--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: As a general rule, desire is always…" description: "\"“As a general rule, desire is always marketable: we don’t do anything but sell, buy, exchange desires. . . . And I think of Bloy’s words: “there is not..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/875/roland-barthes-1062_desire_as-a-general-rule-desire-is-always-marke_1947382.png" --- # As a general rule, desire is always marketable: we don’t… ![“As a general rule, desire is always marketable: we don’t do anything but sell, buy, exchange desires. . . . And I think of Bloy’s words: “there is nothing perfectly beautiful except what is invisible and above all unbuyable.” quote by Roland Barthes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/875/roland-barthes-1062_desire_as-a-general-rule-desire-is-always-marke_1947382.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/875/roland-barthes-1062_desire_as-a-general-rule-desire-is-always-marke_1947382.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/875/roland-barthes-1062_desire_as-a-general-rule-desire-is-always-marke_1947382.png) > ““As a general rule, desire is always marketable: we don’t do anything but sell, buy, exchange desires. . . . And I think of Bloy’s words: “there is nothing perfectly beautiful except what is invisible and above all unbuyable.”” [Roland Barthes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roland-barthes/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Desire drives market activity, yet true beauty lies in the unattainable and invisible. **In simple terms:** Desire fuels trade; true beauty is invisible. Key Takeaway Seek meaning beyond material wants. Themes consumerism beauty philosophy Mood contemplative critical Type philosophical reflective When to use this quote - advertising - art criticism - personal values Key Concepts desire invisibility value Questions to Reflect On - What invisible beauties do you cherish? - How can you value the unbuyable? A Different Perspective Focusing on material desire can obscure deeper fulfillment. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Desire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/desire/) [Desires](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/desires/) [Language](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/language/) ## Related quotes > [“Christ says, "Give me All. 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Poonja](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-w-l-poonja/) > [“I think my dad was so fascinated by this idea because he realized on some fundamental level that he was not in control of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/i-think-my-dad-was-so-fascinated-by-this-idea-because-he-realized-on/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) > [You little know what you have done, when you have first broke the bounds of modesty; you have set open the door of your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-baxter/you-little-know-what-you-have-done-when-you-have-first-broke-the/) [Richard Baxter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-baxter/) > [If procrastination were a marketable skill, I'd be a real hot commodity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dov-davidoff/if-procrastination-were-a-marketable-skill-i-d-be-a-real-hot-commodity/) [Dov Davidoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dov-davidoff/) > [I figure as an artist the best thing you can do is follow your heart - and if your heart is marketable, then you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rodney-crowell/i-figure-as-an-artist-the-best-thing-you-can-do-is-follow-your-heart/) [Rodney Crowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rodney-crowell/) > [“Don't try to make yourself marketable, you'll be surprised to see yourself at the bottom. Stay incognito, and people will peruse the whole world…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-bassey-johnson/don-t-try-to-make-yourself-marketable-you-ll-be-surprised-to-see/) [Michael Bassey Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-bassey-johnson/) > [I was never considered 'a marketable hero', and never got promoted to that category. I am not complaining - I found another niche -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vivek/i-was-never-considered-a-marketable-hero-and-never-got-promoted-to/) [Vivek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vivek/) > [It is not the style but the quality and emotional impact of work that makes it marketable. Unless we make art that connects with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-white/it-is-not-the-style-but-the-quality-and-emotional-impact-of-work-that/) [Jack White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-white/) > [That's where I'd like to be: when the business says here's a good actor who is marketable so we can use him. Just that.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-waterston/that-s-where-i-d-like-to-be-when-the-business-says-here-s-a-good/) [Sam Waterston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-waterston/) > [Early on, even in college, I figured out that it was just more interesting to me to create content than to write about other…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joel-stein/early-on-even-in-college-i-figured-out-that-it-was-just-more/) [Joel Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joel-stein/) > [I want to make myself more marketable. Well, in order to do that, I need to lose some weight.