--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Collecting expresses a free-floating…" description: "\"“Collecting expresses a free-floating desire that attaches and re-attaches itself—it is a succession of desires. The true collector is in the grip not ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f5e/susan-sontag-332_collecting_collecting-expresses-a-free-floating-des_2517138.jpg" --- # Collecting expresses a free-floating desire that attaches… ![“Collecting expresses a free-floating desire that attaches and re-attaches itself—it is a succession of desires. The true collector is in the grip not of what is collected but of collecting.” quote by Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f5e/susan-sontag-332_collecting_collecting-expresses-a-free-floating-des_2517138.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f5e/susan-sontag-332_collecting_collecting-expresses-a-free-floating-des_2517138.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f5e/susan-sontag-332_collecting_collecting-expresses-a-free-floating-des_2517138.jpg) > ““Collecting expresses a free-floating desire that attaches and re-attaches itself—it is a succession of desires. The true collector is in the grip not of what is collected but of collecting.”” [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Collecting is driven by an ever‑shifting desire, focusing more on the act than the object itself. **In simple terms:** Collecting is about desire, not the items. Key Takeaway Recognize when desire, rather than need, drives you. Themes desire collecting identity materialism Mood reflective analytical Type philosophical observational When to use this quote - shopping - art collection - digital media - personal hobbies Key Concepts psychology consumer culture attachment Questions to Reflect On - What do you truly value versus what you merely want? - How does collecting shape your sense of self? A Different Perspective Collecting can become compulsive and distract from deeper fulfillment. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Collected Collecting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/collected-collecting-1215647/) [Collecting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/collecting/) [Collecting Expresses](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/collecting-expresses-1215646/) [Collector](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/collector/) [Desire Attaches](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/desire-attaches-1215645/) ## Related quotes > [Though collecting quotations could be considered as merely an ironic mimetism -- victimless collecting, as it were... in a world that is well on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/though-collecting-quotations-could-be-considered-as-merely-an-ironic-2/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [Now I am obsessed with collecting Platypus paraphernalia.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/trevor-dunn/now-i-am-obsessed-with-collecting-platypus-paraphernalia/) [Trevor Dunn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/trevor-dunn/) > [I'm a collector. I was born a collector. I came out of the womb a collector. I can trace it back to childhood -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/micah-lexier/i-m-a-collector-i-was-born-a-collector-i-came-out-of-the-womb-a/) [Micah Lexier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/micah-lexier/) > [I'm an avid collector of toys. I got everything. Name it. From the Easy Bake Oven to Barbies to every TV show doll, racing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/biz-markie/i-m-an-avid-collector-of-toys-i-got-everything-name-it-from-the-easy/) [Biz Markie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/biz-markie/) > [“O bliss of the collector, bliss of the man of leisure! Of no one has less been expected and no one has had a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-benjamin/o-bliss-of-the-collector-bliss-of-the-man-of-leisure-of-no-one-has/) [Walter Benjamin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-benjamin/) > [My flat is a bit like an oriental bazaar. It's filled with the oddest objects from all my travels, and you can't really move…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-shand/my-flat-is-a-bit-like-an-oriental-bazaar-it-s-filled-with-the-oddest/) [Mark Shand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-shand/) > [Collecting is my joy; it gives me great satisfaction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-andress/collecting-is-my-joy-it-gives-me-great-satisfaction/) [Ursula Andress](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-andress/) > [I think I've always had an obsession with collecting, as most people do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-anderson/i-think-i-ve-always-had-an-obsession-with-collecting-as-most-people-do/) [Jonathan Anderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-anderson/) > [Collecting has always been in my blood.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-chrysler/collecting-has-always-been-in-my-blood/) [Walter Chrysler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-chrysler/) > [The first thing I started collecting was stamps. Until I started discovering girls. That was the end of stamps.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eli-broad/the-first-thing-i-started-collecting-was-stamps-until-i-started/) [Eli Broad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eli-broad/) > [Preserving tradition has become a nice hobby, like stamp collecting.