--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: There has been significant debate in the…" description: "\"“There has been significant debate in the scientific community about whether desire is a symptom of a system infected with amor deliria nervosa, or a p..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/507/lauren-oliver-109_desire_there-has-been-significant-debate-in-the_2095994.png" --- # There has been significant debate in the scientific… ![“There has been significant debate in the scientific community about whether desire is a symptom of a system infected with amor deliria nervosa, or a pre-condition of the disease itself. It is unanimously agreed, however, that love and desire enjoy a symbiotic relationship, meaning that one cannnot…” quote by Lauren Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/507/lauren-oliver-109_desire_there-has-been-significant-debate-in-the_2095994.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/507/lauren-oliver-109_desire_there-has-been-significant-debate-in-the_2095994.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/507/lauren-oliver-109_desire_there-has-been-significant-debate-in-the_2095994.png) > ““There has been significant debate in the scientific community about whether desire is a symptom of a system infected with amor deliria nervosa, or a pre-condition of the disease itself. It is unanimously agreed, however, that love and desire enjoy a symbiotic relationship, meaning that one cannnot exist without the other. Desire is enemy to ncontentment; desire is illness, a feverish brain. Who can be considereed healthy who wants? The very word want suggests a lack, an impoverishment, and that is what desire is: an impoverishment of the brain, a flaw, a mistake. Fortunately, that can now be corrected. - From The Roots and Repercussions of Amor Deliria Nervosa on Cognitive Functioning, 4th edition, by Dr. Phillip Berryman”” [Lauren Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-oliver/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Desire is presented as a pathological condition that prevents contentment, suggesting that wanting indicates a mental flaw that can be cured. **In simple terms:** Desire is seen as illness, not healthy. Key Takeaway Question the pathology of desire. Themes desire contentment psychology illness philosophy Mood analytical skeptical Type philosophical critical When to use this quote - mental health treatment - personal fulfillment - philosophical debate - self‑improvement Key Concepts dualism of desire cognitive health Questions to Reflect On - Is desire always harmful? - Can desire be redirected rather than eliminated? A Different Perspective The view pathizes desire and may ignore its motivational role. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Desire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/desire/) [Desire Illness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/desire-illness-1640013/) [Desire Impoverishment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/desire-impoverishment-1640016/) [Desire Symptom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/desire-symptom-4165028/) [Love And Desire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love-and-desire/) [Ncontentment Desire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ncontentment-desire-4165029/) [Science](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/science/) ## Related quotes > […love and desire enjoy a symbiotic relationship, meaning that one cannot exist without the other. Desire is an enemy to contentment; desire is illness,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauren-oliver/love-and-desire-enjoy-a-symbiotic-relationship-meaning-that-one/) [Lauren Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-oliver/) > [Everytime I look into your eye,i see my paradise. The sun is shinning bright up in the sky,painting love and desire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/luckylinhio/everytime-i-look-into-your-eye-i-see-my-paradise-the-sun-is-shinning/) [Luckylinhio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/luckylinhio/) > [If you would learn to write, it is in the street you must learn it. Both for the vehicle and for the aims of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/if-you-would-learn-to-write-it-is-in-the-street-you-must-learn-it/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [Often when He comes, He finds the soul occupied. Other guests are there, and He has to turn away. He cannot gain entry, for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johannes-tauler/often-when-he-comes-he-finds-the-soul-occupied-other-guests-are-there/) [Johannes Tauler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johannes-tauler/) > [“You never told me how the story ends, Gabe." She held her breath, waiting for his response. His expression held all the love and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bella-andre/you-never-told-me-how-the-story-ends-gabe-she-held-her-breath-waiting/) [Bella Andre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bella-andre/) > [No evil dooms us hopelessly except the evil we love, and desire to continue in, and make no effort to escape from.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/no-evil-dooms-us-hopelessly-except-the-evil-we-love-and-desire-to/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [I have told the story I was asked to tell. I have closed it, as so many stories close, with a joining of two…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-k-le-guin/i-have-told-the-story-i-was-asked-to-tell-i-have-closed-it-as-so-many/) [Ursula K. Le Guin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-k-le-guin/) > [“This is not a book about teaching a child how to read; it's about teaching a child to want to read. There's an education…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-trelease/this-is-not-a-book-about-teaching-a-child-how-to-read-it-s-about/) [Jim Trelease](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-trelease/) > [~Baby I love you. I would sell my soul to the devil if it meant that you would be happy. You're my baby and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/baby-i-love-you-i-would-sell-my-soul-to-the-devil-if-it-meant-that/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I'm felt I was writing about love and desire and community and belonging and grief and a whole host of other issues. But race…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/danzy-senna/i-m-felt-i-was-writing-about-love-and-desire-and-community-and/) [Danzy Senna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/danzy-senna/) > [Love and desire are the spirits wings to great deeds.