--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: If there is nothing left to desire, there…" description: "\"If there is nothing left to desire, there is everything to fear, an unhappy state of happiness.\" — Baltasar Gracian" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/34d/baltasar-gracian-1090_desire_if-there-is-nothing-left-to-desire-there_2179008.jpg" --- # If there is nothing left to desire, there is everything to… ![“If there is nothing left to desire, there is everything to fear, an unhappy state of happiness.” quote by Baltasar Gracian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/34d/baltasar-gracian-1090_desire_if-there-is-nothing-left-to-desire-there_2179008.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/34d/baltasar-gracian-1090_desire_if-there-is-nothing-left-to-desire-there_2179008.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/34d/baltasar-gracian-1090_desire_if-there-is-nothing-left-to-desire-there_2179008.jpg) > “If there is nothing left to desire, there is everything to fear, an unhappy state of happiness.” [Baltasar Gracian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/baltasar-gracian/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. When desires are exhausted, a hollow happiness emerges, leading to fear of emptiness. **In simple terms:** Empty desires cause fear. Key Takeaway Seek meaningful purpose beyond fleeting wants. Themes philosophy psychology existentialism Mood reflective thoughtful Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - personal growth - career planning - spiritual practice - mental health counseling Key Concepts desire contentment fear meaning Questions to Reflect On - What deeper purpose can replace empty desires? - How does fear manifest when happiness feels hollow? A Different Perspective Avoiding desire may cause stagnation if not replaced with purpose. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Desire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/desire/) [Fear](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fear/) [Happiness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/happiness/) [Inspirational](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspirational/) [Unhappy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/unhappy/) ## Related quotes > [It is a most unhappy state to be at a distance with God: man needs no greater infelicity than to be left to himself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/owen-feltham/it-is-a-most-unhappy-state-to-be-at-a-distance-with-god-man-needs-no/) [Owen Feltham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/owen-feltham/) > [“The more you seek happiness the more you lost your patient and leads you to unhappy state.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/prasanna-sahoo/the-more-you-seek-happiness-the-more-you-lost-your-patient-and-leads/) Prasanna Sahoo > [Most people's lives are run by desire and fear. Desire is the need to add something to yourself in order to be yourself more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/most-people-s-lives-are-run-by-desire-and-fear-desire-is-the-need-to/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [I always tell people: Life is the dance between what you desire most and what you fear most. You've got to be able to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marc-benioff/i-always-tell-people-life-is-the-dance-between-what-you-desire-most/) [Marc Benioff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marc-benioff/) > [“I moaned in frustration, trapped between desire and fear. “God, Roth.” “In your life, at this time, those two words could be considered synonymous.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jasinda-wilder/i-moaned-in-frustration-trapped-between-desire-and-fear-god-roth-in/) [Jasinda Wilder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jasinda-wilder/) > [I am dead already. Physical death will make no difference in my case. I am timeless being. I am free of desire or fear,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sri-nisargadatta-maharaj/i-am-dead-already-physical-death-will-make-no-difference-in-my-case-i/) [Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sri-nisargadatta-maharaj/) > [Having wandered some distance among gloomy rocks, I came to the entrance of a great cavern ... Two contrary emotions arose in me: fear…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonardo-da-vinci/having-wandered-some-distance-among-gloomy-rocks-i-came-to-the/) [Leonardo da Vinci](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonardo-da-vinci/) > [Clearly, all fear has an element of resistance and a leaning away from the moment. Its dynamic is not unlike that of strong desire…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-levine/clearly-all-fear-has-an-element-of-resistance-and-a-leaning-away-from/) [Stephen Levine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-levine/) > [Everything you do is triggered by an emotion of either desire or fear.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-tracy/everything-you-do-is-triggered-by-an-emotion-of-either-desire-or-fear/) [Brian Tracy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-tracy/) > [It's important to only think about what you desire, not what you fear.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doreen-virtue/it-s-important-to-only-think-about-what-you-desire-not-what-you-fear/) [Doreen Virtue](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doreen-virtue/) > [“Only occasionally can you glimpse through the embrasures of an otherwise perfectly polite person to see the cannons aimed out, only in a certain…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-paterniti/only-occasionally-can-you-glimpse-through-the-embrasures-of-an/) [Michael Paterniti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-paterniti/) > [Life is the dance between what you desire most, and what you fear most](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-robbins/life-is-the-dance-between-what-you-desire-most-and-what-you-fear-most/) [Tony Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-robbins/) > [“Whatwe fear we also desire, and what we desire we fear.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erica-jong/whatwe-fear-we-also-desire-and-what-we-desire-we-fear/) [Erica Jong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erica-jong/) > [He who has few things to desire cannot have many to fear.