--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Desire itself is movement Not in itself…" description: "\"“Desire itself is movement Not in itself desirable; Love is itself unmoving, Only the cause and end of movement, Timeless, and undesiring Except in the..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/515/t-s-eliot-2-1761_desire_desire-itself-is-movement-not-in-itself_1023915.jpg" --- # Desire itself is movement Not in itself desirable; Love is… ![“Desire itself is movement Not in itself desirable; Love is itself unmoving, Only the cause and end of movement, Timeless, and undesiring Except in the aspect of time Caught in the form of limitation Between un-being and being. Sudden in a shaft of sunlight Even while the dust moves There rises the…” quote by T.S. Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/515/t-s-eliot-2-1761_desire_desire-itself-is-movement-not-in-itself_1023915.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/515/t-s-eliot-2-1761_desire_desire-itself-is-movement-not-in-itself_1023915.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/515/t-s-eliot-2-1761_desire_desire-itself-is-movement-not-in-itself_1023915.jpg) > ““Desire itself is movement Not in itself desirable; Love is itself unmoving, Only the cause and end of movement, Timeless, and undesiring Except in the aspect of time Caught in the form of limitation Between un-being and being. Sudden in a shaft of sunlight Even while the dust moves There rises the hidden laughter Of children in the foliage”” [T.S. Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-s-eliot-2/) ## 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 movement, yet true love is static; motion arises from longing within time’s limits, revealing hidden joy amidst constraints. **In simple terms:** Desire moves us; love stays still; joy hides in limits. Key Takeaway Embrace desire’s motion while appreciating love’s stillness. Themes desire love movement time joy limitations Mood contemplative poetic philosophical Type literary inspirational When to use this quote - personal reflection - creative writing - mindfulness practice - artistic inspiration Key Concepts philosophy poetics existentialism spirituality Questions to Reflect On - How do you balance desire and contentment? - What hidden joys emerge when constraints are accepted? A Different Perspective Desire may lead to suffering if unchecked; love’s stillness can feel stagnant. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Desire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/desire/) [Desire Movement](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/desire-movement-1040898/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) [Love Unmoving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love-unmoving-1040901/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [Timeless Undesiring](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/timeless-undesiring-1040899/) [Undesiring](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/undesiring-1040900/) ## Related quotes > [Desire itself is movement Not in itself desirable; Love is itself unmoving, Only the cause and end of movement, Timeless, and undesiring Except in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-s-eliot/desire-itself-is-movement-not-in-itself-desirable-love-is-itself/) [T. S. Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-s-eliot/) > [“I travel not only for the passion and madness and desire of movement, but because travel, like bread and water and air, becomes necessary…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carew-papritz/i-travel-not-only-for-the-passion-and-madness-and-desire-of-movement/) [Carew Papritz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carew-papritz/) > [Photography, alone of the arts, seems perfected to serve the desire humans have for a moment - this very moment - to stay.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-abell/photography-alone-of-the-arts-seems-perfected-to-serve-the-desire/) [Sam Abell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-abell/) > [“If any woman opens her legs for you, don't feel so lucky to be fed with nonsense, she has been a bitch for a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-bassey-johnson/if-any-woman-opens-her-legs-for-you-don-t-feel-so-lucky-to-be-fed/) [Michael Bassey Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-bassey-johnson/) > [“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/) > [ 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/) > [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/) > [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/) > [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/) > [“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/) > [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/) > [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 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/) > [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 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](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-martinez/) ## More by T.S. Eliot > [“I have measured out my life in coffee spoons.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-s-eliot-2/i-have-measured-out-my-life-in-coffee-spoons/) [T.S. Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-s-eliot-2/) > [“Shakespeare acquired more essential history from Plutarch than most men could from the whole British Museum. What is to be insisted upon is that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-s-eliot-2/shakespeare-acquired-more-essential-history-from-plutarch-than-most/) [T.S. Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-s-eliot-2/) > [“Bustopher Jones is not skin and bones — In fact, he's remarkably fat. He doesn't haunt pubs — he has eight or nine clubs,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-s-eliot-2/bustopher-jones-is-not-skin-and-bones-in-fact-he-s-remarkably-fat-he/) [T.S. Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-s-eliot-2/) > [“Politic, cautious, and meticulous; full of high sentence, but a bit obtuse”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-s-eliot-2/politic-cautious-and-meticulous-full-of-high-sentence-but-a-bit-obtuse/) [T.S. Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-s-eliot-2/) > [“Our beginnings never know our ends.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-s-eliot-2/our-beginnings-never-know-our-ends/) [T.S. Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-s-eliot-2/) > [“Oxford is very pretty, but I don't like to be dead.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-s-eliot-2/oxford-is-very-pretty-but-i-don-t-like-to-be-dead/) [T.S. Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-s-eliot-2/) > [“We have therefore to inquire what there is about Machiavelli to impress the mind of Europe so prodigiously and so curiously, and why the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-s-eliot-2/we-have-therefore-to-inquire-what-there-is-about-machiavelli-to/) [T.S. Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-s-eliot-2/) > [“And time yet for a hundred indecisions, And a hundred visions and revisions”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-s-eliot-2/and-time-yet-for-a-hundred-indecisions-and-a-hundred-visions-and/) [T.S. Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-s-eliot-2/) > [“The world turns and the world changes, But one thing does not change. In all of my years, one thing does not change, However…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-s-eliot-2/the-world-turns-and-the-world-changes-but-one-thing-does-not-change/) [T.S. Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-s-eliot-2/) > [“It is essential that a work of art should be self-consistent, that an artist should consciously or unconsciously draw a circle beyond which he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-s-eliot-2/it-is-essential-that-a-work-of-art-should-be-self-consistent-that-an/) [T.S. Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-s-eliot-2/) > [“By destroying traditional social habits of the people, by dissolving their natural collective consciousness into individual constituents, by licensing the opinions of the most…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-s-eliot-2/by-destroying-traditional-social-habits-of-the-people-by-dissolving/) [T.S. Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-s-eliot-2/) > [“We returned to our palaces, these Kingdoms, but no longer at ease here in the old dispensation, with an alien people clutching their gods.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-s-eliot-2/we-returned-to-our-palaces-these-kingdoms-but-no-longer-at-ease-here/) [T.S. Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-s-eliot-2/) > [“…Lady of silences Calm and distressed Torn and most whole Rose of memory Rose of forgetfulness Exhausted and life-giving Worried reposeful The single Rose…”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-s-eliot-2/lady-of-silences-calm-and-distressed-torn-and-most-whole-rose-of/) [T.S. Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-s-eliot-2/) > [“Destiny waits in the hand of god, shaping the still unshapen..”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-s-eliot-2/destiny-waits-in-the-hand-of-god-shaping-the-still-unshapen/) [T.S. Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-s-eliot-2/) > [“I said to my soul, be still, and wait without hope For hope would be hope for the wrong thing; wait without love For…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-s-eliot-2/i-said-to-my-soul-be-still-and-wait-without-hope-for-hope-would-be-2/) [T.S. Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-s-eliot-2/) [Explore all 206 T.S. Eliot quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-s-eliot-2/) ## 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](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/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": "“Desire itself is movement Not in itself desirable; Love is itself unmoving, Only the cause and end of movement, Timeless, and undesiring Except in the aspect of time Caught in the form of limitation Between un-being and being. Sudden in a shaft of sunlight Even while the dust moves There rises the hidden laughter Of children in the foliage”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "T.S. 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