Desire
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2.The insatiability of desire and the failure of satisfaction
2a.Desire grows by what it feeds on
See also: Family 4e
Aesop, FablesVol. 17
- p. 24–25The peacock is discontent and wants a nightingale's voice too.read · scan
Buddhist WritingsVol. 45
- p. 693–694Man culls life's flowers insatiate of pleasure; the wife's sole desire is rebirth with her husband.read · scan
- p. 695–696Man remains insatiate of pleasure and lusts until death overpowers him.read · scan
Ecclesiastes; or, The PreacherVol. 44
- p. 340–341He who loves abundance is never satisfied with increase.read · scan
- p. 341–342Appetite is never filled; better the sight of the eyes than wandering desire.read · scan
Dante Alighieri, HellVol. 20
- p. 6The she-wolf's leanness and craving embody insatiable want.read · scan
- p. 6The she-wolf's will is never sated, craving more food than before.read · scan
Dante Alighieri, PurgatoryVol. 20
- p. 255Desire grows upon desire in Dante to mount, feeling wings increase at each step, as the fruit mortals seek will appease his hunger.read · scan
- p. 272His soul feeds on a viand whose desire grows with satiety.read · scan
Martin Luther, Address to the Christian Nobility of the German NationVol. 36
- p. 280Rome's insatiable avarice devises ever more ways to seize benefices.read · scan
William Harrison, A Description of Elizabethan EnglandVol. 35
- p. 320–321Golden show made Frobisher desirous of more, until found dross.read · scan
Christopher Marlowe, The Tragical History of Doctor FaustusVol. 19
- p. 227–228Covetousness, Envy, Gluttony and Lechery show appetites that cannot be satisfied.read · scan
William Shakespeare, The Tragedy of MacbethVol. 46
- p. 373Malcolm's feigned avarice grows by having more, as sauce making him hunger more; lust unfillable.read · scan
Ben Jonson, The AlchemistVol. 47
- p. 564Mammon's boundless greed and ambition drive his plans.read · scan
Blaise Pascal, ThoughtsVol. 48
- p. 47Desires picture a happy state by adding pleasures of the state we are not in; attaining them brings new desires.read · scan
John Dryden, All for Love; or, The World Well LostVol. 18
- p. 16No man is satisfied with his own condition; ambition drives wits to poetry.read · scan
- p. 67–69Dolabella calls men's appetites apt to change, craving and vain, like children's.read · scan
Immanuel Kant, Fundamental Principles of the Metaphysic of MoralsVol. 32
- p. 328Greater knowledge might impose more wants on desires already troublesome.read · scan
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, The Tragedy of Faust, Part IVol. 19
- p. 69–71Faust says devil's gifts satisfy never; ambition dissolves like a meteor; wagers he will never rest content.read · scan
- p. 75–77Faust's ardent mind presses on ceaselessly, leaving earth's joys behind; the devil vows to leave him unsatisfied.read · scan
Friedrich von Schiller, Letters upon the Aesthetic Education of ManVol. 32
- p. 277–278Reason's impulse to the absolute, applied to passion, yields unlimited desire and want, seeking endless matter and change.read · scan
Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, Household TalesVol. 17
- p. 83–84The wife urges her husband to ask the enchanted Flounder for a cottage, beginning her insatiable wishing.read · scan
- p. 84–85Wife is not content with the granted cottage and demands a castle; her wants grow as they are satisfied.read · scan
- p. 85–86Given a palace, the wife immediately wants to be King; ambition is never satisfied.read · scan
- p. 86–87As King she finds time heavy and demands to be Emperor; power does not satisfy her.read · scan
- p. 87She now wants to be Emperor; the storm-tossed sea reflects mounting excess of ambition.read · scan
- p. 88–89Though Emperor, she demands to be Pope; the husband pleads for contentment in vain.read · scan
- p. 89Even as Pope, she cannot be satisfied and lies awake thinking what else she may become; greed prevents sleep.read · scan
- p. 89–90The wife's insatiable ambition drives her to demand to be like God, sleepless with wanting more.read · scan
- p. 154The King's heart becomes only more greedy with each success.read · scan