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-cooley/preserving-tradition-has-become-a-nice-hobby-like-stamp-collecting/) [Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-cooley/) > [Nobody can give you advice after you've been collecting for a while. If you don't enjoy making your own decisions, you're never going to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-saatchi/nobody-can-give-you-advice-after-you-ve-been-collecting-for-a-while/) [Charles Saatchi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-saatchi/) > [“There are people like Senhor José everywhere, who fill their time, or what they believe to be their spare time, by collecting stamps, coins,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jos-saramago/there-are-people-like-senhor-jos-everywhere-who-fill-their-time-or/) [José Saramago](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jos-saramago/) > [I like metal detecting, collecting Civil War artifacts, fishing, hunting, cigars, Labradors, the outdoor life, my baseball game, football.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hank-williams-jr/i-like-metal-detecting-collecting-civil-war-artifacts-fishing-hunting/) [Hank Williams Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hank-williams-jr/) > [For a while I was collecting Satan and devil stuff - you know, anything that had to do with old Beelzebub or Lucifer. But…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kirk-hammett/for-a-while-i-was-collecting-satan-and-devil-stuff-you-know-anything/) [Kirk Hammett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kirk-hammett/) ## More by Susan Sontag > [the appetite for thinking must be regulated, as all sensible people know, for it may stifle one's life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/the-appetite-for-thinking-must-be-regulated-as-all-sensible-people/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [We are ruled by quotations.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/we-are-ruled-by-quotations/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [Unfortunately, moral beauty in art - like physical beauty in a person - is extremely perishable. It is nowhere so durable as artistic or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/unfortunately-moral-beauty-in-art-like-physical-beauty-in-a-person-is/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [Like the collector, the photographer is animated by a passion that, even when it appears to be for the present, is linked to a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/like-the-collector-the-photographer-is-animated-by-a-passion-that/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [ Anthropology has always struggled with an intense, fascinated repulsion towards its subject… \[The anthropologist\] submits himself to the exotic to confirm his own inner… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/anthropology-has-always-struggled-with-an-intense-fascinated/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [“Why not eliminate schooling between age 12-16? It’s biologically + psychologically too turbulent a time to be cooped up inside, made to sit all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/why-not-eliminate-schooling-between-age-12-16-it-s-biologically/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [To photograph people is to violate them, by seeing them as they never see themselves, by having knowledge of them that they can never…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/to-photograph-people-is-to-violate-them-by-seeing-them-as-they-never/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [One set of messages of the society we live in is: Consume. Grow. Do what you want. Amuse yourselves. The very working of this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/one-set-of-messages-of-the-society-we-live-in-is-consume-grow-do-what/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [Currently intellectuals in Western Europe and North America are extremely demoralized and shaken by the rise of a virulent conservative tendency (which some have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/currently-intellectuals-in-western-europe-and-north-america-are/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [With the modern diseases (once TB, now cancer) the romantic idea that the disease expresses the character is invariably extended to assert that the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/with-the-modern-diseases-once-tb-now-cancer-the-romantic-idea-that/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [As objects of contemplation, images of the atrocious can answer to several different needs. To steel oneself against weakness. To make oneself more numb.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/as-objects-of-contemplation-images-of-the-atrocious-can-answer-to/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [The creative phase of an idea coincides with the period during which it insists, cantankerously, on its boundaries, on what makes it different; but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/the-creative-phase-of-an-idea-coincides-with-the-period-during-which/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [Photographs objectify: they turn an event or a person into something that can be possessed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/photographs-objectify-they-turn-an-event-or-a-person-into-something/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [I'm not interested in giving aid and comfort to the neo­-Conservatives.