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Desire Quote by C.S. Lewis

“Even in your hobbies, has there not always been some secret attraction which the others are curiously ignorant of--something, not to be identified with, but always on the verge of breaking through, the smell of cut wood in the workshop or the clap-clap of water against the boat's side? Are not all…” quote by C.S. Lewis
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““Even in your hobbies, has there not always been some secret attraction which the others are curiously ignorant of--something, not to be identified with, but always on the verge of breaking through, the smell of cut wood in the workshop or the clap-clap of water against the boat's side? Are not all lifelong friendships born at the moment when at last you meet another human being who has some inkling (but faint and uncertain even in the best) of that something which you were born desiring, and which, beneath the flux of other desires and in all the momentary silences between the louder passions, night and day, year by year, from childhood to old age, you are looking for, watching for, listening for? You have never had it. All the things that have ever deeply possesed your soul have been but hints of it--tantalizing glimspes, promises never quite fulfilled, echoes that died away just as they caught your ear. But if it should really become manifest--if there ever came an echo that did not die away but swelled into the sound itself--you would know it. Beyond all possibility of doubt you would say 'Here at last is the thing I was made for.' We cannot tell each other about it. It is the secret signature of each soul, the incommunicable and unappeasable want, the things we desired before we met our wives or made our friends or chose our work, and which we shall still desire on our deathbeds, when the mind no longer knows wife or friend or work. While we are, this is. If we lose this, we lose all.””

C.S. Lewis

About This Quote

Source Book: The Four Loves, C.S. Lewis, 1960

The deepest longing of each person is a unique, ineffable desire that shapes life’s choices, often unspoken and unrecognizable to others.

In simple terms: Everyone has a secret, personal yearning that guides them.

Key Takeaway

Seek and honor your inner calling.

Themes

longing identity friendship purpose selfdiscovery

Mood

contemplative melancholic hopeful

Type

philosophical inspirational

When to use this quote

  • career decisions
  • creative projects
  • relationship building
  • personal reflection

Key Concepts

existentialism psychology spirituality

Questions to Reflect On

  • What hidden yearning drives your major life choices?
  • How can you recognize its subtle signs?
A Different Perspective

It may be impossible to fully articulate or share this desire with others.

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