--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: That which for Vronsky had been almost a…" description: "\"“That which for Vronsky had been almost a whole year the one absorbing desire of his life, replacing all his old desires; that which for Anna had been ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/af6/leo-tolstoy-55_desire_that-which-for-vronsky-had-been-almost-a_752182.png" --- # That which for Vronsky had been almost a whole year the… ![“That which for Vronsky had been almost a whole year the one absorbing desire of his life, replacing all his old desires; that which for Anna had been an impossible, terrible, and even for that reason more entrancing dream of bliss, that desire had been fulfilled.” quote by Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/af6/leo-tolstoy-55_desire_that-which-for-vronsky-had-been-almost-a_752182.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/af6/leo-tolstoy-55_desire_that-which-for-vronsky-had-been-almost-a_752182.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/af6/leo-tolstoy-55_desire_that-which-for-vronsky-had-been-almost-a_752182.png) > ““That which for Vronsky had been almost a whole year the one absorbing desire of his life, replacing all his old desires; that which for Anna had been an impossible, terrible, and even for that reason more entrancing dream of bliss, that desire had been fulfilled.”” [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Anna and Vronsky each find a single, overpowering desire that dominates their lives, illustrating how obsession can eclipse all other aspirations. **In simple terms:** A single intense desire can dominate a life. Key Takeaway Recognize when a desire becomes all‑consuming. Themes obsession love identity desire conflict Mood passionate tragic intense Type literary psychological romantic When to use this quote - romantic relationships - career ambition - personal fulfillment - addiction Key Concepts psychology passion human nature Questions to Reflect On - What other aspects of life are being neglected? - Can intense desire be both creative and destructive? A Different Perspective Such single‑minded focus can blind one to consequences and alternative paths. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Desire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/desire/) [Desires](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/desires/) [Dreams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dreams/) [Happiness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/happiness/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) ## Related quotes > [“That which for Vronsky had been almost a whole year the one absorbing desire of his life, replacing all his old desires; that which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/that-which-for-vronsky-had-been-almost-a-whole-year-the-one-absorbing-2/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [“Did you know, the first time I saw you, I thought: I’ve never seen anything more captivating and beautiful?” “Why are you telling me…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/becca-fitzpatrick/did-you-know-the-first-time-i-saw-you-i-thought-i-ve-never-seen/) [Becca Fitzpatrick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/becca-fitzpatrick/) > [The heart's earnest and pure desire is always fulfilled](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/senoraroy/the-heart-s-earnest-and-pure-desire-is-always-fulfilled/) Senoraroy > [Celebration is not because some desire is fulfilled - because no desire is ever fulfilled. Desire as such cannot be fulfilled. Desire is only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajneesh/celebration-is-not-because-some-desire-is-fulfilled-because-no-desire/) [Rajneesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajneesh/) > [“Ferguson was naked in that bed, too, and everything felt so good to him, so perfectly in accord with how he imagined it would…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/ferguson-was-naked-in-that-bed-too-and-everything-felt-so-good-to-him/) [Paul Auster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-auster/) > [My desire is fulfilled when I reach my destination, which is none other than a place in your big heart.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/my-desire-is-fulfilled-when-i-reach-my-destination-which-is-none/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I saw you, and I wanted to be close to you. I wanted you to let me in. I wanted to know you in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/becca-fitzpatrick/i-saw-you-and-i-wanted-to-be-close-to-you-i-wanted-you-to-let-me-in-i-2/) [Becca Fitzpatrick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/becca-fitzpatrick/) > [A desire that has never been fulfilled is considerably less acute than one that has been fulfilled and then checked at the source.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phyllis-bottome/a-desire-that-has-never-been-fulfilled-is-considerably-less-acute/) [Phyllis Bottome](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phyllis-bottome/) > [“At last Patch spoke. His voice was so steady, so full of quiet admiration, it made me wonder if he could have known my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/becca-fitzpatrick/at-last-patch-spoke-his-voice-was-so-steady-so-full-of-quiet/) [Becca Fitzpatrick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/becca-fitzpatrick/) > [“It is desire that pulls us forward. If a desire is fulfilled, are we forever destined to find another to take its place?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-mcgahan/it-is-desire-that-pulls-us-forward-if-a-desire-is-fulfilled-are-we/) [Kate McGahan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-mcgahan/) > [What we must realize is that our need has been met, our desire fulfilled, their work is done. The prayer you sent up has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glen-rambharack/what-we-must-realize-is-that-our-need-has-been-met-our-desire/) [Glen Rambharack](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glen-rambharack/) > [Boredom: the desire for desires.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/boredom-the-desire-for-desires/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [Our desires have a way of getting bigger with our incomes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivy-compton-burnett/our-desires-have-a-way-of-getting-bigger-with-our-incomes/) [Ivy Compton-Burnett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivy-compton-burnett/) > [“The best way to achieve a wonderful life is to have wonderful desires.