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/love-and-desire-are-the-spirits-wings-to-great-deeds/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“The Artist His gift is the ability to deeply see a woman. There are men who truly see women and men who see only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-brody/the-artist-his-gift-is-the-ability-to-deeply-see-a-woman-there-are/) [Karen Brody](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-brody/) > [“After he cut off their genitals, Chronos threw them into the sea, where they floated in a "white foam." Out of this foam‒or "Aphros”…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-river-editors/after-he-cut-off-their-genitals-chronos-threw-them-into-the-sea-where/) [Charles River Editors](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-river-editors/) > [“The experienced feel love or desire, or both. The inexperienced are sick with a thousand feelings, most of them unformed: fearful that they may…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-wolfe/the-experienced-feel-love-or-desire-or-both-the-inexperienced-are/) [Gene Wolfe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-wolfe/) > [Love and desire are the spirit's wings to great deeds.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/love-and-desire-are-the-spirit-s-wings-to-great-deeds/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) ## More by Lauren Oliver > [“My aunt Carol hasn’t heard her say a word in the whole six years and three months of Grace’s life—not a single syllable. Carol…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauren-oliver/my-aunt-carol-hasn-t-heard-her-say-a-word-in-the-whole-six-years-and/) [Lauren Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-oliver/) > [This is what happens when you try to help people. You get screwed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauren-oliver/this-is-what-happens-when-you-try-to-help-people-you-get-screwed/) [Lauren Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-oliver/) > [We'll walk together holding hands, and kiss in broad daylight, and love each other as much as we want to, and no one will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauren-oliver/we-ll-walk-together-holding-hands-and-kiss-in-broad-daylight-and-love/) [Lauren Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-oliver/) > [“It seem absurd to me that they don't know, haven't felt any change or tremor, even as my life has been completely turned upside…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauren-oliver/it-seem-absurd-to-me-that-they-don-t-know-haven-t-felt-any-change-or/) [Lauren Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-oliver/) > [“At least when I'm sleeping I can dream myself back to Alex, can dream myself into a different world.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauren-oliver/at-least-when-i-m-sleeping-i-can-dream-myself-back-to-alex-can-dream/) [Lauren Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-oliver/) > [People are like ants: Just a few of them give all the orders. And most of them spend their lives getting squashed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauren-oliver/people-are-like-ants-just-a-few-of-them-give-all-the-orders-and-most/) [Lauren Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-oliver/) > [Summer explodes into Portland. In early June the heat was there but not the color--the green were still pale and tentative, the morning had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauren-oliver/summer-explodes-into-portland-in-early-june-the-heat-was-there-but/) [Lauren Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-oliver/) > [Mistake, mistake, mistake. A strange word: stinging, somehow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauren-oliver/mistake-mistake-mistake-a-strange-word-stinging-somehow/) [Lauren Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-oliver/) > [I wonder if it's ever really possible to know the truth about someone else, or if the best we can do is just stumble…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauren-oliver/i-wonder-if-it-s-ever-really-possible-to-know-the-truth-about-someone/) [Lauren Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-oliver/) > [“Julian is somewhere among those lights, in that blur of people and buildings. I wonder whether he's scared. I wonder whether he's thinking of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauren-oliver/julian-is-somewhere-among-those-lights-in-that-blur-of-people-and/) [Lauren Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-oliver/) > [A room full of words that are nearly the truth but not quite, each note fluttering off the steam of its rose like a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauren-oliver/a-room-full-of-words-that-are-nearly-the-truth-but-not-quite-each/) [Lauren Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-oliver/) > [“She’s the kind of person who makes you feel drunk just by being around her, like suddenly the world’s edges are dulled and all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauren-oliver/she-s-the-kind-of-person-who-makes-you-feel-drunk-just-by-being/) [Lauren Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-oliver/) > [“Stop!” His voice rings out sharply, hard as a slap. He releases me and I stumble backward. “Alex is dead, do you hear me?…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauren-oliver/stop-his-voice-rings-out-sharply-hard-as-a-slap-he-releases-me-and-i/) [Lauren Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-oliver/) > [..in that moment i realize how much i love the little everyday routines of my life..the details that are my life's special pattern, like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauren-oliver/in-that-moment-i-realize-how-much-i-love-the-little-everyday-routines/) [Lauren Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-oliver/) > [“You can't judge a book by its steel-toed combat boots.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauren-oliver/you-can-t-judge-a-book-by-its-steel-toed-combat-boots/) [Lauren Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-oliver/) [Explore all 1,181 Lauren Oliver quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-oliver/) ## 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": "“There has been significant debate in the scientific community about whether desire is a symptom of a system infected with amor deliria nervosa, or a pre-condition of the disease itself. It is unanimously agreed, however, that love and desire enjoy a symbiotic relationship, meaning that one cannnot exist without the other. Desire is enemy to ncontentment; desire is illness, a feverish brain. Who can be considereed healthy who wants? The very word want suggests a lack, an impoverishment, and that is what desire is: an impoverishment of the brain, a flaw, a mistake. 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