The origin of one's desires is imitation. This is Girard's main idea in the book, where he explains the mechanism behind mimetic (or triangular) desire. This feature of desire reveals a lot about human nature and how others shape what we ultimately want.

The first few chapters do a pretty good job of covering this concept. However, most of the pages go through examples from the literary works of Flaubert, Proust, Stendhal, Cervantes and Dostoevky (which you should preferably read beforehand).

I remain somewhat skeptical that Girard did not consider any genuine, direct desires. Does that imply that all desires are destined to be desires of others, and none are truly ours?

My Notes

• We desire something because others desire it.
• All desire is triangular: there is the object, the subject, and the mediator.
• Desire is mediated by someone ; it is never inherent to that object.
• Spontaneous desire is an illusion — a lie told by romantic authors.
• Had Flaubert's Emma Bovary not been imitating romantic heroines, she would never take Rodolphe as her lover.
• Strong desires are passionate desires, while vanity desires are weaker reflections of authentic desires (Julien Sorel's love for Mme de Rênal is the former, while his desire for Mathilde is the latter).
• Any desire that is revealed is likely to arouse or accentuate the desire of a rival.
• We all know that once a desire is satisfied, it becomes mundane.
• Disappointment shows how absurd mimetic desire is.