- p. 169–170Hans covets the cow's milk, butter and cheese, and each new possession seems to promise contentment until it fails him.read · scan
Percy Bysshe Shelley, The CenciVol. 18
- p. 281His appetite for ever more horrible deeds grows until each design must be accomplished.read · scan
Thomas Carlyle, Sir Walter ScottVol. 25
- p. 447Scott's ambition and false ambition, feeding on success, gave more appetite and audacity, leading to his ruin.read · scan
Ralph Waldo Emerson, NatureVol. 5
- p. 232–233Hunger and thirst lead on but leave us unsatisfied; all promise outruns performance.read · scan
Hans Christian Andersen, TalesVol. 17
- p. 350–351Greed grows with each chamber; he takes ever more gold.read · scan
2b.The chase is preferred to the quarry
See also: Diversion 2b · Pleasure and Pain 3c
Thomas à Kempis, The Imitation of ChristVol. 7
- p. 226–227Worldly vision and novelty never satisfy; delight in hearing new things brings trouble of heart.read · scan
- p. 303–304Men strive vehemently for what they desire, but affections are not lasting once it is obtained.read · scan
Michel de Montaigne, Of FriendshipVol. 32
- p. 72–75Lustful love is a raging desire chasing what flies, like the hunter losing interest once the hare is caught.read · scan
Miguel de Cervantes, The History of Don Quixote of the Mancha, Part IVol. 14
- p. 261–262After appetite is satisfied, Fernando hastens away; delight lies in leaving the place where desire was accomplished.read · scan
- p. 432–433Song holds that nothing is worth esteem unless it costs dear; persistence obtains the impossible.read · scan
William Shakespeare, Songs and SonnetsVol. 40
- p. 279–280He vows never to grind his appetite on newer proof.read · scan
Izaak Walton, The Life of Mr. George HerbertVol. 15
- p. 395He renounces his former aspiring thoughts and ambitious thirsts as satisfying nothing.read · scan
Blaise Pascal, ThoughtsVol. 48
- p. 52We love the struggle, not the victory; we seek not things but the search, and are satiated on winning.read · scan
- p. 53We like the chase better than the quarry; we love noise and stir.read · scan
- p. 54Their quest is vain because they expect possession of its objects to satisfy them.read · scan
- p. 54Men imagine gaining a post would bring rest, unaware of the insatiable nature of their desire.read · scan
- p. 55Men seek rest through struggle, yet rest becomes insufferable once difficulties are conquered.read · scan
- p. 55The gambler needs manufactured passion, desire, anger and fear; mere amusement or winnings without excitement bore him.read · scan
Joseph Addison, The Vision of MirzaVol. 27
- p. 75Multitudes chase glittering bubbles that vanish as they reach for them, showing vain pursuits.read · scan
Voltaire, Letters on the EnglishVol. 34
- p. 134–135Mortals wander from designs to regrets, from errors to desires, awaiting pleasures never delivered.read · scan
Edmund Burke, Reflections on the Revolution in FranceVol. 24
- p. 237–238Wishes met at once by contrivance leave no appetite for existence.read · scan
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, The Tragedy of Faust, Part IVol. 19
- p. 71–73Faust seeks excitement, agonizing bliss and sensual pleasure rather than joy, to plunge in time's flow.read · scan
John Keats, PoemsVol. 41
- p. 871Fancy finds a mistress to the mind, since enjoyed things weary.read · scan
Ralph Waldo Emerson, NatureVol. 5
- p. 233–235Pursuit outshines possession; longing is heightened by the unattainable object.read · scan
Richard Henry Dana, Jr., Two Years Before the MastVol. 23
- p. 354Longing for home for years is followed by flatness once fulfilled, since excitement lies in expectation.read · scan
2c.Restless longing for an unattainable object
Homer, The OdysseyVol. 22
- p. 159Tantalus's unfulfilled thirst and hunger, with water and fruit always slipping away.read · scan
Aesop, FablesVol. 17
- p. 24The fox fails to reach the grapes and disdains them as sour.read · scan
Aristophanes, The FrogsVol. 8
- p. 439Dionysus describes his sudden longing for Euripides by comparing it to a craving for soup.read · scan
Marcus Tullius Cicero, On Old AgeVol. 9
- p. 74He longs to meet the illustrious dead.read · scan
Virgil, The AeneidVol. 13
