--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The problem for us is not are our desires…" description: "\"The problem for us is not are our desires satisfied or not. The problem is how do we know what we desire.\" — Slavoj Žižek" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1e4/slavoj-i-ek-1738_desire_the-problem-for-us-is-not-are-our-desire_62032.png" --- # The problem for us is not are our desires satisfied or… ![“The problem for us is not are our desires satisfied or not. The problem is how do we know what we desire.” quote by Slavoj Žižek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1e4/slavoj-i-ek-1738_desire_the-problem-for-us-is-not-are-our-desire_62032.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1e4/slavoj-i-ek-1738_desire_the-problem-for-us-is-not-are-our-desire_62032.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1e4/slavoj-i-ek-1738_desire_the-problem-for-us-is-not-are-our-desire_62032.png) > “The problem for us is not are our desires satisfied or not. The problem is how do we know what we desire.” [Slavoj Žižek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/slavoj-i-ek/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The difficulty lies not in fulfilling wishes but in recognizing their true nature and origin. **In simple terms:** Identifying genuine desires is harder than satisfying them. Key Takeaway Self‑knowledge precedes fulfillment. Themes self‑awareness philosophy of desire identity cognition existentialism Mood introspective critical thought‑provoking Type philosophical reflective When to use this quote - personal decision‑making - career planning - relationship choices - consumer behavior - moral dilemmas Key Concepts desire identification subjective truth psychological insight Practical Applications - coaching frameworks - product design research Questions to Reflect On - What methods help uncover hidden desires? - How does awareness of desire shape actions? A Different Perspective One could argue that desires are inherently fluid, making any definitive knowledge impossible. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Desire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/desire/) [Desires](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/desires/) [Problem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/problem/) ## Related quotes > [“The main problem with desires...is that they're not nearly as authoritative as we wish they were...How can you find some structure that allows you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gideon-lewis-kraus/the-main-problem-with-desires-is-that-they-re-not-nearly-as/) [Gideon Lewis-Kraus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gideon-lewis-kraus/) > [“Desire is simple," he said. "Desire is something even a machine can understand." There was a stillness in the air that mirrored the stillness…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cassandra-rose-clarke/desire-is-simple-he-said-desire-is-something-even-a-machine-can/) [Cassandra Rose Clarke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cassandra-rose-clarke/) > [Deny your desires and you will find what your heart longs for. For how do you know if any desire of yours is according…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/st-john-of-the-cross/deny-your-desires-and-you-will-find-what-your-heart-longs-for-for-how/) [St John Of The Cross](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/st-john-of-the-cross/) > [“Why is it that you don’t know what to do when there is desire? I’ll tell you why. Because this rigid decision of yours…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jiddu-krishnamurti/why-is-it-that-you-don-t-know-what-to-do-when-there-is-desire-i-ll/) [Jiddu Krishnamurti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jiddu-krishnamurti/) > [“Science itself, no matter whether it is the search for truth or merely the need to gain control over the external world, to alleviate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louis-de-broglie/science-itself-no-matter-whether-it-is-the-search-for-truth-or-merely/) [Louis de Broglie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louis-de-broglie/) > [For what are we looking for if not to please? I do not know if the desire to attract others comes from a superabundance…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francoise-sagan/for-what-are-we-looking-for-if-not-to-please-i-do-not-know-if-the/) [Francoise Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francoise-sagan/) > [You perhaps now know that desire reduces us to pulp.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georges-bataille/you-perhaps-now-know-that-desire-reduces-us-to-pulp/) [Georges Bataille](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georges-bataille/) > [We don't even know what our desire is. We ask other people to tell us our desires. We would like our desires to come…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rene-girard/we-don-t-even-know-what-our-desire-is-we-ask-other-people-to-tell-us/) [Rene Girard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rene-girard/) > [“Malachi make sure you know the desire of your heart is the right desire.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-leland/malachi-make-sure-you-know-the-desire-of-your-heart-is-the-right/) Rick Leland > [Men know almost nothing about desire, they think it has to do with sexual activity or can be discharged that way. But sex is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-carson/men-know-almost-nothing-about-desire-they-think-it-has-to-do-with/) [Anne Carson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-carson/) > [“Know what you desire, but, more importantly, why you desire it. That why was where the trick lay, I realized. Why was a land…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deb-caletti/know-what-you-desire-but-more-importantly-why-you-desire-it-that-why/) [Deb Caletti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deb-caletti/) > [You know me, you know me all too well. My only desire - to bridge our division.