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-redhead/the-best-way-to-achieve-a-wonderful-life-is-to-have-wonderful-desires/) [Steven Redhead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-redhead/) > [Needs cause motivation. Deep-rooted desires for esteem, affection, belonging, achievement, self-actualization, power, and control motivate us to push for what we want and need…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lorii-myers/needs-cause-motivation-deep-rooted-desires-for-esteem-affection/) [Lorii Myers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lorii-myers/) ## More by Leo Tolstoy > [These joys were so trifling as to be as imperceptible as grains of gold among the sand, and in moments of depression she saw…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/these-joys-were-so-trifling-as-to-be-as-imperceptible-as-grains-of/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [The only significance of life consists in helping to establish the kingdom of God.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/the-only-significance-of-life-consists-in-helping-to-establish-the/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [“I already love in you your beauty, but I am only beginning to love in you that which is eternal and ever precious –…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/i-already-love-in-you-your-beauty-but-i-am-only-beginning-to-love-in/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [Energy rests upon love; and come as it will, there's no forcing it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/energy-rests-upon-love-and-come-as-it-will-there-s-no-forcing-it/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [“If you only knew what those society women are, and women in general! My father is right. Selfish, vain, stupid, trivial in everything—that's what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/if-you-only-knew-what-those-society-women-are-and-women-in-general-my/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [To evoke in oneself a feeling one has once experienced, and having evoked it in oneself, then by means of movements, lines, colors, sounds,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/to-evoke-in-oneself-a-feeling-one-has-once-experienced-and-having/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [To speak of it would be giving importance to that which has none.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/to-speak-of-it-would-be-giving-importance-to-that-which-has-none/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [Once we're thrown off our habitual paths, we think all is lost, but it's only here that the new and the good begins.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/once-we-re-thrown-off-our-habitual-paths-we-think-all-is-lost-but-it/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [“He knew she was there by the rapture and the terror that seized on his heart. She was standing talking to a lady at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/he-knew-she-was-there-by-the-rapture-and-the-terror-that-seized-on/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [Rest, nature, books, music...such is my idea of happiness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/rest-nature-books-music-such-is-my-idea-of-happiness/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [“He was not to blame for being born with an irrepressible charachter and a mind some how constrained.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/he-was-not-to-blame-for-being-born-with-an-irrepressible-charachter/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [I ask one thing only: I ask for the right to hope, to suffer as I do. But if even that cannot be, command…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/i-ask-one-thing-only-i-ask-for-the-right-to-hope-to-suffer-as-i-do/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [The idea shared by many that life is a vale of tears is just as false as the idea shared by the great majority,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/the-idea-shared-by-many-that-life-is-a-vale-of-tears-is-just-as-false/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [To say that a work of art is good, but incomprehensible to the majority of men, is the same as saying of some kind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/to-say-that-a-work-of-art-is-good-but-incomprehensible-to-the/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [True life is lived when tiny changes occur.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/true-life-is-lived-when-tiny-changes-occur/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) [Explore all 1,754 Leo Tolstoy quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) ## 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": "“That which for Vronsky had been almost a whole year the one absorbing desire of his life, replacing all his old desires; that which for Anna had been an impossible, terrible, and even for that reason more entrancing dream of bliss, that desire had been fulfilled.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Leo Tolstoy" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/that-which-for-vronsky-had-been-almost-a-whole-year-the-one-absorbing/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Desire" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/that-which-for-vronsky-had-been-almost-a-whole-year-the-one-absorbing/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/af6/leo-tolstoy-55_desire_that-which-for-vronsky-had-been-almost-a_752182.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/af6/leo-tolstoy-55_desire_that-which-for-vronsky-had-been-almost-a_752182.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/af6/leo-tolstoy-55_desire_that-which-for-vronsky-had-been-almost-a_752182.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“That which for Vronsky had been almost a whole year the one absorbing desire of his life, replacing all his…” — Leo Tolstoy", "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": "Leo Tolstoy", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“That which for Vronsky had been...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/that-which-for-vronsky-had-been-almost-a-whole-year-the-one-absorbing/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/that-which-for-vronsky-had-been-almost-a-whole-year-the-one-absorbing/#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 } } ] } ```