--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: There is only one key to knowledge, and…" description: "\"“There is only one key to knowledge, and that is desire.”\" — Amélie Nothomb" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dba/amelie-nothomb-1581_desire_there-is-only-one-key-to-knowledge-and-t_2467701.jpg" --- # There is only one key to knowledge, and that is desire. ![“There is only one key to knowledge, and that is desire.” quote by Amélie Nothomb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dba/amelie-nothomb-1581_desire_there-is-only-one-key-to-knowledge-and-t_2467701.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dba/amelie-nothomb-1581_desire_there-is-only-one-key-to-knowledge-and-t_2467701.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dba/amelie-nothomb-1581_desire_there-is-only-one-key-to-knowledge-and-t_2467701.jpg) > ““There is only one key to knowledge, and that is desire.”” [Amélie Nothomb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amelie-nothomb/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Desire drives learning; without it, knowledge cannot be pursued. **In simple terms:** Wanting to learn fuels knowledge. Key Takeaway Cultivate curiosity and desire. Themes learning desire motivation Mood inquisitive hopeful Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - studying - research - skill acquisition Key Concepts psychology education Questions to Reflect On - What do you desire to learn? - How does desire shape your goals? A Different Perspective Desire alone may not guarantee disciplined study. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Desire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/desire/) [Key Knowledge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/key-knowledge-347752/) [Knowledge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knowledge/) [Knowledge Desire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knowledge-desire-725609/) [Learning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/learning/) ## Related quotes > [“He constantly (tries to) keep them without knowledge and without desire, and where there are those who have knowledge, to keep them from presuming…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lao-tzu/he-constantly-tries-to-keep-them-without-knowledge-and-without-desire/) [Lao Tzu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lao-tzu/) > [Books are only but a mirror of what knowledge we desire, in our minds and in our hearts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-guzaldo/books-are-only-but-a-mirror-of-what-knowledge-we-desire-in-our-minds/) [Andrew Guzaldo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-guzaldo/) > [For knowledge you must have a desire and habit of learning. Along with knowledge, learning makes one humble.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anil-sinha/for-knowledge-you-must-have-a-desire-and-habit-of-learning-along-with/) [Anil Sinha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anil-sinha/) > [“The key to knowledge is the kingdom of God.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lailah-gifty-akita/the-key-to-knowledge-is-the-kingdom-of-god/) [Lailah Gifty Akita](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lailah-gifty-akita/) > [I wish I had known that education is the key. That knowledge is power. Now I pick up books and watch educational shows with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-j-blige/i-wish-i-had-known-that-education-is-the-key-that-knowledge-is-power/) [Mary J. Blige](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-j-blige/) > [“If you seek first God's Kingdom, shall find the key to knowledge.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lailah-gifty-akita/if-you-seek-first-god-s-kingdom-shall-find-the-key-to-knowledge/) [Lailah Gifty Akita](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lailah-gifty-akita/) > [Doubt is the key to knowledge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iranian-proverb/doubt-is-the-key-to-knowledge/) [Iranian Proverb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iranian-proverb/) > [Take from the philosopher the pleasure of being heard and his desire for knowledge ceases.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-jacques-rousseau/take-from-the-philosopher-the-pleasure-of-being-heard-and-his-desire/) [Jean-Jacques Rousseau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-jacques-rousseau/) > [Man seeks to learn, and man kills himself because of the loss of cohesion in his religious society; he does not kill himself because…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emile-durkheim/man-seeks-to-learn-and-man-kills-himself-because-of-the-loss-of/) [Emile Durkheim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emile-durkheim/) > [“My priority is not about grades. I seek yearn for knowledge, skills and wisdom.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lailah-gifty-akita/my-priority-is-not-about-grades-i-seek-yearn-for-knowledge-skills-and/) [Lailah Gifty Akita](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lailah-gifty-akita/) > [Ardent desire for knowledge, in fact, is the one motive attracting and supporting investigators in their efforts; and just this knowledge, really grasped and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claude-bernard/ardent-desire-for-knowledge-in-fact-is-the-one-motive-attracting-and/) [Claude Bernard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claude-bernard/) > [AI2 was born from a desire to create a system that could truly reason about knowledge, rather than just offer up what had been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-allen/ai2-was-born-from-a-desire-to-create-a-system-that-could-truly-reason/) [Paul Allen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-allen/) > [Let your desire for truth transcend all minor considerations. Ignorance is invariably confident. The man of knowledge learns to realize his own needs. Be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grenville-kleiser/let-your-desire-for-truth-transcend-all-minor-considerations/) [Grenville Kleiser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grenville-kleiser/) > [ “\[She was\] a creature full of eager, passionate longings for all that was beautiful and glad; thirsty for all knowledge; with an ear straining… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/she-was-a-creature-full-of-eager-passionate-longings-for-all-that-was/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [We know accurately only when we know little, with knowledge doubt increases.