--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The reason can give nothing at all Like…" description: "\"The reason can give nothing at all Like the response to desire.\" — Wallace Stevens" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/133/wallace-stevens-846_desire_the-reason-can-give-nothing-at-all-like_2864368.jpg" --- # The reason can give nothing at all Like the response to… ![“The reason can give nothing at all Like the response to desire.” quote by Wallace Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/133/wallace-stevens-846_desire_the-reason-can-give-nothing-at-all-like_2864368.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/133/wallace-stevens-846_desire_the-reason-can-give-nothing-at-all-like_2864368.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/133/wallace-stevens-846_desire_the-reason-can-give-nothing-at-all-like_2864368.jpg) > “The reason can give nothing at all Like the response to desire.” [Wallace Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stevens/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Desire yields no tangible outcome; it remains an unfulfilled response. **In simple terms:** Desire gives nothing. Key Takeaway Recognize emptiness of desire. Themes desire emptiness philosophy Mood contemplative neutral Type philosophical reflective When to use this quote - personal ambition - spiritual practice - mindfulness Key Concepts existentialism psychology Questions to Reflect On - When is desire productive? - How to channel desire constructively? A Different Perspective Desire can motivate action. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Desire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/desire/) [Reason](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reason/) ## Related quotes > [“Don’t ask me to give her up before I even really get to know her … Because you’re not going to like my response.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-l-armentrout/don-t-ask-me-to-give-her-up-before-i-even-really-get-to-know-her/) [Jennifer L. Armentrout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-l-armentrout/) > [To argue with a person who has renounced the use of reason is like administering medicine to the dead.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-paine/to-argue-with-a-person-who-has-renounced-the-use-of-reason-is-like/) [Thomas Paine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-paine/) > [Beginning to reason is like stepping onto an escalator that leads upward and out of sight. Once we take the first step, the distance…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-singer/beginning-to-reason-is-like-stepping-onto-an-escalator-that-leads/) [Peter Singer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-singer/) > [Be happy for no reason, like a child. If you're happy for a reason, you're in trouble, because that reason can be taken away.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/be-happy-for-no-reason-like-a-child-if-you-re-happy-for-a-reason-you/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [No matter what someone has said or did to you just know there's a reason behind everything they do. Its not like it has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jade-surette/no-matter-what-someone-has-said-or-did-to-you-just-know-there-s-a/) [Jade Surette](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jade-surette/) > [Be happy for no reason, like a child. If you happy for a reason, you're in trouble, because that reason can be taken from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/be-happy-for-no-reason-like-a-child-if-you-happy-for-a-reason-you-re/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“everything happening for a reason like your reading for my words which make you know that”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/everything-happening-for-a-reason-like-your-reading-for-my-words/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [People bullshit and fakeness are the main reason I like being alone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ana-chable/people-bullshit-and-fakeness-are-the-main-reason-i-like-being-alone/) [Ana Chable](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ana-chable/) > [I don't know why, it's the same reason why you like some music and you don't like others. There's something about it that you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-garcia/i-don-t-know-why-it-s-the-same-reason-why-you-like-some-music-and-you/) [Jerry Garcia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-garcia/) > [Oh, by the way, I tend to use a lot of profanities. I do that for a reason: I like it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-mckee/oh-by-the-way-i-tend-to-use-a-lot-of-profanities-i-do-that-for-a/) [Robert McKee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-mckee/) > [“Maybe the only reason I like him is because I had a crush on him for so long it became a part of me.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catherine-clark/maybe-the-only-reason-i-like-him-is-because-i-had-a-crush-on-him-for/) [Catherine Clark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catherine-clark/) > [When someone says everything happens for a reason, I'd like to smack them and say, 'Yeah, I guess you're right.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/when-someone-says-everything-happens-for-a-reason-i-d-like-to-smack/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Reason is like an officer when the king appears. The officer then loses his power and hides himself. Reason is the shadow cast by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/reason-is-like-an-officer-when-the-king-appears-the-officer-then/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Things do happen for a reason, but do we like the reason? Rarely.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/things-do-happen-for-a-reason-but-do-we-like-the-reason-rarely/) [Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/) > [The simple reason I like every idea is that I'm an optimist.