The wise man will love; all others will desire.

Afranius

One must not lose desires. They are mighty¹ stimulants² 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 guts³ 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 repel⁴ 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 simplicity⁵,

Reduce selfishness,

Have few desires.

Lao-tzu (604 BC - 531 BC), The Way of Lao-tzu

There is no calamity⁶ greater than lavish⁷ desires.

There is no greater guilt⁸ 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 relinquish⁹ 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), Maxims¹⁰

Desire creates the power.

Raymond Holliwell

Life ought to be a struggle of desire toward adventures whose nobility will fertilize¹¹ 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