Extract
[...] These needs are constraints where the positive faculty of desire is not yet recognized. Indeed, desire is the luxurious version of need, within which it creates singularity, according to one's own discernment. In a word, I define myself according to my desires, which contributes in part to pulling me out of the dictatorship of instincts and primary needs and constitutes me as a subject. This personal dimension of desire invites us to wonder if happiness is a state that can be achieved alone or if we are, on the contrary, the plaything of others, notably social relations, among which we count loving and friendly relationships, and of mimetism which sometimes artificially creates desire. [...]
[...] Life is inseparable from desire, which can almost be considered a human faculty. Desire is what pulls me out of the world of instincts and primary needs. Paradoxically, while it seems to hold me under its authority, it is in fact the force that makes existence not solely mechanical. The absence of desire is a nihilism that leads to inaction and stagnation and makes me forget the interdependence in which I am vis-à-vis others. There is a form of megalomania in wanting to be without desire, just as there is in only taking into account one's own desires, to the detriment of the integrity of others or what belongs to them. [...]
[...] Is this pleasure, or its absence, synonymous with happiness or unhappiness? What is certain, in any case, is the precarious, fragile, and temporary aspect of the satisfaction derived from it. Desire, like a dream, which is based on an image projected in the mind of what I hope for, is likely to be disappointed. This is why it can be at the origin of a double dissatisfaction, depending on whether it is fulfilled or not. An unfulfilled desire is not yet a disappointed satisfaction, while a desire that remains in suspense seems to lead to an inextinguishable frustration, which is why it has been written that desire is eager not to be satisfied. [...]
[...] It is desire that gives meaning to happiness, and there can be no happiness without unhappiness anyway. This is why happiness is often made to coincide with a form of innocence, which is often associated with childhood, of which we make, in a somewhat caricatural way, a kind of blessed period, where later, regrets, responsibilities, and desires come to insinuate themselves into daily life, against a background of permanent concern. Certainly, desire has aspects that limit us, but it is at the same time an opportunity to show discernment. [...]
[...] This would mean that we are even more dependent than if we are simply prey to desires that we do not necessarily control. It seems that happiness, however fleeting, should not be based on such precarious foundations, or it would be only an illusion of happiness. Advertising is today an example of a desire created or encouraged artificially, which plays on the mimetic dimension of desire. We desire something, for example, because we feel a form of jealousy when we see someone else possessing it or because we want to belong to a group by acquiring it, as with a branded garment when we could be satisfied with any other garment. [...]
