“Lust is a destroyer of peace in our lives: Lust for a beautiful person. Lust for an orgasm. Lust for someone other than the one we’ve committed to be with. Lust for power. Lust for dominance. Lust for other people’s stuff. Lust for the fanciest, best, most expensive things that money can buy. And is this not at odds with the self-mastery we say we want? A person enslaved to their urges is not free—whether they are a plumber or the president.”
Ryan Holiday, Stillness is the Key (Page 114)
Desire Quotes
James Clear Quote on Happiness and How It’s About Absence Not Achievement
“Happiness is simply the absence of desire. When you observe a cue, but do not desire to change your state, you are content with the current situation. Happiness is not about the achievement of pleasure (which is joy or satisfaction), but about the lack of desire. It arrives when you have no urge to feel differently. Happiness is the state you enter when you no longer want to change your state.”
James Clear, Atomic Habits
Beyond the Quote (94/365)
People think becoming invincible is impossible—I’d like to argue to the contrary. How do we become invincible? By freeing ourselves of desire. As soon as a want is created a vulnerability is exposed that can be leveraged—by others or even your own mind. Think about this in the context of a negotiation.
Read More »James Clear Quote on Happiness and How It’s About Absence Not Achievement
“Kill desires—you will not find any blood coming out of them, because they are bloodless. But kill a need, and there will be bloodshed. Kill a need, and a part of you will die. Kill a desire, and you will not die. Rather, on the contrary, you will become freer. More freedom will come out of dropping desires. If you can become a person of need and no desires, you are already on the path, and heaven is not far off.” ~ Osho, Fame, Fortune, and Ambition
“Money is a loaded subject because man’s psychology is full of greed; otherwise, it is a simple means of exchanging things, a perfect means. There is nothing wrong in it, but the way we have worked it out, everything seems to be wrong. If you don’t have money, you are condemned; your whole life is a curse, and for your whole life, you are trying to get money by any means. If you have money, it does not change the basic thing: You still want more, and there is no end to wanting more. When finally, you have too much money—even though it is not enough, it is never enough, but it is more than anybody else has—then you start feeling guilty, because the means that you have used to accumulate the money are ugly, inhuman, violent.” ~ Osho, Fame, Fortune, and Ambition
“Each desire is born out of the past, and each desire is projected in the future. The past and the future constitute your whole mind. Analyze the mind, dissect it, and you will find only two things: the past and the future. You will not find even an iota of the present, not even a single atom. And the present is the only reality, the only existence, the only dance there is.” ~ Osho, Fame, Fortune, and Ambition
“Needs are small: yes, you need food, shelter, you need a few things. Everybody’s needs can be provided for; the world has enough to fulfill everybody’s needs—but desires… it is impossible. Desires cannot be fulfilled. And because people are fulfilling their desires, millions of people’s needs are not being fulfilled.” ~ Osho, Fame, Fortune, and Ambition
“Consumer culture is very good at making us want more, more, more. Underneath all the hype and marketing is the implication that more is always better. I bought into this idea for years. Make more money, visit more countries, have more experiences, be with more women. But more is not always better. In fact, the opposite is true. We are actually often happier with less. When we’re overloaded with opportunities and options, we suffer from what psychologists refer to as the paradox of choice. Basically, the more options we’re given, the less satisfied we become with whatever we choose, because we’re aware of all the other options we’re potentially forfeiting.” ~ Mark Mason, The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck
“The more you desperately want to be rich, the more poor and unworthy you feel, regardless of how much money you actually make. The more you desperately want to be sexy and desired, the uglier you come to see yourself, regardless of your actual physical appearance. The more you desperately want to be happy and loved, the lonelier and more afraid you become, regardless of those who surround you. The more you want to be spiritually enlightened, the more self-centered and shallow you become in trying to get there.” ~ Mark Mason, The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck
“The desire for a more positive experience is itself a negative experience. And, paradoxically, the acceptance of one’s negative experience is itself a positive experience.” ~ Mark Mason, The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck
“Desire always begets more desire. And thus the American Dream is a misnomer, a broken shiny thing, like a new car without an engine. There is blood on the flag, our blood, and in today’s world of achieving and earning and endlessly striving for more, the American Dream really just seems to imply that we are fat and in debt, discontented and empty, every man an island, leaving a void we attempt to fill with more stuff.” ~ The Minimalists, Everything That Remains
“What you loved as a child is less interesting to you now as an adult. And what occupies your attention now will cease to sooner or later. This growth is both natural and good. We are designed to outgrow everything – including our desire to experience and improve the realms of money, sex, and intimacy.”
David Deida, The Way of the Superior Man
“Happiness can’t be found when we are yearning for new desires.” ~ Richard Carlson, Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff
“Being listened to and heard is one of the greatest desires of the human heart. And those who learn to listen are the most loved and respected.” ~ Richard Carlson, Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff
