“I need nothing. I seek nothing. I desire nothing.”

“I am dead because I have no desire,I have no desire because I think I possess,I think I possess because I do not try to give;Trying to give, I see that I have nothing,Seeing that I have nothing, I try to give myself,Trying to give myself, I see that I am nothing,Seeing that I am nothing, I desire to become,Desiring to become, I live.”

“I am dead because I lack desire,I lack desire because I think I possess,I think I possess because I do not try to give,In trying to give, you see that you have nothing,Seeing that you have nothing, you try to give of yourself,Trying to give of yourself, you see that you are nothing,Seeing that you are nothing, you desire to become,In desiring to become, you begin to live.”

“Happiness is possible only to a rational man, the man who desires nothing but rational goals, seeks nothing but rational values and finds his joy in nothing but rational actions.”

“I take the only desire one can really permit oneself. Freedom, Alvah, freedom. . .To ask nothing. To expect nothing. To depend on nothing.”

“I had no genius, no mission to fulfill, no great heart to bestow. I had nothing and I deserved nothing. But all the same I desired some sort of reward.”