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/we-know-accurately-only-when-we-know-little-with-knowledge-doubt/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) ## More by Amélie Nothomb > [God isn't chocolate, he's the encounter between chocolate and the palate capable of appreciating it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amelie-nothomb/god-isn-t-chocolate-he-s-the-encounter-between-chocolate-and-the/) [Amelie Nothomb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amelie-nothomb/) > [“The nature of the epistolary genre was revealed to me: a form of writing devoted to another person. Novels, poems, and so on, were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amelie-nothomb/the-nature-of-the-epistolary-genre-was-revealed-to-me-a-form-of/) [Amélie Nothomb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amelie-nothomb/) > [“I glanced at the contents of what I was photocopying. They were the rules of the golf club of which Mister Saito was a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amelie-nothomb/i-glanced-at-the-contents-of-what-i-was-photocopying-they-were-the/) [Amélie Nothomb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amelie-nothomb/) > [“Principio según el cual una persona que me había enseñado a atarme los cordones de los zapatos no podía decir cualquier cosa”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amelie-nothomb/principio-seg-n-el-cual-una-persona-que-me-hab-a-ense-ado-a-atarme/) [Amélie Nothomb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amelie-nothomb/) > [“As she went on with her labour, she became aware that she had Schubert's Erl-King going around in her head. It wasn't the ideal…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amelie-nothomb/as-she-went-on-with-her-labour-she-became-aware-that-she-had-schubert/) [Amélie Nothomb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amelie-nothomb/) > [It's while writing that suddenly a point of view appears: 'So, that's what I really thought about this thing'. Then it feels part of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amelie-nothomb/it-s-while-writing-that-suddenly-a-point-of-view-appears-so-that-s/) [Amelie Nothomb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amelie-nothomb/) > [“I have a Ph.D. in masturbation.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amelie-nothomb/i-have-a-ph-d-in-masturbation/) [Amélie Nothomb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amelie-nothomb/) > [ “If I knew what I was thinking \[...\] I would never have become a writer.” ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amelie-nothomb/if-i-knew-what-i-was-thinking-i-would-never-have-become-a-writer/) [Amélie Nothomb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amelie-nothomb/) > [The purpose of the photograph is to reveal the love that is felt in a single image.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amelie-nothomb/the-purpose-of-the-photograph-is-to-reveal-the-love-that-is-felt-in-a/) [Amelie Nothomb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amelie-nothomb/) > [Of course you have memories, and these memories are convincing. But it's really at the moment when I write them down - when I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amelie-nothomb/of-course-you-have-memories-and-these-memories-are-convincing-but-it/) [Amelie Nothomb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amelie-nothomb/) > [When you have a lot of success you don't need vanity any more.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amelie-nothomb/when-you-have-a-lot-of-success-you-don-t-need-vanity-any-more/) [Amelie Nothomb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amelie-nothomb/) > [It’s true that someone will always say that good and evil don’t exist: that is a person who has never had any dealings with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amelie-nothomb/it-s-true-that-someone-will-always-say-that-good-and-evil-don-t-exist/) [Amelie Nothomb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amelie-nothomb/) > [“War reveals people's deeper nature.' 'I don't like that idea. It would suggest that we need to be put to the test. I think…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amelie-nothomb/war-reveals-people-s-deeper-nature-i-don-t-like-that-idea-it-would/) [Amélie Nothomb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amelie-nothomb/) > [“Society conspires against her from early infancy. Her brain is steadily filled with plaster until it sets: ‘If you’re not married by the time…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amelie-nothomb/society-conspires-against-her-from-early-infancy-her-brain-is/) [Amélie Nothomb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amelie-nothomb/) > [If you admire yourself in the mirror, let it be in fear and not delight, because the only thing that beauty will bring to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amelie-nothomb/if-you-admire-yourself-in-the-mirror-let-it-be-in-fear-and-not/) [Amelie Nothomb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amelie-nothomb/) [Explore all 75 Amélie Nothomb quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amelie-nothomb/) ## More Desire quotes > [I put myself in the student's place and remember the frustrations, doubts, determination, and desires I felt when I was going through the