- p. 197The women hope for the fated land but fear the fatal way, torn between desires.read · scan
Dante Alighieri, HellVol. 20
- p. 13Fear is turned into desire in the damned.read · scan
- p. 16–17They live desiring without hope.read · scan
Benvenuto Cellini, The Autobiography of Benvenuto CelliniVol. 31
- p. 238–240His one great longing is to behold the sun, which would let him die contented.read · scan
- p. 245–247Hope, immortal in the human breast, lures him to test the stone.read · scan
Miguel de Cervantes, The History of Don Quixote of the Mancha, Part IVol. 14
- p. 324Warns Anselmo against craving the impossible and seeking new treasures when he already possesses a faithful wife.read · scan
- p. 392–393He greedily desires escape, and hope keeps renewing itself though weak.read · scan
Edmund Spenser, PoemsVol. 40
- p. 229–230Poet, afflicted by discontent and idle hopes at court, walks out to ease his pain.read · scan
John Webster, The Duchess of MalfiVol. 47
- p. 756–757Hope of advancement from great men compared to Tantalus.read · scan
Sir Thomas Browne, Religio MediciVol. 3
- p. 317–318United souls' desires are infinite and proceed without possibility of satisfaction.read · scan
Blaise Pascal, ThoughtsVol. 48
- p. 30We burn to find solid ground for a tower to the Infinite, but the foundation cracks.read · scan
- p. 136Desire seeks in absent things the help it cannot find in present ones.read · scan
- p. 172–173The soldier ever hopes and works to command, yet never attains it.read · scan
Oliver Goldsmith, PoemsVol. 41
- p. 520–521The wanderer pursues a fleeting good that flies as he follows, like a miser still wanting more.read · scan
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, The Tragedy of Faust, Part IVol. 19
- p. 15–17The poet's thirst for truth and the impulses of youth are longed for again.read · scan
- p. 20–22Faust craves the fairest star and every highest good, and nothing near or far stills the tumult in his blood.read · scan
- p. 48–49Faust's inborn impulse to soar upward and onward, like lark and eagle, while mortal clay holds him down.read · scan
- p. 53–55Contentment dries up; spirits yearn for revelation beyond earth.read · scan
- p. 64–66Faust laments unsatisfied longing and the cry to renounce; too old to play, too young to be free of desire.read · scan
- p. 173–175A demi-witch and voice below strive vainly to climb and join their kindred.read · scan
William Blake, PoemsVol. 41
- p. 583–585Sun-flower weary of time longs for the golden clime; youth and virgin aspire beyond the grave.read · scan
William Wordsworth, PoemsVol. 41
- p. 620Michael's hope, which has been meat and drink to him, of recovering the lost estate through Luke's fortune.read · scan
Alessandro Manzoni, I Promessi Sposi (The Betrothed)Vol. 21
- p. 170Gertrude longs for the gay worldly life and a bride's happiness, and is tormented by renouncing them.read · scan
Thomas De Quincey, Levana and Our Ladies of SorrowVol. 27
- p. 324Languishing desires led the youth astray into worshipping the grave.read · scan
Lord Byron, ManfredVol. 18
- p. 411–414Manfred glimpses a beautiful female form, hopes he might be happy, and then falls senseless when it vanishes.read · scan
Ralph Waldo Emerson, FriendshipVol. 5
- p. 117Longing to pursue lofty presentiments conflicts with the warm sympathies of society.read · scan
Ralph Waldo Emerson, CirclesVol. 5
- p. 159We seek insatiably to forget ourselves and draw a new circle, through abandonment and enthusiasm.read · scan
Ralph Waldo Emerson, New England ReformersVol. 5
- p. 265–266We wish to be made great and lifted to a higher platform, freed from selfishness and fear.read · scan
Hans Christian Andersen, TalesVol. 17
- p. 226–227The duckling is seized with a longing to swim, which the Hen dismisses as idle fancy.read · scan
- p. 227The duckling yearns for the swans, loving them more than anyone, and the Hen urges it to be content.read · scan
- p. 240–241The sisters, especially the youngest, long for the surface world they cannot yet reach; waiting stirs greater yearning.read · scan
- p. 242–243Youngest sister longs to be fifteen and to love the world and people above.read · scan
- p. 280The Garden of Paradise fills the prince's thoughts and longing.read · scan