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-blake/he-who-has-few-things-to-desire-cannot-have-many-to-fear/) [William Blake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-blake/) > [When you no longer are compelled by desire and fear . . . when you have seen the radiance in eternity from all forms…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-campbell/when-you-no-longer-are-compelled-by-desire-and-fear-when-you-have/) [Joseph Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-campbell/) ## More by Baltasar Gracian > [To be at ease is better than to be at business. Nothing really belongs to us but time, which even he has who has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/baltasar-gracian/to-be-at-ease-is-better-than-to-be-at-business-nothing-really-belongs/) [Baltasar Gracian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/baltasar-gracian/) > [It requires as much to tell the truth as to conceal it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/baltasar-gracian/it-requires-as-much-to-tell-the-truth-as-to-conceal-it/) [Baltasar Gracian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/baltasar-gracian/) > [There are friendships merely for pleasure, some for the exchange of ideas. Rarest are those friends of one's inmost self.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/baltasar-gracian/there-are-friendships-merely-for-pleasure-some-for-the-exchange-of/) [Baltasar Gracian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/baltasar-gracian/) > [What is not seen is as if it was not. Even the Right does not receive proper consideration if it does not seem right.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/baltasar-gracian/what-is-not-seen-is-as-if-it-was-not-even-the-right-does-not-receive/) [Baltasar Gracian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/baltasar-gracian/) > [What the multitude says, is so, or soon will be so.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/baltasar-gracian/what-the-multitude-says-is-so-or-soon-will-be-so/) [Baltasar Gracian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/baltasar-gracian/) > [A synonym is a word you use when you can't spell the other one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/baltasar-gracian/a-synonym-is-a-word-you-use-when-you-can-t-spell-the-other-one/) [Baltasar Gracian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/baltasar-gracian/) > [It is good to vary in order that you may frustrate the curious, especially those who envy you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/baltasar-gracian/it-is-good-to-vary-in-order-that-you-may-frustrate-the-curious/) [Baltasar Gracian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/baltasar-gracian/) > [Hope has a good memory, gratitude a bad one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/baltasar-gracian/hope-has-a-good-memory-gratitude-a-bad-one/) [Baltasar Gracian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/baltasar-gracian/) > [Knowing how to keep a friend is more important than gaining a new one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/baltasar-gracian/knowing-how-to-keep-a-friend-is-more-important-than-gaining-a-new-one/) [Baltasar Gracian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/baltasar-gracian/) > [Leave your luck while still winning.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/baltasar-gracian/leave-your-luck-while-still-winning/) [Baltasar Gracian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/baltasar-gracian/) > [Superiority is always detested.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/baltasar-gracian/superiority-is-always-detested/) [Baltasar Gracian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/baltasar-gracian/) > [“We have eyelids but not earlids, for the ears are the portals of learning, and Nature wanted to keep them wide open.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/baltasar-gracian/we-have-eyelids-but-not-earlids-for-the-ears-are-the-portals-of/) [Baltasar Gracián](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/baltasar-gracian/) > [The wise persono would rather see others needing him than thanking him.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/baltasar-gracian/the-wise-persono-would-rather-see-others-needing-him-than-thanking-him/) [Baltasar Gracian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/baltasar-gracian/) > [No one demands more caution than a spy, and when someone has the skeleton key to minds, counter him by leaving the key of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/baltasar-gracian/no-one-demands-more-caution-than-a-spy-and-when-someone-has-the/) [Baltasar Gracian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/baltasar-gracian/) > [Keep the extent of your abilities unknown.The wise man does not allow his knowledge and abilities to be sounded to the bottom, if he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/baltasar-gracian/keep-the-extent-of-your-abilities-unknown-the-wise-man-does-not-allow/) [Baltasar Gracian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/baltasar-gracian/) [Explore all 288 Baltasar Gracian quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/baltasar-gracian/) ## 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 > [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": "If there is nothing left to desire, there is everything to fear, an unhappy state of happiness.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Baltasar Gracian" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/baltasar-gracian/if-there-is-nothing-left-to-desire-there-is-everything-to-fear-an/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Desire" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/baltasar-gracian/if-there-is-nothing-left-to-desire-there-is-everything-to-fear-an/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/34d/baltasar-gracian-1090_desire_if-there-is-nothing-left-to-desire-there_2179008.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/34d/baltasar-gracian-1090_desire_if-there-is-nothing-left-to-desire-there_2179008.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/34d/baltasar-gracian-1090_desire_if-there-is-nothing-left-to-desire-there_2179008.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“If there is nothing left to desire, there is everything to fear, an unhappy state of happiness.” — Baltasar Gracian", "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": "Baltasar Gracian", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/baltasar-gracian/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "If there is nothing left to...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/baltasar-gracian/if-there-is-nothing-left-to-desire-there-is-everything-to-fear-an/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/baltasar-gracian/if-there-is-nothing-left-to-desire-there-is-everything-to-fear-an/#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 } } ] } ```