initial…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-martinez/i-put-myself-in-the-student-s-place-and-remember-the-frustrations/) [Ted Martinez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-martinez/) > [Passion is what you need to be good, an unforgiving passion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-easton/passion-is-what-you-need-to-be-good-an-unforgiving-passion/) [David Easton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-easton/) > [I want the municipality to be a helping hand to the man with a desire of sympathy, to help the fallen when it is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-burns/i-want-the-municipality-to-be-a-helping-hand-to-the-man-with-a-desire/) [John Burns](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-burns/) > [Ye youths and virgins, when your generous blood Has drunk the warmth of fifteen summers, now The loves invite; now to new rapture wakes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-armstrong/ye-youths-and-virgins-when-your-generous-blood-has-drunk-the-warmth/) [John Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-armstrong/) > [I have observed this in my experience of slavery, - that whenever my condition was improved, instead of its increasing my contentment, it only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-douglass/i-have-observed-this-in-my-experience-of-slavery-that-whenever-my/) [Frederick Douglass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-douglass/) > [“THE ESSENCE OF YOUR DESIRE IS A FEELING”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/danielle-laporte/the-essence-of-your-desire-is-a-feeling/) [Danielle LaPorte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/danielle-laporte/) > [On the brink of being satiated, desire still appears infinite.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-rostand/on-the-brink-of-being-satiated-desire-still-appears-infinite/) [Jean Rostand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-rostand/) > [If there is any period one would desire to be born in, is it not the age of Revolution; when the old and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/if-there-is-any-period-one-would-desire-to-be-born-in-is-it-not-the/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [He caught her, she fell, he caught her in his arms, he held her tightly unconscious of what he was doing. He held her…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/he-caught-her-she-fell-he-caught-her-in-his-arms-he-held-her-tightly/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [ Teaching might even be the greatest of the arts since the medium is the human mind and spirit. My three \[great teachers\] did not… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/teaching-might-even-be-the-greatest-of-the-arts-since-the-medium-is/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) > [“The deepest urge in human nature is the desire to be important.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/the-deepest-urge-in-human-nature-is-the-desire-to-be-important/) [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) > [In discovering books, you became free to explore the full range of human motives, desires, secrets, and lies. All my life, people have scolded…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/betsy-lerner/in-discovering-books-you-became-free-to-explore-the-full-range-of/) [Betsy Lerner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/betsy-lerner/) > [I have never been in, nor have I had any strong particular desire to be in, what is termed a costume drama, but I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-freeman/i-have-never-been-in-nor-have-i-had-any-strong-particular-desire-to/) [Martin Freeman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-freeman/) > [Now I am in the place I call this wide wide Heaven because it includes all my simplest desires but also the most humble…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-sebold/now-i-am-in-the-place-i-call-this-wide-wide-heaven-because-it/) [Alice Sebold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-sebold/) > [“from THE DEVIL YOU KNOW : She wanted him too. He could see it in the rapid rise of her breasts. He could smell…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emery-lee/from-the-devil-you-know-she-wanted-him-too-he-could-see-it-in-the/) [Emery Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emery-lee/) [Browse all 15,155 Desire quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/desire/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“There is only one key to knowledge, and that is desire.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Amélie Nothomb" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amelie-nothomb/there-is-only-one-key-to-knowledge-and-that-is-desire/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Desire" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amelie-nothomb/there-is-only-one-key-to-knowledge-and-that-is-desire/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dba/amelie-nothomb-1581_desire_there-is-only-one-key-to-knowledge-and-t_2467701.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dba/amelie-nothomb-1581_desire_there-is-only-one-key-to-knowledge-and-t_2467701.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dba/amelie-nothomb-1581_desire_there-is-only-one-key-to-knowledge-and-t_2467701.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“There is only one key to knowledge, and that is desire.” — Amélie Nothomb", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Amélie Nothomb", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amelie-nothomb/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“There is only one key to...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amelie-nothomb/there-is-only-one-key-to-knowledge-and-that-is-desire/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amelie-nothomb/there-is-only-one-key-to-knowledge-and-that-is-desire/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```