--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: To desire and expect nothing for oneself…" description: "\"To desire and expect nothing for oneself and to have profound sympathy for others is genuine holiness.\" — Ivan Turgenev" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ac6/ivan-turgenev-2671_desire_to-desire-and-expect-nothing-for-oneself_2852885.jpg" --- # To desire and expect nothing for oneself and to have… ![“To desire and expect nothing for oneself and to have profound sympathy for others is genuine holiness.” quote by Ivan Turgenev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ac6/ivan-turgenev-2671_desire_to-desire-and-expect-nothing-for-oneself_2852885.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ac6/ivan-turgenev-2671_desire_to-desire-and-expect-nothing-for-oneself_2852885.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ac6/ivan-turgenev-2671_desire_to-desire-and-expect-nothing-for-oneself_2852885.jpg) > “To desire and expect nothing for oneself and to have profound sympathy for others is genuine holiness.” [Ivan Turgenev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivan-turgenev/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Self‑less love and empathy constitute true holiness. **In simple terms:** Love others selflessly. Key Takeaway Cultivate empathy for holiness. Themes morality empathy spirituality Mood reflective gentle Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - charitable work - community service - personal reflection Key Concepts ethics philosophy Questions to Reflect On - How does self‑less love affect personal well‑being? - Can empathy become burnout? A Different Perspective May neglect self‑care. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Desire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/desire/) [Genuine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/genuine/) [Genuine Holiness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/genuine-holiness-2074699/) [Holiness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/holiness/) [Oneself](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/oneself/) [Oneself Profound](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/oneself-profound-3805784/) [Profound](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/profound/) [Profound Sympathy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/profound-sympathy-2215401/) [Sympathy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sympathy/) [Sympathy Genuine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sympathy-genuine-2201242/) ## Related quotes > [“She had inhibited her sympathy, one genuine sympathetic impulse would have ruined her.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iris-murdoch/she-had-inhibited-her-sympathy-one-genuine-sympathetic-impulse-would/) [Iris Murdoch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iris-murdoch/) > [“Someone who truly understands who he or she is in Christ is further along the road to genuine holiness than someone who, in confusion,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/n-t-wright/someone-who-truly-understands-who-he-or-she-is-in-christ-is-further/) [N.T. Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/n-t-wright/) > [“Genuine holiness restores human beings; restored human beings possess genuine holiness.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-eldredge/genuine-holiness-restores-human-beings-restored-human-beings-possess/) [John Eldredge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-eldredge/) > [“…Genuine holiness…makes us more progressively aware of and disturbed by our ongoing struggles with indwelling sin. We grow more aware of our own need…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-horton/genuine-holiness-makes-us-more-progressively-aware-of-and-disturbed/) [Michael Horton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-horton/) > [“Back in Paris they had happy moments together, like stills from a perfume ad (dashing hand in hand down the steps of Montmartre; or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-houellebecq/back-in-paris-they-had-happy-moments-together-like-stills-from-a/) [Michel Houellebecq](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-houellebecq/) > [“When I meet cases, as I frequently do, of such unfortunate and misguided young men as I have described, I cannot but feel the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/booker-t-washington/when-i-meet-cases-as-i-frequently-do-of-such-unfortunate-and/) [Booker T. Washington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/booker-t-washington/) > [But you must love with a sublime , genuine , profound sympathy , with devotion, with intelligence , and you must try all the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vincent-van-gogh/but-you-must-love-with-a-sublime-genuine-profound-sympathy-with/) [Vincent Van Gogh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vincent-van-gogh/) > [God hath work to do in this world; and to desert it because of its difficulties and entanglements, is to cast off His authority.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-owen/god-hath-work-to-do-in-this-world-and-to-desert-it-because-of-its/) [John Owen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-owen/) > [Not simply the righteousness of our Saviour, not simply the beauty of His holiness or the graces of His character, are we to put…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adoniram-judson-gordon/not-simply-the-righteousness-of-our-saviour-not-simply-the-beauty-of/) [Adoniram Judson Gordon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adoniram-judson-gordon/) > [“I put no stock in religion. By the word religion I have seen the lunacy of fanatics of every denomination be called the will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-monahan/i-put-no-stock-in-religion-by-the-word-religion-i-have-seen-the/) [William Monahan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-monahan/) > [“The HOLY of Holiness!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lailah-gifty-akita/the-holy-of-holiness/) [Lailah Gifty Akita](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lailah-gifty-akita/) > [Total depravity means the entire absence of holiness, not the highest intensity of sin. A totally depraved man is not as bad as he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-greenough-thayer-shedd/total-depravity-means-the-entire-absence-of-holiness-not-the-highest/) [William Greenough Thayer Shedd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-greenough-thayer-shedd/) > [Therefore, I see whatever exists as good, death is to me like life, sin like holiness, wisdom like foolishness, everything has to be as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hermann-hesse/therefore-i-see-whatever-exists-as-good-death-is-to-me-like-life-sin/) [Hermann Hesse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hermann-hesse/) > [“Is there any holy beings like human beings?