--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: They do not desire anything more than…" description: "\"They do not desire anything more than everything they have known.\" — Jonathan Safran Foer" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b31/jonathan-safran-foer-136_desire_they-do-not-desire-anything-more-than-ev_2874776.png" --- # They do not desire anything more than everything they have… ![“They do not desire anything more than everything they have known.” quote by Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b31/jonathan-safran-foer-136_desire_they-do-not-desire-anything-more-than-ev_2874776.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b31/jonathan-safran-foer-136_desire_they-do-not-desire-anything-more-than-ev_2874776.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b31/jonathan-safran-foer-136_desire_they-do-not-desire-anything-more-than-ev_2874776.png) > “They do not desire anything more than everything they have known.” [Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. People crave familiar comforts; desire is limited to known experiences, not endless novelty. **In simple terms:** Desire sticks to the known. Key Takeaway Explore beyond comfort zones. Themes desire comfort novelty Mood thoughtful adventurous Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - travel - new hobbies - cultural experiences - personal growth Key Concepts psychology existentialism Questions to Reflect On - What comforts you most? - How can you safely expand your horizons? A Different Perspective Fear of the unknown can restrict growth. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Desire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/desire/) [Desire Known](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/desire-known-2418601/) [Known](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/known/) ## Related quotes > [I went on to discover that in its deepest sense, the will is not primarily the faculty of desire for anything known, but rather,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernadette-roberts/i-went-on-to-discover-that-in-its-deepest-sense-the-will-is-not/) [Bernadette Roberts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernadette-roberts/) > [I think Rhaenyra is primarily motivated by a deep desire to be known and seen.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-d-arcy/i-think-rhaenyra-is-primarily-motivated-by-a-deep-desire-to-be-known/) [Emma D'Arcy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-d-arcy/) > [I never had any desire to become a well-known actress.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-miller/i-never-had-any-desire-to-become-a-well-known-actress/) [Rebecca Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-miller/) > [People who do not understand themselves have a craving for understanding — a thing which is rather surmised and never spoken than known and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilhelm-stekel/people-who-do-not-understand-themselves-have-a-craving-for/) [Wilhelm Stekel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilhelm-stekel/) > [Perhaps our own opposition to even the level of European integration we have now, let alone any more, is well known.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nigel-farage/perhaps-our-own-opposition-to-even-the-level-of-european-integration/) [Nigel Farage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nigel-farage/) > [I shot for French and British Vogue. 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I've known Emma for a few…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eddie-redmayne/and-you-can-t-complain-about-kissing-emma-watson-isn-t-that-what/) [Eddie Redmayne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eddie-redmayne/) > [I was also known as Frodo because I was an early adopter of 'The Lord of the Rings.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-perrotta/i-was-also-known-as-frodo-because-i-was-an-early-adopter-of-the-lord/) [Tom Perrotta](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-perrotta/) > [You've touched people and known it. You've touched people and never may know it. Either way, you have something to give. It is in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-schlessinger/you-ve-touched-people-and-known-it-you-ve-touched-people-and-never/) [Laura Schlessinger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-schlessinger/) > [I want to be known as a good major-leaguer, and good major-leaguers work to become good.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-rodriguez/i-want-to-be-known-as-a-good-major-leaguer-and-good-major-leaguers/) [Alex Rodriguez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-rodriguez/) > [“To know someone, to be known. That matters more than he'd ever thought it would.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julianna-baggott/to-know-someone-to-be-known-that-matters-more-than-he-d-ever-thought/) [Julianna Baggott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julianna-baggott/) ## More by Jonathan Safran Foer > [This brings me back to the image of Kafka standing before a fish in the Berlin aquarium, a fish on which his gaze fell…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/this-brings-me-back-to-the-image-of-kafka-standing-before-a-fish-in/) [Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/) > [I try not to remember the life that I didn’t want to lose but lost and have to remember](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/i-try-not-to-remember-the-life-that-i-didn-t-want-to-lose-but-lost/) [Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/) > [“I have an aristocratic smile and like to punch people.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/i-have-an-aristocratic-smile-and-like-to-punch-people/) [Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/) > [He removed several pages of death certificates, which were picked up by another breeze and sent into the trees. Some would fall with the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/he-removed-several-pages-of-death-certificates-which-were-picked-up/) [Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/) > [I would have done anything for him. Maybe that was my sickness. We made love in nothing places and turned the lights off. It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/i-would-have-done-anything-for-him-maybe-that-was-my-sickness-we-made/) [Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/) > [“One day I wandered away from her and hid. I liked the way it felt to have someone look for me, to hear my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/one-day-i-wandered-away-from-her-and-hid-i-liked-the-way-it-felt-to/) [Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/) > [If nothing matters, there's nothing to save.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/if-nothing-matters-there-s-nothing-to-save/) [Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/) > [“It was one of the best days of my life, a day during which I lived my life and didn't think about it at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/it-was-one-of-the-best-days-of-my-life-a-day-during-which-i-lived-my/) [Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/) > [“The appearance was misleading- human dreams; rubbish heaps abundant yet ephemeral sudden and splendid, only to wilt and perish”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/the-appearance-was-misleading-human-dreams-rubbish-heaps-abundant-yet/) [Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/) > [“the entirety of human society and moral progress represents an explicit transcendence of what’s “natural.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/the-entirety-of-human-society-and-moral-progress-represents-an/) [Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/) > [“Food is not so much a symbol of freedom as the first requirement of freedom. We eat foods that are native to America on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/food-is-not-so-much-a-symbol-of-freedom-as-the-first-requirement-of/) [Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/) > [“Rationally, factory farming is so obviously wrong, in so many ways. In all of my reading and conversations, I’ve yet to find a credible…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/rationally-factory-farming-is-so-obviously-wrong-in-so-many-ways-in/) [Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/) > [Just because you're an atheist, that doesn't mean you wouldn't love for things to have reasons for why they are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/just-because-you-re-an-atheist-that-doesn-t-mean-you-wouldn-t-love/) [Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/) > [Do you think I'm wonderful? she asked him one day as they leaned against the trunk of a petrified maple. No, he said. Why?…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/do-you-think-i-m-wonderful-she-asked-him-one-day-as-they-leaned/) [Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/) > [My insides don't match up with my outsides. -Do anyone's inside and outsides match up? -I don't know. I'm only me. -Maybe that's what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/my-insides-don-t-match-up-with-my-outsides-do-anyone-s-inside-and/) [Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/) [Explore all 1,117 Jonathan Safran Foer quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/) ## 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": "They do not desire anything more than everything they have known.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Jonathan Safran Foer" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/they-do-not-desire-anything-more-than-everything-they-have-known/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Desire" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/they-do-not-desire-anything-more-than-everything-they-have-known/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b31/jonathan-safran-foer-136_desire_they-do-not-desire-anything-more-than-ev_2874776.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b31/jonathan-safran-foer-136_desire_they-do-not-desire-anything-more-than-ev_2874776.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b31/jonathan-safran-foer-136_desire_they-do-not-desire-anything-more-than-ev_2874776.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“They do not desire anything more than everything they have known.” — Jonathan Safran Foer", "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": "Jonathan Safran Foer", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "They do not desire anything more...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/they-do-not-desire-anything-more-than-everything-they-have-known/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/they-do-not-desire-anything-more-than-everything-they-have-known/#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 } } ] } ```