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Desire Quotes

“Let me assure my countrymen of the Southern States that it is my earnest desire to regard and promote their truest interest - the interests of the white and of the colored people both and equally and to put forth my best efforts in behalf of a civil policy which will forever wipe out in our political affairs the color line and the distinction between North and South, to the end that we may have not merely a united North or a united South, but a united country.”

PeopleMayEndsCountryStatesPoliticalDesireInterestLinesWhiteUnitedEffortForeverPolicyColorLet MeRegardSouthAffairDistinctionSouthernBehalfEarnestWipeTruestCountrymenBest EffortNorth And South
Author:Rutherford B. Hayes
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“All who are not lunatics are agreed about certain things. That it is better to be alive than dead, better to be adequately fed than starved, better to be free than a slave. Many people desire those things only for themselves and their friends; they are quite content that their enemies should suffer. These people can only be refuted by science: Humankind has become so much one family that we cannot ensure our own prosperity except by ensuring that of everyone else. If you wish to be happy yourself, you must resign yourself to seeing others also happy.”

PeopleIfsShouldDesireCertainSufferingWishEnemyAliveSeeingSlaveProsperityFedsHumankind
Author:Bertrand Russell
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“The sluggish economy is creating a situation where the young people in Japan cannot cherish their desires or have prospects for their future. Also, the decline in Japan's economic capability is resulting in a declining presence for Japan's foreign policy as well. Accordingly, the duties and mission that I must fulfill are pretty clear: namely, to regain a strong and robust economy, and also to restore Japan's strong foreign policy capability.”

PeopleWellsYoungDesireStrongSituationEconomyClearEconomicPolicyDutyCreatingMissionsJapanCherishCapabilityForeign PolicyDeclineProspectsRobustSluggish
Author:Shinzo Abe
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“Many people genuinely do not wish to be saints, and it is probable that some who achieve or aspire to sainthood have never felt much temptation to be human beings. If one could follow it to its psychological roots, one would, I believe, find that the main motive for "non-attachment" is a desire to escape from the pain of living, and above all from love, which, sexual or non-sexual, is hard work.”

PeopleIfsBelieveHumansHardPainDesireI BelieveWishFeltHuman BeingsAchieveHard WorkRootsSaintPsychologicalTemptationMotiveAttachmentAspireSainthood
Book:Our job is to make life worth living, 1949-1950
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“We must face the bitter fact that we have forsaken our great dream of a life of, for, and by the people; that the burning passions and ideals of the American dream lie congealed by cold cynicism. Great parts of the masses of our people no longer believe that they have a voice or a hand in shaping the destiny of this nation. They have not forsaken democracy because of any desire or positive action of their own; they have been driven down into the depths of a great despair born of frustration, hopelessness, and apathy. A democracy lacking in popular participation dies of paralysis.”

PeopleBelieveHas BeensFactsDreamHandsActionAmericaFacesLyingDesireDiesPassionNationsVoiceBornDestinyDemocracyColdDespairMassIdealsDepthDrivenBitterBurningFrustrationApathyCynicismAmerican DreamLackingParticipationHopelessnessParalysisForsakenBurning Passion
Author:Saul Alinsky
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“The phrase, the world wants to be deceived, has become truer than had ever been intended. People are not only, as the saying goes, falling for the swindle; if it guarantees them even the most fleeting gratification they desire a deception which is nonetheless transparent to them. They force their eyes shut and voice approval, in a kind of self-loathing, for what is meted out to them, knowing fully the purpose for which it is manufactured. Without admitting it they sense that their lives would be completely intolerable as soon as they no longer clung to satisfactions which are none at all.”

PeopleIfsWorldWantKindSelfWould BeEyeDesirePurposeFallForceVoiceKnowingSatisfactionDeceptionPhrasesGuaranteesApprovalFleetingDeceivedTransparentGratificationLoathingAdmittingSelf Loathing
Book:The Culture Industry: Selected Essays on Mass Culture
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“Capital burns off the nuance in a culture. Foreign investment, global markets, corporate acquisitions, the flow of information through transnational media, the attenuating influence of money that's electronic and sex that's cyberspaced, untouched money and computer-safe sex, the convergence of consumer desire--not that people want the same things, necessarily, but that they want the same range of choices.”

PeopleWantDesireChoicesCultureSexInfluenceMediaInformationSafeComputerFlowInvestmentConsumersCorporateRangeAcquisitionNuanceConvergence
Book:Underworld: Picador Classic
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“For me, spirituality includes the belief in things larger than ourselves, an appreciation of nature and beauty, a sensitivity to the world, a feeling of shared connection with other living things, a desire to help people less fortunate than ourselves. All of these things can occur with or without God. I do not believe in the existence of God, but I consider myself a spiritual person in the manner I have just described. I call myself a spiritual atheist. I would imagine that many people are spiritual atheists.”

