--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: In my experience, desire is desire, love…" description: "\"In my experience, desire is desire, love is love. I have never fallen in love with a gender. I have fallen for individuals.\" — David Levithan" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ed2/david-levithan-67_desire_in-my-experience-desire-is-desire-love-i_1971096.jpg" --- # In my experience, desire is desire, love is love. I have… ![“In my experience, desire is desire, love is love. I have never fallen in love with a gender. I have fallen for individuals.” quote by David Levithan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ed2/david-levithan-67_desire_in-my-experience-desire-is-desire-love-i_1971096.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ed2/david-levithan-67_desire_in-my-experience-desire-is-desire-love-i_1971096.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ed2/david-levithan-67_desire_in-my-experience-desire-is-desire-love-i_1971096.jpg) > “In my experience, desire is desire, love is love. I have never fallen in love with a gender. I have fallen for individuals.” [David Levithan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-levithan/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Love is personal, not defined by gender; desire and love are distinct. **In simple terms:** Love focuses on people, not gender. Key Takeaway Prioritize individual connection over labels. Themes love identity desire Mood thoughtful affirming Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - dating - friendship - activism - personal reflection Key Concepts queer theory psychology Questions to Reflect On - How do you differentiate desire from love? - Can love transcend gender expectations? A Different Perspective Societal norms can pressure identity labels. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Desire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/desire/) [Gender](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gender/) [Individual](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/individual/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) [Love is love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love-is-love/) ## Related quotes > [“In my experience, desire is desire, love is love. I have never fallen in love with a gender.I have fallen for individuals. I know…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-levithan/in-my-experience-desire-is-desire-love-is-love-i-have-never-fallen-in/) [David Levithan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-levithan/) > [In my experience, desire is desire, love is love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-levithan/in-my-experience-desire-is-desire-love-is-love/) [David Levithan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-levithan/) > [“We come to a corner where there are a few people protesting the festivities. I don't understand this at all. It's like protesting the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-levithan/we-come-to-a-corner-where-there-are-a-few-people-protesting-the/) [David Levithan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-levithan/) > [“I don't understand this at all. It's like protesting the fact that some people are red-haired. In my experience, desire is desire, love is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-levithan/i-don-t-understand-this-at-all-it-s-like-protesting-the-fact-that/) [David Levithan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-levithan/) > [“Love is love. I have never fallen in love with a gender. I have fallen for individuals.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-levithan/love-is-love-i-have-never-fallen-in-love-with-a-gender-i-have-fallen/) [David Levithan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-levithan/) > [I truly believe that love is love and gender is immaterial.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-lancashire/i-truly-believe-that-love-is-love-and-gender-is-immaterial/) [Sarah Lancashire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-lancashire/) > [It is not merely our own desire but the desire of Christ in His Spirit that drives us to grow in love. Those who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-merton/it-is-not-merely-our-own-desire-but-the-desire-of-christ-in-his/) [Thomas Merton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-merton/) > [“Desire, Desire, Desire! Desire to love, Desire to live, Desire to learn, Desire to dream, Desire to give, Desire to forgive, Desire to grow.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lailah-gifty-akita/desire-desire-desire-desire-to-love-desire-to-live-desire-to-learn/) [Lailah Gifty Akita](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lailah-gifty-akita/) > [“Desire and love act at cross purposes. love is a net cast on eternity, desire is a stratagem to be spared the chores of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zygmunt-bauman/desire-and-love-act-at-cross-purposes-love-is-a-net-cast-on-eternity/) [Zygmunt Bauman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zygmunt-bauman/) > [Where such men love they have no desire and where they desire they cannot love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sigmund-freud/where-such-men-love-they-have-no-desire-and-where-they-desire-they/) [Sigmund Freud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sigmund-freud/) > [“In order to acheive you must dream, to dream you must desire, to desire you must love.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-gordon/in-order-to-acheive-you-must-dream-to-dream-you-must-desire-to-desire/) Robert Gordon > [“where they love they do not desire and where they desire they cannot love” (p. 183).”