--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I call it Joy. 'Animal-Land' was not…" description: "\"“I call it Joy. 'Animal-Land' was not imaginative. But certain other experiences were... The first is itself the memory of a memory. As I stood beside ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c13/c-s-lewis-121_desire_i-call-it-joy-animal-land-was-not-imagin_2253050.jpg" --- # I call it Joy. 'Animal-Land' was not imaginative. But… ![“I call it Joy. 'Animal-Land' was not imaginative. But certain other experiences were... The first is itself the memory of a memory. As I stood beside a flowering currant bush on a summer day there suddenly arose in me without warning, and as if from a depth not of years but of centuries, the…” quote by C.S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c13/c-s-lewis-121_desire_i-call-it-joy-animal-land-was-not-imagin_2253050.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c13/c-s-lewis-121_desire_i-call-it-joy-animal-land-was-not-imagin_2253050.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c13/c-s-lewis-121_desire_i-call-it-joy-animal-land-was-not-imagin_2253050.jpg) > ““I call it Joy. 'Animal-Land' was not imaginative. But certain other experiences were... The first is itself the memory of a memory. As I stood beside a flowering currant bush on a summer day there suddenly arose in me without warning, and as if from a depth not of years but of centuries, the memory of that earlier morning at the Old House when my brother had brought his toy garden into the nursery. It is difficult or find words strong enough for the sensation which came over me; Milton's 'enormous bliss' of Eden (giving the full, ancient meaning to 'enormous') comes somewhere near it. It was a sensation, of course, of desire; but desire for what?...Before I knew what I desired, the desire itself was gone, the whole glimpse... withdrawn, the world turned commonplace again, or only stirred by a longing for the longing that had just ceased... In a sense the central story of my life is about nothing else... The quality common to the three experiences... is that of an unsatisfied desire which is itself more desirable than any other satisfaction. I call it Joy, which is here a technical term and must be sharply distinguished both from Happiness and Pleasure. Joy (in my sense) has indeed one characteristic, and one only, in common with them; the fact that anyone who has experienced it will want it again... I doubt whether anyone who has tasted it would ever, if both were in his power, exchange it for all the pleasures in the world. But then Joy is never in our power and Pleasure often is.”” [C.S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis-2/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Joy is a deep, fleeting longing that surpasses ordinary happiness and pleasure, arising from an unsatisfied desire that itself becomes more desirable. **In simple terms:** Joy is a powerful, elusive longing beyond happiness. Key Takeaway Seek moments that spark profound longing. Themes philosophy spirituality emotion desire longing Mood wistanchanted reflective poignant Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - artistic inspiration - personal reflection - spiritual practice - creative writing Key Concepts existential yearning transcendence memory sensory perception Questions to Reflect On - What experiences have evoked a similar fleeting longing? - How does this longing differ from ordinary happiness? A Different Perspective Joy cannot be controlled and may vanish, leaving only a lingering yearning. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Desire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/desire/) [Desire Desirable](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/desire-desirable-3841757/) [Happiness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/happiness/) [Nostalgia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nostalgia/) [Old house](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/old-house/) [Pleasure Joy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pleasure-joy-294749/) [Pleasures](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pleasures/) [Sensation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sensation/) [Story of my life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/story-of-my-life/) [Strong enough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/strong-enough/) ## Related quotes > [“The wise pleasure seeker, having realised they are "different degrees of desire" and never desirable, gives up both Virtue and Vice and becomes a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/austin-osman-spare-2/the-wise-pleasure-seeker-having-realised-they-are-different-degrees/) [Austin Osman, Spare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/austin-osman-spare-2/) > [Unsatisfied desire is in itself more desirable than any other satisfaction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/unsatisfied-desire-is-in-itself-more-desirable-than-any-other/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [It is that of an unsatisfied desire which is itself more desirable than any other satisfaction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis/it-is-that-of-an-unsatisfied-desire-which-is-itself-more-desirable/) [C. S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis/) > [I wonder what it feels like to have no desires left because you have satisfied them all, smothered them with money even before they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vikas-swarup/i-wonder-what-it-feels-like-to-have-no-desires-left-because-you-have/) [Vikas Swarup](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vikas-swarup/) > [“All she had was the desire to be desirable”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-marcos/all-she-had-was-the-desire-to-be-desirable/) [Michelle Marcos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-marcos/) > [Quality in education is what makes learning a pleasure and a joy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/myron-tribus/quality-in-education-is-what-makes-learning-a-pleasure-and-a-joy/) [Myron Tribus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/myron-tribus/) > [What gives you pleasure and joy? Let those be the things that lead you forward in life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julianne-moore/what-gives-you-pleasure-and-joy-let-those-be-the-things-that-lead-you/) [Julianne Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julianne-moore/) > [We are PSG, we are the champion, We must take pleasure and give joy to people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marquinhos/we-are-psg-we-are-the-champion-we-must-take-pleasure-and-give-joy-to/) [Marquinhos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marquinhos/) > [Ah, the pleasure, the joy - a big news story that runs and runs, that is played down by some of our journalistic colleagues,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kamal-ahmed/ah-the-pleasure-the-joy-a-big-news-story-that-runs-and-runs-that-is/) [Kamal Ahmed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kamal-ahmed/) > [“It might be useful to distinguish between pleasure and joy. But maybe everybody does this very easily, all the time, and only I am…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zadie-smith/it-might-be-useful-to-distinguish-between-pleasure-and-joy-but-maybe/) [Zadie Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zadie-smith/) > [The noblest pleasure is the joy of understanding.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonardo-da-vinci/the-noblest-pleasure-is-the-joy-of-understanding/) [Leonardo da Vinci](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonardo-da-vinci/) > [Things and conditions can give you pleasure but they cannot give you joy- joy arises from within.