John Greenleaf Whittier, PoemsVol. 42
- p. 1349–1351Maud Muller feels nameless longing for something better than she has known.read · scan
- p. 1351–1353Maud dreams of being the Judge's bride; he longs for the simple life and its quiet.read · scan
Edgar Allan Poe, The Poetic PrincipleVol. 28
- p. 376–377The thirst is likened to the moth's desire for the star.read · scan
Edward FitzGerald, Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám of NaishápúrVol. 41
- p. 943–945Spring revives old desires; men sigh for glories of this world or the next.read · scan
- p. 957–958Would remould the world nearer the heart's desire.read · scan
Walt Whitman, PoemsVol. 42
- p. 1410–1411He voices a series of longings, then reverses himself and craves the city's crowds instead.read · scan
Matthew Arnold, PoemsVol. 42
- p. 1124–1125Her longing for the lost children in her home life.read · scan
- p. 1128–1130Longing to reunite the sundered islands; peace yearned for.read · scan
Ernest Renan, The Poetry of the Celtic RacesVol. 32
- p. 142–143Adventure is an endless quest after an object ever flying from desire; drunkenness reflects need of illusion.read · scan
William Morris, PoemsVol. 42
- p. 1185–1187Her longing slowly draws her down a smooth path to the sea.read · scan
2d.Wishes granted bring ruin or regret
Aesop, FablesVol. 17
- p. 16Discontent with a happy state leads to ruin.read · scan
- p. 29Each wife wants him to resemble herself in age.read · scan
- p. 29Tortoise's wish to change its home leads it to trust the eagle, and the crow's counsel brings its death.read · scan
- p. 39Wishes gratified would often be regretted.read · scan
The Book of PsalmsVol. 44
- p. 241–242God gave them their own desire in food, yet wrath came while it was still in their mouths.read · scan
- p. 278They lusted in the wilderness and God granted request but sent leanness to their soul.read · scan
Ecclesiastes; or, The PreacherVol. 44
- p. 336He withheld his heart from no joy, yet fulfilled desire proved empty.read · scan
Virgil, The AeneidVol. 13
- p. 167Dido regrets the dear-bought pleasures and wishes she had avoided love.read · scan
Stories from the Thousand and One NightsVol. 16
- p. 243He blames himself for leaving comfort and ample happiness at home for the fatigue of another voyage.read · scan
- p. 283–284He repents of returning to voyaging when he had more than enough wealth.read · scan
- p. 301–302The dead king confesses that in ignorance he transgressed to gain things wished for, which proved frail.read · scan
Miguel de Cervantes, The History of Don Quixote of the Mancha, Part IVol. 14
- p. 354–355Anselmo blames a foolish, impertinent desire for despoiling his life; he built his own dishonour.read · scan
- p. 515–516Sancho nearly became an earl; the epitaph calls vain hopes of men what thwarts guerdon and ends in smoke.read · scan
William Shakespeare, The Tragedy of MacbethVol. 46
- p. 352–354Lady Macbeth sees that desire attained without content is empty; safer to be the destroyed than dwell in doubtful joy.read · scan
Ben Jonson, The AlchemistVol. 47
- p. 631–633Mammon laments his voluptuous mind, which cost him his hopes.read · scan
Blaise Pascal, ThoughtsVol. 48
- p. 125–126Having all one wants is not good.read · scan
Alessandro Manzoni, I Promessi Sposi (The Betrothed)Vol. 21
- p. 344His former ambitions and passions lose their charm and refuse to drive him; his life seems empty and burdensome.read · scan
Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, Household TalesVol. 17
- p. 90Boundless wishing ends in loss of everything gained.read · scan
- p. 124The couple's wish for even a tiny child is granted exactly as they wished.read · scan
- p. 143–144She repeatedly laments not having taken King Thrushbeard.read · scan
John Stuart Mill, AutobiographyVol. 25
- p. 85The end had ceased to charm, leaving nothing to live for.read · scan
- p. 87Vanity, ambition and benevolence dried up in him, leaving no real desire for the ends he was trained for.read · scan
Robert Louis Stevenson, Samuel PepysVol. 28
- p. 294The pleasure-seeker is not exhausted by pleasure but by failure, and is peevish when thwarted.read · scan
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