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Desire Quote by Samuel R. Delany

“You've blotted the rich form of desire from my life and left me only some vaguely eccentric behaviors that have grown up to integrate so much pleasure into the mundane world around me. What text could I write now? It's as though I cannot even remember what I once desired. All I can look for now…” quote by Samuel R. Delany
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““You've blotted the rich form of desire from my life and left me only some vaguely eccentric behaviors that have grown up to integrate so much pleasure into the mundane world around me. What text could I write now? It's as though I cannot even remember what I once desired. All I can look for now, when I have the energy, is lost desire itself-- and I look for it by clearly inadequate means. At best such an account as I might write would read like the life of anyone else, with, now and again, a bizarre and interruptive incident, largely mysterious and completely demystified-- at least that's what it has become without the day-to-day, moment-to-moment web of wanting that you have unstrung from about my universe. Without it, all falls apart. In a single gesture you've turned me into the most ordinary of human creatures and at once left me an obsessive, pleasureless eccentric, trapped in a set of habits which no longer have reason because they no longer lead to reward. And if I had enough self-confidence, in the midst of this bland continual chaos into which you've shunted me, for hate, I should hate you. But I don't have it.””

Samuel R. Delany

About This Quote

Source Novel: Dhalgren by Samuel R. Delany, 1975

The loss of desire reduces life to bland routine, leaving a hollow, pleasure‑less existence despite superficial eccentricities.

In simple terms: Without desire life feels empty and mechanical.

Key Takeaway

Seek to reconnect with authentic longing.

Themes

existentialism identity desire alienation routine

Mood

melancholic reflective introspective

Type

literary philosophical psychological

When to use this quote

  • creative writing
  • therapy
  • personal reflection
  • habit change
  • relationship counseling

Key Concepts

psychology meaning human condition motivation

Questions to Reflect On

  • What would you rediscover if desire returned?
  • Can routine be fulfilling without desire?
A Different Perspective

Desire can be both motivating and destabilizing; its absence may not always be beneficial.

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