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/i-m-not-interested-in-giving-aid-and-comfort-to-the-neo-conservatives/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [The feminist movement has been important to me because it's made me feel less odd and also because it has made me understand some…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/the-feminist-movement-has-been-important-to-me-because-it-s-made-me/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) [Explore all 644 Susan Sontag quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) ## More Collecting quotes > [I've always been interested in photographs, collecting them not systematically but randomly. They get lost, then turn up again.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-g-sebald/i-ve-always-been-interested-in-photographs-collecting-them-not/) [W. G. Sebald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-g-sebald/) > [Taking photos is a form of collecting.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-parr/taking-photos-is-a-form-of-collecting/) [Martin Parr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-parr/) > [If you're feeling fancy free, come wander through the world with me, and any place we chance to be, will be a rendezvous. Two…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-mancini/if-you-re-feeling-fancy-free-come-wander-through-the-world-with-me/) [Henry Mancini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-mancini/) > [I found so-called great art too pompous, too stiff. What at this time was called minor art was freer, more imaginative, more open to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-lipchitz/i-found-so-called-great-art-too-pompous-too-stiff-what-at-this-time/) [Jacques Lipchitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-lipchitz/) > [My real first job was delivering newspapers with I was 15. I would ride my bike around and chuck papers at people's houses. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dane-cook/my-real-first-job-was-delivering-newspapers-with-i-was-15-i-would/) [Dane Cook](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dane-cook/) > [I didn't really grow up a comic book fanatic. I was a big baseball player, and my passion in life, in third grade, was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-ritchson/i-didn-t-really-grow-up-a-comic-book-fanatic-i-was-a-big-baseball/) [Alan Ritchson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-ritchson/) > [I don't know who had the training of you," he continued doggedly, "but your morals are shocking. You spent a night in my bed,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/loretta-chase/i-don-t-know-who-had-the-training-of-you-he-continued-doggedly-but/) [Loretta Chase](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/loretta-chase/) > [...You can go your whole life collecting days, and none will outweigh the one you wish you had back.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mitch-albom/you-can-go-your-whole-life-collecting-days-and-none-will-outweigh-the/) [Mitch Albom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mitch-albom/) > [Instead of collecting things and staying in one space, I want to collect experiences.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kesh/instead-of-collecting-things-and-staying-in-one-space-i-want-to/) [Kesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kesh/) > [I started collecting couture when I was about 10 or 11 years old, and the very first piece I bought was a Balenciaga suit from 1962.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hamish-bowles/i-started-collecting-couture-when-i-was-about-10-or-11-years-old-and/) [Hamish Bowles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hamish-bowles/) > [I imagine the wave of water colliding with the rock and spilling over the tile floor, collecting around my shoes. Doing a little at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/veronica-roth/i-imagine-the-wave-of-water-colliding-with-the-rock-and-spilling-over/) [Veronica Roth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/veronica-roth/) > [I needed more knowledge in rigging and knotting. I started collecting books on knots and really learning more and more. That's how it started.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philippe-petit/i-needed-more-knowledge-in-rigging-and-knotting-i-started-collecting/) [Philippe Petit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philippe-petit/) > [Physics is the only real science. The rest are just stamp collecting.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-rutherford/physics-is-the-only-real-science-the-rest-are-just-stamp-collecting/) [Ernest Rutherford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-rutherford/) > [Some prescient American collectors, including Vicki and Kent Logan and Mera and Donald Rubell, began collecting Chinese art before 2000 with a genuine passion,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arne-glimcher/some-prescient-american-collectors-including-vicki-and-kent-logan-and/) [Arne Glimcher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arne-glimcher/) > [If I collected all the diamonds in the world, I'd have no 'income' but I'd have a lot of 'assets'. Would my company be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vinod-khosla/if-i-collected-all-the-diamonds-in-the-world-i-d-have-no-income-but-i/) [Vinod Khosla](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vinod-khosla/) [Browse all 493 Collecting quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/collecting/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Collecting expresses a free-floating desire that attaches and re-attaches itself—it is a succession of desires. 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