“The trouble with Buddhism?-- in order to free oneself of all desire, one has to desire to do so.”

—  Henry Miller

Henry Miller on Writing (1964)

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update Sept. 14, 2021. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "The trouble with Buddhism?-- in order to free oneself of all desire, one has to desire to do so." by Henry Miller?
Henry Miller photo
Henry Miller187
American novelist 1891–1980

Related quotes

Sarada Devi photo

“Rebirth is inevitable so long as one has desires. It is like taking the soul from one pillow-case and putting it into another. Only one or two out of many men can be found who are free from all desires.”

Sarada Devi (1853–1920) Hindu religious figure, spiritual consort of Ramakrishna

[Swami Tapasyananda, Swami Nikhilananda, Sri Sarada Devi, the Holy Mother; Life and Conversations, 292]

Cornel West photo

“Aesthetics have substantial political consequences. How one views oneself as beautiful or not beautiful or desirable or not desirable has deep consequences in terms of one’s feelings of self-worth and one’s capacity to be a political agent.”

Cornel West (1953) African-American philosopher and political/civil rights activist

Source: Breaking Bread: Insurgent Black Intellectual Life

Aurelius Augustinus photo

“The true servants of God are not solicitous that He should order them to do what they desire to do, but that they may desire to do what He orders them to do.”

Aurelius Augustinus (354–430) early Christian theologian and philosopher

Source: Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers (1895), p. 616

“The desire not to destroy the palace but to move into it oneself has always been the occupational curse of revolutionaries.”

Wilfrid Sheed (1930–2011) English-American novelist and essayist

"Writers' Politics" (1971), p. 66
The Good Word & Other Words (1978)

Ptahhotep photo

“Follow your desire as long as you live and do not perform more than is ordered; do not lessen the time of following desire, for the wasting of time is an abomination to the spirit… When riches are gained, follow desire, for riches will not profit if one is sluggish.”

Ptahhotep Ancient Egyptian vizier

Maxim no. 11.
The Maxims of Ptahhotep (c. 2350 BCE)

Sarada Devi photo

“The world is going on because not all can be free of desires. People with desires are born again and again.”

Sarada Devi (1853–1920) Hindu religious figure, spiritual consort of Ramakrishna

[Swami Nikhilananda, Holy Mother, 217]

Friedrich Nietzsche photo

“The desire for a strong faith is not the proof of a strong faith, rather the opposite. If one has it one may permit oneself the beautiful luxury of skepticism: one is secure enough, fixed enough for it.”

Friedrich Nietzsche book Twilight of the Idols

Source: Twilight of the Idols

Swami Vivekananda photo

“So long as there is desire or want, it is a sure sign that there is imperfection. A perfect, free being cannot have any desire.”

Swami Vivekananda (1863–1902) Indian Hindu monk and phylosopher

Pearls of Wisdom

Kenneth Arrow photo

“Studying oneself is not the most comfortable of enterprises. One is caught between the desire to show oneself in the best possible light and the fear of claiming more than one’s due.”

Kenneth Arrow (1921–2017) American economist

in Lives of the Literature, edited by William Breit and ‎Barry T. Hirsch
1970s-1980s

Related topics