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/things-and-conditions-can-give-you-pleasure-but-they-cannot-give-you/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [Playing in the Champions League ought to be a pleasure and a joy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/massimiliano-allegri/playing-in-the-champions-league-ought-to-be-a-pleasure-and-a-joy/) [Massimiliano Allegri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/massimiliano-allegri/) > [“My senses are alive with pleasure and joy.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-leigh-mercree/my-senses-are-alive-with-pleasure-and-joy/) [Amy Leigh Mercree](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-leigh-mercree/) > [There's something about the awareness of the limits that makes you tune in more to your surroundings and I've experienced a lot of pleasure…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-lindsay/there-s-something-about-the-awareness-of-the-limits-that-makes-you/) [John Lindsay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-lindsay/) ## More by C.S. Lewis > [“At the moment, then, of Man’s victory over Nature, we find the whole human race subjected to some individual men, and those individuals subjected…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis-2/at-the-moment-then-of-man-s-victory-over-nature-we-find-the-whole/) [C.S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis-2/) > [“Isn’t it absolutely essential to keep a fierce Left and a fierce Right, both on their toes and each terrified of the other?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis-2/isn-t-it-absolutely-essential-to-keep-a-fierce-left-and-a-fierce/) [C.S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis-2/) > [“All Hell is smaller than one pebble of your earthly world: but it is smaller than one atom of this world, the Real World.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis-2/all-hell-is-smaller-than-one-pebble-of-your-earthly-world-but-it-is/) [C.S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis-2/) > [“the greatest service we can do to education today is to teach fewer subjects. No one has time to do more than a very…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis-2/the-greatest-service-we-can-do-to-education-today-is-to-teach-fewer/) [C.S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis-2/) > [“If the Divine call does not make us better, it will make us very much worse. Of all bad men religious bad men are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis-2/if-the-divine-call-does-not-make-us-better-it-will-make-us-very-much/) [C.S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis-2/) > [“The husband is the head of the wife just in so far as he is to her what Christ is to the Church -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis-2/the-husband-is-the-head-of-the-wife-just-in-so-far-as-he-is-to-her/) [C.S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis-2/) > [“We use a most unfortunate idiom when we say, of a lustful man prowling the streets, that he "wants a woman". Strictly speaking, a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis-2/we-use-a-most-unfortunate-idiom-when-we-say-of-a-lustful-man-prowling/) [C.S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis-2/) > [“Después de cada fracaso, pedid perdón, levantaos del suelo y volved a intentarlo. Muy a menudo, lo que Dios nos otorga primero no es…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis-2/despu-s-de-cada-fracaso-pedid-perd-n-levantaos-del-suelo-y-volved-a/) [C.S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis-2/) > [“Then two wonders happened at the same moment. One was that the voice was suddenly joined by other voices; more voices than you could…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis-2/then-two-wonders-happened-at-the-same-moment-one-was-that-the-voice/) [C.S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis-2/) > [“Because free will, though it makes evil possible, is also the only thing that makes possible any love or goodness or joy worth having.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis-2/because-free-will-though-it-makes-evil-possible-is-also-the-only/) [C.S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis-2/) > [“Laugh and fear not, creatures. Now that you are no longer dumb and witless, you need not always be grave. For jokes as well…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis-2/laugh-and-fear-not-creatures-now-that-you-are-no-longer-dumb-and/) [C.S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis-2/) > [“When two humans have lived together for many years it usually happens that each has tones of voice and expressions of face which are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis-2/when-two-humans-have-lived-together-for-many-years-it-usually-happens/) [C.S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis-2/) > [“He sees as well as you do that courage is not simply one of the virtues, but the form of every virtue at the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis-2/he-sees-as-well-as-you-do-that-courage-is-not-simply-one-of-the/) [C.S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis-2/) > [“If you do not take the distinction between good and bad very seriously, then it is easy to say that anything you find in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis-2/if-you-do-not-take-the-distinction-between-good-and-bad-very/) [C.S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis-2/) > [“Now the whole offer which Christianity makes is this: that we can, if we let God have His way, come to share in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis-2/now-the-whole-offer-which-christianity-makes-is-this-that-we-can-if/) [C.S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis-2/) [Explore all 1,165 C.S. Lewis quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis-2/) ## 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": "“I call it Joy. 'Animal-Land' was not imaginative. But certain other experiences were... The first is itself the memory of a memory. As I stood beside a flowering currant bush on a summer day there suddenly arose in me without warning, and as if from a depth not of years but of centuries, the memory of that earlier morning at the Old House when my brother had brought his toy garden into the nursery. It is difficult or find words strong enough for the sensation which came over me; Milton's 'enormous bliss' of Eden (giving the full, ancient meaning to 'enormous') comes somewhere near it. It was a sensation, of course, of desire; but desire for what?...Before I knew what I desired, the desire itself was gone, the whole glimpse... withdrawn, the world turned commonplace again, or only stirred by a longing for the longing that had just ceased... In a sense the central story of my life is about nothing else... The quality common to the three experiences... is that of an unsatisfied desire which is itself more desirable than any other satisfaction. I call it Joy, which is here a technical term and must be sharply distinguished both from Happiness and Pleasure. Joy (in my sense) has indeed one characteristic, and one only, in common with them; the fact that anyone who has experienced it will want it again... I doubt whether anyone who has tasted it would ever, if both were in his power, exchange it for all the pleasures in the world. But then Joy is never in our power and Pleasure often is.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "C.S. 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