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-fink/where-they-love-they-do-not-desire-and-where-they-desire-they-cannot/) Bruce Fink > [Where they love they do not desire and where they desire they do not love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sigmund-freud/where-they-love-they-do-not-desire-and-where-they-desire-they-do-not/) [Sigmund Freud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sigmund-freud/) > [“Desire, Desire, Desire!!! Desire to love. Desire to seek. Desire to ask.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lailah-gifty-akita/desire-desire-desire-desire-to-love-desire-to-seek-desire-to-ask/) [Lailah Gifty Akita](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lailah-gifty-akita/) > [Experience, as a desire for experience, does not come off. We must not study ourselves while having an experience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/experience-as-a-desire-for-experience-does-not-come-off-we-must-not/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) ## More by David Levithan > [“When you jump, all you're going to do is fall. But leaping? Leaping is when you think there's something on the other side.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-levithan/when-you-jump-all-you-re-going-to-do-is-fall-but-leaping-leaping-is/) [David Levithan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-levithan/) > [“The past and the future are what's complicated. It's the present that's simple. And the simplicity is the sensation of it being just her…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-levithan/the-past-and-the-future-are-what-s-complicated-it-s-the-present-that/) [David Levithan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-levithan/) > [“I hate the way you talk to me And the way you cut your hair I hate the way you drive my car I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-levithan/i-hate-the-way-you-talk-to-me-and-the-way-you-cut-your-hair-i-hate/) [David Levithan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-levithan/) > [You could be the leaf that never falls from the tree you could be the sun that never leaves the sky this might be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-levithan/you-could-be-the-leaf-that-never-falls-from-the-tree-you-could-be-the/) [David Levithan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-levithan/) > [“Patrick: Is she worth the trouble? Cameron: I thought she was- Patrick: Either she is, or she isn't. So give it a shot, or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-levithan/patrick-is-she-worth-the-trouble-cameron-i-thought-she-was-patrick/) [David Levithan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-levithan/) > [“We saw our friends die. But we also see our friends live. So many of them live, and we often toast their long and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-levithan/we-saw-our-friends-die-but-we-also-see-our-friends-live-so-many-of/) [David Levithan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-levithan/) > [maybe tonight you're scared of falling, and maybe there's somebody here or somewhere else you're thinking about, worrying over, fretting over, trying to figure…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-levithan/maybe-tonight-you-re-scared-of-falling-and-maybe-there-s-somebody/) [David Levithan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-levithan/) > [“You never told me what you saw in him, not convincingly.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-levithan/you-never-told-me-what-you-saw-in-him-not-convincingly/) [David Levithan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-levithan/) > [“i nod to the other will grayson, up onstage. he nods to me. we have something between us, him and me. but the truth?…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-levithan/i-nod-to-the-other-will-grayson-up-onstage-he-nods-to-me-we-have/) [David Levithan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-levithan/) > [The terrorists-those nineteen people, with hundreds or maybe thousands behind them-did the worst thing you can possibly imagine. But tens of millions people did…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-levithan/the-terrorists-those-nineteen-people-with-hundreds-or-maybe-thousands/) [David Levithan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-levithan/) > [But I still has enough longing for that concept that I didn't want to dispel it completely. Meaning: I didn't want to tell Lily…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-levithan/but-i-still-has-enough-longing-for-that-concept-that-i-didn-t-want-to/) [David Levithan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-levithan/) > [“When you break someone's heart, you also break yours.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-levithan/when-you-break-someone-s-heart-you-also-break-yours/) [David Levithan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-levithan/) > [“Because toward the end all the words started leaving. Except for the ones that had to lock up at the end of the night.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-levithan/because-toward-the-end-all-the-words-started-leaving-except-for-the/) [David Levithan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-levithan/) > [“ misgivings , n . Last night, I got up the courage to ask you if you regretted us. "There are things I miss,"…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-levithan/misgivings-n-last-night-i-got-up-the-courage-to-ask-you-if-you/) [David Levithan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-levithan/) > [“Saving others is always more important than saving yourself. It has to be, or none of us would do any good.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-levithan/saving-others-is-always-more-important-than-saving-yourself-it-has-to/) [David Levithan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-levithan/) [Explore all 1,648 David Levithan quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-levithan/) ## 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": "In my experience, desire is desire, love is love. I have never fallen in love with a gender. 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