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/killswitch-engage/you-know-me-you-know-me-all-too-well-my-only-desire-to-bridge-our/) [Killswitch Engage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/killswitch-engage/) > [We know desire is rooted in absence and yearning. What you don't have is often ten times richer than what you actually experience. An…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/esther-perel/we-know-desire-is-rooted-in-absence-and-yearning-what-you-don-t-have/) [Esther Perel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/esther-perel/) > [“I know desire when I see it—and yet, this time, it slipped by completely. I was going for the devious smile that would suddenly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-aciman/i-know-desire-when-i-see-it-and-yet-this-time-it-slipped-by/) [André Aciman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-aciman/) > [When you pray, you know that you want something, that's always the first step. to let yourself know that you want something, that you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philippa-gregory/when-you-pray-you-know-that-you-want-something-that-s-always-the/) [Philippa Gregory](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philippa-gregory/) ## More by Slavoj Žižek > [The ultimate goal of radical politics is gradually to displace the limit of social exclusions, empowering the excluded agents (sexual and ethnic minorities) by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/slavoj-i-ek/the-ultimate-goal-of-radical-politics-is-gradually-to-displace-the/) [Slavoj Žižek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/slavoj-i-ek/) > [“In Kant’s description, ethical duty functions like a foreign traumatic intruder that from the outside disturbs the subject’s homeostatic balance, its unbearable pressure forcing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/slavoj-i-ek/in-kant-s-description-ethical-duty-functions-like-a-foreign-traumatic/) [Slavoj Žižek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/slavoj-i-ek/) > [I think Kafka was right when he said that for a modern, secular, nonreligious man, state bureaucracy is the only remaining contact with the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/slavoj-i-ek/i-think-kafka-was-right-when-he-said-that-for-a-modern-secular/) [Slavoj Žižek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/slavoj-i-ek/) > [“The cliche about prison life is that I am actually integrated into it, ruined by it, when my accommodation to it is so overwhelming…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/slavoj-i-ek/the-cliche-about-prison-life-is-that-i-am-actually-integrated-into-it/) [Slavoj Žižek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/slavoj-i-ek/) > [“In our quest for entertainment and instant gratification, we have become detached from the real world and its problems, contributing to the erosion of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/slavoj-i-ek/in-our-quest-for-entertainment-and-instant-gratification-we-have/) [Slavoj Žižek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/slavoj-i-ek/) > [“Ultimately,we hear things because we cannot see everything.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/slavoj-i-ek/ultimately-we-hear-things-because-we-cannot-see-everything/) [Slavoj Žižek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/slavoj-i-ek/) > [“In contrast to the situation in 1945, the world does not need the US; it is the US that needs the rest of the world”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/slavoj-i-ek/in-contrast-to-the-situation-in-1945-the-world-does-not-need-the-us/) [Slavoj Žižek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/slavoj-i-ek/) > [Humanity is OK, but 99% of people are boring idiots.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/slavoj-i-ek/humanity-is-ok-but-99-of-people-are-boring-idiots/) [Slavoj Žižek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/slavoj-i-ek/) > [We need useless theory more than ever today.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/slavoj-i-ek/we-need-useless-theory-more-than-ever-today/) [Slavoj Žižek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/slavoj-i-ek/) > [Those who were still able to write beautiful melodies were kitsch composers like Tchaikovsky. Tchaikovsky approaches true art not in his numerous beautiful melodies,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/slavoj-i-ek/those-who-were-still-able-to-write-beautiful-melodies-were-kitsch/) [Slavoj Žižek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/slavoj-i-ek/) > [“as in Heinrich Heine’s (a contemporary of Kierkegaard’s) well-known saying that one should value above everything else ‘freedom, equality and crab soup’. ‘Crab soup’…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/slavoj-i-ek/as-in-heinrich-heine-s-a-contemporary-of-kierkegaard-s-well-known/) [Slavoj Žižek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/slavoj-i-ek/) > [“The “pursuit of happiness” is such a key element of the “American (ideological) dream” that one tends to forget the contingent origin of this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/slavoj-i-ek/the-pursuit-of-happiness-is-such-a-key-element-of-the-american/) [Slavoj Žižek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/slavoj-i-ek/) > [A spectre is haunting Western academia (...), the spectre of the Cartesian subject.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/slavoj-i-ek/a-spectre-is-haunting-western-academia-the-spectre-of-the-cartesian/) [Slavoj Žižek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/slavoj-i-ek/) > [“...A friend has to be outside my reach, beyond my grasp. And there can be no friendship with someone whom I am not ready…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/slavoj-i-ek/a-friend-has-to-be-outside-my-reach-beyond-my-grasp-and-there-can-be/) [Slavoj Žižek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/slavoj-i-ek/) > [In Fascism, if you were a Jew, you were simply killed. Nobody had the idea of arresting Jews and torturing them to confess the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/slavoj-i-ek/in-fascism-if-you-were-a-jew-you-were-simply-killed-nobody-had-the/) [Slavoj Žižek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/slavoj-i-ek/) [Explore all 206 Slavoj Žižek quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/slavoj-i-ek/) ## 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": "The problem for us is not are our desires satisfied or not. 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