other is getting it.
—Oscar Wilde (1854–1900) Irish Poet, Playwright
He begins to die that quits his desires.
—George Herbert (1593–1633) Welsh Anglican Poet, Orator, Clergyman
Supply always comes on the heels of demand.
—Robert Collier (1885–1950) American Self-Help Author
Our necessities are few, but our wants are endless.
—George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950) Irish Playwright
The desire of the man is for the woman, but the desire of the woman is for the desire of the man.
—Unknown
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
The battle is all over except the “shouting” when one knows what is wanted and has made up his mind to get it, whatever the price may be.
—Napoleon Hill (1883–1970) American Author, Journalist, Attorney, Lecturer
Better return and make a net, than to go down to the stream and merely wish for fish.
—Chinese Proverb
It belongs to the imperfection of everything human that man can only attain his desire by passing through its opposite.
—Soren Kierkegaard (1813–55) Danish Philosopher, Theologian
While man’s desires and aspirations stir he cannot choose but err.
—Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832) German Poet
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
Something must be done when you find an opposing set of desires of this kind well to the fore in your category of strong desires. You must set in operation a process of competition, from which one must emerge a victor and the other set be defeated.
—Robert Collier (1885–1950) American Self-Help Author
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
It sometimes seems that we have only to love a thing greatly to get it.
—Robert Collier (1885–1950) American Self-Help Author
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
One great, difference between a wise man and a fool is, the former only wishes for what he may possibly obtain; the latter desires impossibilities.
—Democritus (c.460–c.370 BCE) Ancient Greek Philosopher
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
There are three wants which can never be satisfied: that of the rich, who want something more; that of the sick, who want something different; and that of the traveler, who says, “Anywhere but here”.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
The distance between success and failure can only be measured by one’s desire.
—Unknown
Though we seem grieved at the shortness of life in general, we are wishing every period of it at an end. The minor longs to be at age, then to be a man of business, then to make up an estate, then to arrive at honors, then to retire.
—Joseph Addison (1672–1719) English Essayist, Poet, Playwright, Politician
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
Desire for security keeps littleness little and threatens the great with smallness.”
—Unknown
Ignore what a man desires, and you ignore the very source of his power.
—Walter Lippmann (1889–1974) American Journalist, Political Commentator, Writer
Listen to what you know instead of what you fear.
—Richard Bach (b.1936) American Novelist, Aviator
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
It is said that desire is a product of the will, but the converse is in fact true: will is a product of desire.
—Denis Diderot (1713–84) French Philosopher, Writer
If you desire many things, many things will seem few.
—Benjamin Franklin (1706–90) American Political Leader, Inventor, Diplomat