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lailah-gifty-akita/is-there-any-holy-beings-like-human-beings/) [Lailah Gifty Akita](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lailah-gifty-akita/) > [Holiness sincerity, and faith.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/swami-vivekananda/holiness-sincerity-and-faith/) [Swami Vivekananda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/swami-vivekananda/) ## More by Ivan Turgenev > [What a magnificent body, how I should like to see it on the dissecting table.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivan-turgenev/what-a-magnificent-body-how-i-should-like-to-see-it-on-the-dissecting/) [Ivan Turgenev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivan-turgenev/) > [“I think; here I lie under a haystack… The tiny space I occupy is so infinitely small in comparison with the rest of space,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivan-turgenev/i-think-here-i-lie-under-a-haystack-the-tiny-space-i-occupy-is-so/) [Ivan Turgenev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivan-turgenev/) > [That is what poetry can do. It speaks to us of what does not exist, which is not only better than what exists, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivan-turgenev/that-is-what-poetry-can-do-it-speaks-to-us-of-what-does-not-exist/) [Ivan Turgenev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivan-turgenev/) > [So long as one's just dreaming about what to do, one can soar like an eagle and move mountains, it seems, but as soon…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivan-turgenev/so-long-as-one-s-just-dreaming-about-what-to-do-one-can-soar-like-an/) [Ivan Turgenev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivan-turgenev/) > [Most people can't understand how others can blow their noses differently than they do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivan-turgenev/most-people-can-t-understand-how-others-can-blow-their-noses/) [Ivan Turgenev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivan-turgenev/) > [The past was a dream wasn't it? And who ever remembers dreams?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivan-turgenev/the-past-was-a-dream-wasn-t-it-and-who-ever-remembers-dreams/) [Ivan Turgenev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivan-turgenev/) > [“But I think that I have already been moving too long in a sphere which is not my own. Flying fishes can hold out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivan-turgenev/but-i-think-that-i-have-already-been-moving-too-long-in-a-sphere/) [Ivan Turgenev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivan-turgenev/) > [“There was nothing ugly in the small, unprepossessing figure of this emancipated woman, but the expression on her face made a bad impression on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivan-turgenev/there-was-nothing-ugly-in-the-small-unprepossessing-figure-of-this/) [Ivan Turgenev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivan-turgenev/) > [“In his funeral oration the spokesman of the most artistic and critical of European nations, Ernest Renan, hailed him as one of the greatest…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivan-turgenev/in-his-funeral-oration-the-spokesman-of-the-most-artistic-and/) [Ivan Turgenev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivan-turgenev/) > [Love isn't actually a feeling at all--it's an illness, a certain condition of body and soul… Usually it takes possession of someone without his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivan-turgenev/love-isn-t-actually-a-feeling-at-all-it-s-an-illness-a-certain/) [Ivan Turgenev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivan-turgenev/) > [There's something tragic in the fate of almost every person--it's just that the tragic is often concealed from a person by the banal surface…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivan-turgenev/there-s-something-tragic-in-the-fate-of-almost-every-person-it-s-just/) [Ivan Turgenev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivan-turgenev/) > [“But I had absolutely lost all sense of personal dignity, and could not tear myself away from the spectacle of my own misery.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivan-turgenev/but-i-had-absolutely-lost-all-sense-of-personal-dignity-and-could-not/) [Ivan Turgenev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivan-turgenev/) > [“My son,' he wrote to me, 'fear the love of woman; fear that bliss, that poison…”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivan-turgenev/my-son-he-wrote-to-me-fear-the-love-of-woman-fear-that-bliss-that/) [Ivan Turgenev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivan-turgenev/) > [Great God, grant that twice two be not four.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivan-turgenev/great-god-grant-that-twice-two-be-not-four/) [Ivan Turgenev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivan-turgenev/) > [What's terrible is that there's nothing terrible, that the very essence of life is petty, uninteresting, and degradingly trite.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivan-turgenev/what-s-terrible-is-that-there-s-nothing-terrible-that-the-very/) [Ivan Turgenev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivan-turgenev/) [Explore all 146 Ivan Turgenev quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivan-turgenev/) ## 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": "To desire and expect nothing for oneself and to have profound sympathy for others is genuine holiness.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Ivan Turgenev" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivan-turgenev/to-desire-and-expect-nothing-for-oneself-and-to-have-profound/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Desire" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivan-turgenev/to-desire-and-expect-nothing-for-oneself-and-to-have-profound/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ac6/ivan-turgenev-2671_desire_to-desire-and-expect-nothing-for-oneself_2852885.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ac6/ivan-turgenev-2671_desire_to-desire-and-expect-nothing-for-oneself_2852885.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ac6/ivan-turgenev-2671_desire_to-desire-and-expect-nothing-for-oneself_2852885.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“To desire and expect nothing for oneself and to have profound sympathy for others is genuine holiness.” — Ivan Turgenev", "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": "Ivan Turgenev", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivan-turgenev/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "To desire and expect nothing for...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivan-turgenev/to-desire-and-expect-nothing-for-oneself-and-to-have-profound/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivan-turgenev/to-desire-and-expect-nothing-for-oneself-and-to-have-profound/#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 } } ] } ```