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Dynamics of desire

By Robert Olen Butler
Published: September 27, 2005
Yearning vs. Desire

Don't confuse yearning with desire, Butler says. Desire goes like this:

"I want to solve the crime. I want to kill the monster. I want to go to bed with that woman or that man. I want to win the war."

Yearning goes like this:

"I yearn for self. I yearn for identity. I yearn for a place in the universe. I yearn to connect to the other."
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