Quotes About Desire

A man, at least, is free; he may travel over passions and over countries, overcome obstacles, taste of the most far-away pleasures. But a woman is always hampered. At once inert and flexible, she has against her the weakness of the flesh and legal dependence. Her will, like the veil of her bonnet, held by a string, flutters in every wind; there is always some desire that draws her, some conventionality that restrains.

Elle aurait voulu que ce nom de Bovary, qui était le sien, fût illustre, le voir étalé chez les libraires, répété dans les journaux, connu par toute la France. Mais Charles n'avait point d'ambition

Gustave Flaubert

We must not touch our idols; the gilt sticks to our fingers. They

Gustave Flaubert

Su voluntad, como el velo de su sombrero sujeto por un cordón, palpita a todos los vientos; siempre hay algún deseo que arrastra y alguna conveniencia social que refrena.

Frédéric pensait à la chambre qu'il occuperait là-bas, au plan d'un drame, à des sujets de tableaux, à des passions futures. Il trouvait que le bonheur mérité par l'excellence de son âme tardait à venir.

And taking her friend's hand, she put it on her breast, on that firm round covering of a woman's heart which the male often finds so satisfying that he makes no attempt to find what lies beneath it.

Why does one love? How queer it is to see only one being in the world, to have only one thought in one's mind, only one desire in the heart, and only one name on the lips--a name which comes up continually, rising, like the water in a spring, from the depths of the soul to the lips, a name which one repeats over and over again, which one whispers ceaselessly, everywhere, like a prayer.

L'angoisse de l'attente faisait désirer la venue de l'ennemi.

Whatever we may do or attempt, despite the embrace and transports of love, the hunger of the lips, we are always alone. I have dragged you out into the night in the vain hope of a moment's escape from the horrible solitude which overpowers me. But what is the use! I speak and you answer me, and still each of us is alone; side by side but alone."

The essence of life is the smile of round female bottoms, under the shadow of cosmic boredom.

What is the use of fine feelings when pitted against the power of instinct? And what chance does modest restraint have against that of natural desire?

I have coveted everything and taken pleasure in nothing.

Is it not rather the touch of Love, of Love the Mysterious, who seeks constantly to unite two beings, who tries his strength the instant he has put a man and a woman face to face?

She danced with rapture, with passion, intoxicated by pleasure, forgetting all in the triumph of her beauty, in the glory of her success, in a sort of cloud of happiness comprised of all this homage, admiration, these awakened desires and of that sense of triumph which is so sweet to woman's heart.

Aquello que se ama con violencia acaba siempre por matarle a uno.

De toutes les passions, la seule vraiment respectable me paraît être la gourmandise.

What do you want? he then asked her. And with clenched teeth, and trembling with anger, she replied: I want--I want you to marry me, as you promised. But he only laughed and replied: Oh! if a man were to marry all the girls with whom he has made a slip, he would have more than enough to do.

She was pretty and, even more, she was smart, and she had a divine figure according to all accounts. He fell in love with her, as a man always falls in love with any attractive woman whom he sees a lot of.

He did not know how to make her understand that he would be happy, most happy, to become her husband in his turn. He certainly could not tell her that, now, at this moment, in this place, in the presence of this corpse; nevertheless he could, he believed, find one of those ambiguous, acceptable, complicated statements whose words have hidden significance, and which can, by their calculated reservations, express everything you intend.

Now she was frightened, terribly frightened, and had a wild desire to run away, to ring, to call, but she dared not move, lest she might disturb his repose.

L'angoisse de l'attente fait désirer la venue de l'ennemi.

What you love too violently finishes by killing you.