Desire....

* "Desires are never satisfied, not even by a shower of gold. He who knows that the enjoyment of passion is short-lived and that it is also the womb of pain is a wise man."

* "The disciple of the Supremely Enlightened takes delight in the destruction of desire."

* "The man who has killed all desires…he indeed is exalted among men."

* "It is not good conduct that puts you on the path to liberation, nor will ritual do it, nor book learning, nor seclusion and solitude, nor meditation. None of these alone can bring mastery or joy. It is desirelessness that does it."

* "Those who seek perfection must keep watch by day and night until all desires vanish."

* "From passion and desire, sensuousness and lust, arise grief and fear. Free yourself from attachment."

* "The master…cuts all ties. He gives up all his desires. He resists all temptations. And he rises. And wherever he lives, in the city or the country, in the valley or in the hills, there is great joy. Even in the empty forest he finds joy, because he desires nothing."

* "Desire nothing."

* "Desire never crosses the path of virtuous wakeful men. Their brightness sets them free."

* "Let us, then, free from the disease of desire, live happily amongst those who suffer that disease; among men with disease of desire let us dwell free from that disease."

The above are just ten of many such statements found in the Dhammapada, which is the basic and foundational scripture of Buddhism, being a collection in just over 420 verses of Gautama Buddha's sayings. It is clear there and elsewhere that he did indeed mean what he said in the Four Noble Truths…that "desire is the cause of all suffering" and that the extinguishing of desire will equate to the extinguishing of suffering.