What do you think is the difference between "longing" and "desire"?

i don't think there's much difference in meaning, but there's a difference in usage of these words.

most people apply the word desire to sex and longing to something non-sexual. A desire isn't necessarily a need, otherwise we'd call it a need.

The only difference is the letters.

Same thing.
One thing fullfills both:
Me.

I associate longing with something I would like, but know I will most likely never attain. Desire, however, seems to apply to more realistic wants...more immediate, burning out faster.

Language is rarely exact but I would say that 'desire' is more about what you want in the future and 'longing' has more to do with revisiting something that happened in the past.