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marc-randolph/the-simple-reason-i-like-every-idea-is-that-i-m-an-optimist/) [Marc Randolph](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marc-randolph/) ## More by Wallace Stevens > [Poet, patting more nonsense foamed From the sea, conceive for thecourts Of these academies, the diviner health Disclosed in common forms.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stevens/poet-patting-more-nonsense-foamed-from-the-sea-conceive-for-thecourts/) [Wallace Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stevens/) > [The way through the world is more difficult to find than the way beyond it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stevens/the-way-through-the-world-is-more-difficult-to-find-than-the-way/) [Wallace Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stevens/) > [The magnificent cause of being, The imagination, the one reality In this imagined world](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stevens/the-magnificent-cause-of-being-the-imagination-the-one-reality-in/) [Wallace Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stevens/) > [Music falls on the silence like a sense / A passion that we feel, not understand.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stevens/music-falls-on-the-silence-like-a-sense-a-passion-that-we-feel-not/) [Wallace Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stevens/) > [The life of the city never lets you go, nor do you ever want it to.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stevens/the-life-of-the-city-never-lets-you-go-nor-do-you-ever-want-it-to/) [Wallace Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stevens/) > [After a lustre of the moon, we say We have not the need of any paradise, We have not the need of any seducing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stevens/after-a-lustre-of-the-moon-we-say-we-have-not-the-need-of-any/) [Wallace Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stevens/) > [I am what is around me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stevens/i-am-what-is-around-me/) [Wallace Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stevens/) > [“We live in an old chaos of the sun, Or old dependency of day and night, Or island solitude, unsponsored, free, Of that wide…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stevens/we-live-in-an-old-chaos-of-the-sun-or-old-dependency-of-day-and-night/) [Wallace Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stevens/) > [“Lunar Paraphrase" The moon is the mother of pathos and pity. When, at the wearier end of November, Her old light moves along the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stevens/lunar-paraphrase-the-moon-is-the-mother-of-pathos-and-pity-when-at/) [Wallace Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stevens/) > [Poetry is the scholar's art.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stevens/poetry-is-the-scholar-s-art/) [Wallace Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stevens/) > [“The stars are putting on their glittering belts, They throw around their shoulders cloaks that flash Like a great shadow's last embellishment”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stevens/the-stars-are-putting-on-their-glittering-belts-they-throw-around/) [wallace stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stevens/) > [Unfortunately there is nothing more inane than an Easter carol. It is a religious perversion of the activity of Spring in our blood.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stevens/unfortunately-there-is-nothing-more-inane-than-an-easter-carol-it-is/) [Wallace Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stevens/) > [The word is the making of the world](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stevens/the-word-is-the-making-of-the-world/) [Wallace Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stevens/) > [A diary is more or less the work of a man of clay whose hands are clumsy and in whose eyes there is no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stevens/a-diary-is-more-or-less-the-work-of-a-man-of-clay-whose-hands-are/) [Wallace Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stevens/) > [It is never the thing but the version of the thing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stevens/it-is-never-the-thing-but-the-version-of-the-thing/) [Wallace Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stevens/) [Explore all 352 Wallace Stevens quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stevens/) ## 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 reason can give nothing at all Like the response to desire.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Wallace Stevens" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stevens/the-reason-can-give-nothing-at-all-like-the-response-to-desire/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Desire" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stevens/the-reason-can-give-nothing-at-all-like-the-response-to-desire/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/133/wallace-stevens-846_desire_the-reason-can-give-nothing-at-all-like_2864368.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/133/wallace-stevens-846_desire_the-reason-can-give-nothing-at-all-like_2864368.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/133/wallace-stevens-846_desire_the-reason-can-give-nothing-at-all-like_2864368.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The reason can give nothing at all Like the response to desire.” — Wallace Stevens", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Wallace Stevens", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stevens/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "The reason can give nothing at...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stevens/the-reason-can-give-nothing-at-all-like-the-response-to-desire/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stevens/the-reason-can-give-nothing-at-all-like-the-response-to-desire/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```