PeopleWorldBelievePersonsHelpingFeelingsSpiritualDesireSpiritualityBeliefExistenceImagineConnectionsAtheistAppreciationFortunateImagine ThatSensitivityLiving ThingsWithout GodExistence Of GodLess FortunateNature And Beauty
Author:Alan Lightman
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“Today, America poses a threat to peace and security in the world. Therefore, the slogan "Death to America" is no longer used only by our people. Today, you see throughout the world people setting fire to the effigy of the American president and chanting the slogan "Death to America." This is because of the American regime's exaggerated demands, its arrogance, its vanity, and its desire to control, and because it is a pawn in the hands of the Zionists.”

PeopleWorldHandsTodayAmericaUsedDesirePresidentFireSecurityDemandThreatSettingSettingsVanityArroganceRegimesSlogansExaggeratedZionistPawnsChantingAmerican PresidentPeace And Security
Author:Ali Khamenei
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“If you see yourself in a favorable light, if your image of yourself is pleasant, if this visual concept of yourself cannot be shaken by temporary defeats, then you have reached the goal achieved by the most fortunate. Not everyone reaches this mental state; in fact, many people do not even believe it is possible. Happiness and peace of mind are a matter of consciousness. We must create the inner-harmony we desire. This type of awareness is not an accident, it comes from study and an understanding that we are truly creative.”

PeopleIfsMindBelieveMatterStatesFactsLightDesireUnderstandingGoalConsciousnessCreativeStudyAwarenessTypeConceptsHarmonyDefeatAccidentsFortunatePleasantVisualsPeace Of MindTemporaryTemporary Defeat
Author:Bob Proctor
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“Remember, you cannot be responsible for the happiness of other people. You can do your best to be sensitive to the needs and desires of others, but some people will not be happy no matter how much you do for them. If you decided you were responsible for their happiness, you could drive yourself completely up the nearest wall.”

PeopleIfsNeedsMatterRememberDesireCan DoWallDecidedResponsibleSensitiveBeing ResponsibleRemember YouRemembers You
Book:Why Your Best Is Good Enough
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“The project of organizing a democratic political movement entails the hope that one's ideas and beliefs are not merely idiosyncratic but speak to vital human needs, interests and desires, and therefore will be persuasive to many and ultimately most people. But this is a very different matter from deciding to put forward only those ideas presumed (accurately or not) to be compatible with what most people already believe.”

PeopleNeedsBelieveHumansIdeasDifferentMatterPoliticalDesireBeliefSpeakInterestMovementProjectsDemocraticCompatiblePersuasiveHuman NeedsPolitical Movements
Book:Don't Think, Smile!: Notes on a Decade of Denial
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“By 'nationalism' I mean first of all the habit of assuming that human beings can be classified like insects and that whole blocks of millions and tens of millions of people can be confidently labeled 'good' or 'bad'...By 'patriotism' I mean devotion to a particular place and a particular way of life, which one believes to be best in the world but has no wish to force on other people. Patriotism is of its nature defensive, both militarily and culturally. Nationalism, on the other hand, is inseparable from the desire for power.”

PeopleWorldWayFirstsBelieveHumansMeanWholeHandsDesireForceWishHuman BeingsMillionsParticularHabitEthicsAssumingDevotionBlockNationalismInsectsInseparableDesire For Power
Author:George Orwell
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“You might say that a creative person is a person who simply has a desire to have something, to add something to the world that's not there yet, and goes about arranging fort that to happen. When you desire a work of art and make it, you've added to the stock of art in the world. Artists are one of the people who can do that: add to the stock of things.”

PeopleWorldPersonsArtMightHappensDesireArtistCan DoCreativeAddWorks Of ArtCreative PersonArrangingForts
Author:Carl Andre
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“The movies have been so rank the last couple of years that when I see people lining up to buy tickets I sometimes think that the movies aren't drawing an audience - they're inheriting an audience. People just want to go to a movie. They're stung repeatedly, yet their desire for a good movie - for any movie - is so strong that all over the country they keep lining up.”

PeopleThinkingWantYearsHas BeensCountrySometimesLastsFilmDesireStrongAudienceCoupleHollywoodDrawingTicketsGood MovieLining Up
Book:Raising Kane and Other Essays
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“There's only one honest way to measure affluence; that's by comparing the capability of producing goods and services with the desire of people to enjoy them. It's a lousy, crooked trick to compare this society with China or some such place and then say we're affluent. It's a piece of intellectual crookery even to compare this economy with itself ten or twenty years ago. We should compare what we have with what we could have.”

PeopleWayShouldYearsWisdomDesirePoliticsEnjoyEconomyPiecesHonestTenIntellectualYears AgoTwentiesChinaTricksCompareLiberalismGoodsCapabilityCrookedAffluenceThis SocietyAffluentGoods And Services
Author:Louis O. Kelso
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“In proportion as the people are accustomed to manage their affairs by their own active intervention, instead of leaving them to the government, their desires will turn to repelling tyranny, rather than to tyrannizing: while in proportion as all ready initiative and direction resides in the government, and individuals habitually feel and act as under its perpetual tutelage, popular institutions develop in them not the desire of freedom, but an unmeasured appetite for place and power.”

