This site is dedicated to the memory of Dr. Alan William Smolowe who gave birth to the creation of this database.
Cicero, fully Marcus Tullius Cicero, anglicized as Tully NULL
Nature has instilled [planted] in our minds an insatiable desire to see truth.
Maltbie Babcock, fully Maltbie Davenport Babcock
Death is a great preacher of deathlessness. The protest of the soul against death, its reversion, its revulsion, is a high instinct of life. Dissatisfaction in his world who satisfieth the desire of every living thing has a grip on the future. As far as this goes, he has the least assurance of immortality who can be best satisfied with eating and drinking and “things”’ he has the surest hope of ongoings and far distances who does not live by brad alone, whose eye is looking over the shoulder of things, whose ear hears mighty waters rolling ever more, who has “hopes naught can satisfy below.” The limits of which death makes us aware, make us aware of life’s limitlessness. The wing cage knows it was meant for an ampler ether and diviner air.
Death | Desire | Future | Hope | Immortality | Instinct | Life | Life | Protest | Soul | World |
Marcel Marceau, born Marcel Mangel
Life’s meaning rests in the eye of the beholder and in our constant desire to approach perfection. Life is so immense and complex that there is no one truth, only the rule of destiny... We do not choose life; life chooses us. Yet we try to follow our destiny, our passion our drive. We must live every minute as if it is our first and our last... The meaning of life lies in our desire to help others... Earthly life is an eternal miracle. In a moment of grace, we can grasp eternity in the palm of our hand.
Desire | Destiny | Eternal | Eternity | Grace | Life | Life | Meaning | Passion | Perfection | Rule | Truth |
Cicero, fully Marcus Tullius Cicero, anglicized as Tully NULL
Beware of an inordinate desire for wealth. Nothing is so revealing of narrowness and littleness of soul than love for money. Conversely, there is nothing more honorable or noble than indifference to money, if one doesn’t have any; or than genuine altruism and well-doing if one does have it.
Altruism | Desire | Indifference | Love | Money | Nothing | Soul | Wealth |
Cicero, fully Marcus Tullius Cicero, anglicized as Tully NULL
The thirst of desire is never filled, nor fully satisfied.
Desire |
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, native form is Csíkszentmihályi Mihály
No matter how much we strive to understand, ultimate reality will always remain hidden? Only if the search for truth is motivated by the desire to reach an absolute answer. The person looking for certainty is bound to be disappointed... If on the other hand we realize that the partial truths we uncover are all legitimate aspects of the unknowable universe, then we can learn to enjoy the search and derive from it the pleasure one gets from any creative act... One must painstakingly match one’s preconceptions against actual, ongoing experience to begin separating truth from illusion.
Absolute | Desire | Experience | Illusion | Pleasure | Reality | Search | Truth | Universe | Will | Learn | Truths |
Every person who wins in any undertaking must be willing to cut all sources of retreat. Only by doing so can one be sure of maintaining that state of mind known as a burning desire to win - essential to success.
Norman Lear, fully Norman Milton Lear
The desire to lead a more purposeful life, to search for ultimate meanings, is a central theme of human experience... This spiritual urge is undeniable. From the beginning of human history, we have been embarked on a search for transcendent meaning.
Beginning | Desire | Experience | History | Life | Life | Meaning | Search |
Norman Lear, fully Norman Milton Lear
It seems to me that any full-grown, mature adult would have a desire to be responsible, to help where he can in a world that needs so very much, that threatens us so very much.
The fruit of desire is poverty.
Neil Armstrong, fully Neil Alden Armstrong
Man must understand his universe in order to understand his destiny. Mystery, however, is a very necessary ingredient in our lives. Mystery creates wonder and wonder is the basis for man’s desire to understand. Who knows what mysteries will be solved in our lifetime, and what new riddles will become the challenge of the new generations? Science has not mastered prophesy. We predict too much for next year yet far too little for the next ten. Responding to challenge is one of democracy’s great strengths. Our successes in space lead us to hope that this strength can be used in the next decade in the solution of many of our planet’s problems.
Challenge | Democracy | Desire | Destiny | Hope | Little | Man | Mystery | Order | Problems | Science | Space | Strength | Universe | Will | Wonder | Understand |
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, native form is Csíkszentmihályi Mihály
The paradox of rising expectations suggests that improving the quality of life might be an insurmountable task. In fact, there is not inherent problem in our desire to escalate our goals, as long as we enjoy the struggle along the way. The problem arises when people are so fixated on what they want to achieve that they cease to derive pleasure from the present. When that happens, they forfeit their chance of contentment.
Chance | Contentment | Desire | Goals | Life | Life | Paradox | People | Pleasure | Present | Struggle |
Desire is the starting point of all achievement, not a hope, not a wish, but a keen pulsating desire which transcends everything
Achievement | Desire | Hope |
The way of this world is to praise dead saints and persecute living ones.