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/big-show/i-want-to-make-myself-more-marketable-well-in-order-to-do-that-i-need/) [Big Show](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/big-show/) > [You have to play the game. It's about being marketable, it's about being able to be promotable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/megan-anderson/you-have-to-play-the-game-it-s-about-being-marketable-it-s-about/) [Megan Anderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/megan-anderson/) > [I will be the most marketable of anybody to come through weightlifting ever. With my personality and my size, I mean, I can make…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-henry/i-will-be-the-most-marketable-of-anybody-to-come-through/) [Mark Henry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-henry/) ## More by Roland Barthes > [“Werther identifies himself with the madman, with the footman. As a reader, I can identify myself with Werther. Historically, thousands of subjects have done…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roland-barthes/werther-identifies-himself-with-the-madman-with-the-footman-as-a/) [Roland Barthes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roland-barthes/) > [The Text is not a definitive object.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roland-barthes/the-text-is-not-a-definitive-object/) [Roland Barthes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roland-barthes/) > [“Valéry used to speak of those people who die in an accident because they are unwilling to let go of their umbrellas; how many…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roland-barthes/val-ry-used-to-speak-of-those-people-who-die-in-an-accident-because/) [Roland Barthes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roland-barthes/) > [Today there is no symbolic compensation for old age, no recognition of a specific value: wisdom, perceptiveness, experience, vision.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roland-barthes/today-there-is-no-symbolic-compensation-for-old-age-no-recognition-of/) [Roland Barthes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roland-barthes/) > [The unary Photograph has every reason to be banal, 'unity' of composition being the first rule of vulgar (and notably, of academic) rhetoric: 'The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roland-barthes/the-unary-photograph-has-every-reason-to-be-banal-unity-of/) [Roland Barthes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roland-barthes/) > [“A creative writer is one for whom writing is a problem.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roland-barthes/a-creative-writer-is-one-for-whom-writing-is-a-problem/) [Roland Barthes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roland-barthes/) > [“Man does not exist prior to language, either as a species or as an individual. We never encounter a state where man is separated…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roland-barthes/man-does-not-exist-prior-to-language-either-as-a-species-or-as-an/) [Roland Barthes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roland-barthes/) > [“It is said that Time soothes mourning – No, Time makes nothing happen; it merely makes the emotivity of mourning pass.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roland-barthes/it-is-said-that-time-soothes-mourning-no-time-makes-nothing-happen-it/) [Roland Barthes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roland-barthes/) > [“So long as I perceive the world as hostile, I remain linked to it: \*I am not crazy\*. But sometimes, once my bad temper…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roland-barthes/so-long-as-i-perceive-the-world-as-hostile-i-remain-linked-to-it-i-am/) [Roland Barthes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roland-barthes/) > [I think that cars today are almost the exact equivalent of the great Gothic cathedrals: I mean the supreme creation of an era, conceived…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roland-barthes/i-think-that-cars-today-are-almost-the-exact-equivalent-of-the-great/) [Roland Barthes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roland-barthes/) > [“(Sartre) (The world is full without me, as in Nausea; the world plays at living behind a glass partition; the world is in an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roland-barthes/sartre-the-world-is-full-without-me-as-in-nausea-the-world-plays-at/) [Roland Barthes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roland-barthes/) > [“Like love, mourning affects the world—and the worldly—with unreality, with importunity. I resist the world, I suffer from what it demands of me, from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roland-barthes/like-love-mourning-affects-the-world-and-the-worldly-with-unreality/) [Roland Barthes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roland-barthes/) > [Painting can feign reality without having seen it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roland-barthes/painting-can-feign-reality-without-having-seen-it/) [Roland Barthes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roland-barthes/) > [“There is an age at which we teach what we know. Then comes another age at which we teach what we do not know;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roland-barthes/there-is-an-age-at-which-we-teach-what-we-know-then-comes-another-age/) [Roland Barthes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roland-barthes/) > [As a jealous man, I suffer four times over: because I am jealous, because I blame myself for being so, because I fear that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roland-barthes/as-a-jealous-man-i-suffer-four-times-over-because-i-am-jealous/) [Roland Barthes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roland-barthes/) [Explore all 282 Roland Barthes quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roland-barthes/) ## 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": "“As a general rule, desire is always marketable: we don’t do anything but sell, buy, exchange desires. . . . 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