PeopleFeelsGovernmentDesireTurnsPoliticsIndividualEconomyReadyInstitutionsLeavingAffairActiveTyrannyManageProportionLiberalismAppetitePerpetualInitiativeAccustomedInterventionTutelageRepelling
Author:John Stuart Mill
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“I am aware that most people only see me as Shaq... the guy on the court. But there is another side to who I am, Shaquille O'Neal. And Shaquille O'Neal wants to explore every part of life. He wants the opportunity to pursue all of his desires. That includes being a part of the music industry as an MC. Music is and will always be a part of who I am.”

PeopleWantDesireGuyOpportunitySidesIndustryBasketballMusic IsCourtWho I AmPursueMusic IndustryParts Of LifeShaq
Author:Shaquille O'Neal
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“The American people are not uniquely, but characteristically the most spontaneously generous in the world and you're seeing that all over this country in Web sites of charitable organizations that are crashing because of the overwhelming desire on the part of ordinary people to help out.”

PeopleWorldCountryHelpingDesireSeeingOrdinaryOrganizationGenerousOverwhelmingSiteOrdinary PeopleCharitableOverwhelming DesireCharitable Organizations
Author:Richard Norton Smith
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“I have found strength where one does not look for it: in simple, mild, and pleasant people, without the least desire to rule -- and, conversely, the desire to rule has often appeared to me a sign of inward weakness: they fear their own slave soul and shroud it in a royal cloak (in the end, they still become the slaves of their followers, their fame, etc.)”

PeopleLooksDoeStillsSoulEndsDesireFoundSimpleFameWeaknessSlavePleasantEtcFollowersInwardRoyalCloaksShrouds
Book:Nietzsche: Philosopher, Psychologist, Antichrist
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“I feel I should not be ... so at the mercy of people's regard. And yet - it is the artist's desire for communication too; without the answering voice you get so numb; you lose faith in your powers to communicate.”

PeopleFeelsShouldDesireArtistVoiceLosesCommunicationMercyRegardCommunicateNumb
Book:War within and without: diaries and letters of Anne Morrow Lindbergh, 1939-1944
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“The desire for magic cannot be eradicated. Even the most supposedly rational people attempt to practice magic in love and war. We simultaneously possess the most primitive of brain stems and the most sophisticated of cortices. The imperatives of each coexist uneasily.”

PeopleWarDesireBrainPracticeMagicRationalPrimitiveSophisticatedStemImperativesCoexistLove And War
Book:What Do Women Want?: Essays by Erica Jong
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“That nervous energy that makes people like you and I want and go after everything in the world - bump our heads on all the hard walls and scratch our hands on all the briars - but it makes living great - doesn't it - I'm glad I want everything in the world - good and bad - bitter and sweet - I want it all and a lot of it too”

PeopleWorldWantHardHandsDesireEnergySweetLike YouWallAmbitionGladBitterNervousAbundanceScratchesGood And BadBumpsBriars
Book:Lovingly, Georgia: The Complete Correspondence of Georgia O'Keeffe and Anita Pollitzer
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“I was raised the Chinese way: I was taught to desire nothing, to swallow other people's misery, to eat my own bitterness. And even though I taught my daughter the opposite, still she came out the same way! Maybe it is because she was born to me and she was born a girl. And I was born to my mother and I was born a girl. All of us are like stairs, one step after another, going up and down, but all going the same way.”

PeopleWayStillsMotherDesireGirlBornMy OwnStepsGenerationsTaughtDaughterOppositesMiseryRaisedChineseMy DaughterBitternessUp And DownStairs
Author:Amy Tan
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“She [my mother] said that if I listened to her, later I would know what she knew: where true words came from, always from up high, above everything else. And if I didn't listen to her, she said my ear would bend too easily to other people, all saying words that had no lasting meaning, because they came from the bottom of their hearts, where their own desires lived, a place where I could not belong.”

PeopleIfsKnowsHeartSaidMotherDesireListeningEarsBottomLastingTrue Words
Book:The Joy Luck Club
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“Want of passion is, I think, a very striking characteristic of Americans, not unrelated to their predilection for violence. For very few people truly have a passionate desire to achieve, and violence serves as a kind of substitute.”

PeopleThinkingWantKindDesirePassionUnited StatesViolenceAchievePassionateCharacteristicsSubstitutesDesire To AchievePassionate Desire
Book:With Open Eyes: Conversations with Matthieu Galey
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“I will only ever be drawn to people who suffer from that special and fertile anguish called self-doubt, or the thirst for the ideal, and desire for the soul's mystical fire. Self-satisfaction because of some material accomplishment will never be for me. The truly great are those who quest for better spiritual selves.”

PeopleSoulSelfSpiritualDesireSufferingDoubtFireSpecialMaterialsIdealsSatisfactionAccomplishmentQuestsThirstMysticalAnguishFertileSelf-doubtSelf-satisfaction
Book:The Nomad: The Diaries of Isabelle Eberhardt
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