quotations about ambition
Ambition is an idol, on whose wings great minds are carried only to extreme, to be sublimely great, or to be nothing.
T. SOUTHERN
attributed, Day's Collacon
Where ambition can be so happy as to cover its enterprises, even to the person himself, under the appearance of principle, it is the most incurable and inflexible of all human passions.
DAVID HUME
The History of England
Say what we will, you may be sure that ambition is an error; its wear and tear of heart are never recompensed, --it steals away the freshness of life, --it deadens its vivid and social enjoyments, --it shuts our souls to our own youth, --and we are old ere we remember that we have made a fever and a labor of our raciest years.
EDWARD BULWER LYTTON
The Student
I must get out all my ambitions and dust them.
LUCY MAUD MONTGOMERY
Anne of Avonlea
Ambition is the force that makes amazing things happen in the world. Without it we would have no progress, no inventions, no innovation, and no change for the better. Indeed one person's ambition is the driving force behind many of the incredible achievements in our society, whether that be inventing the motor car, discovering electricity or creating incredible works of art.
RACHEL BRIDGE
"Why Ambition Should No Longer Be a Dirty Word", Huffington Post, February 26, 2016
Ambition is the way in which a vulgar man aspires.
HENRY WARD BEECHER
Life Thoughts
Ambition is a lust that is never quenched, but grows more inflamed and madder by enjoyment.
THOMAS OTWAY
attributed, A Dictionary of Thoughts
It is ordained that to the ambitious, who derive no satisfaction from the gifts of life and the beauty of the world, life shall be a cause of suffering, and they shall possess neither the profit nor the beauty of the world.
LEONARDO DA VINCI
Thoughts on Art and Life
Self-oriented ambition is not a gift from the Father of lights. It is a bad legacy from the father of lies. We are better off without it.
JOHN KOESSLER
The Radical Pursuit of Rest: Escaping the Productivity Trap
There is no climax in Ambition's scope, Behold her wrestling with the angel, Hope, And beating back the Demon of Despair, Yet looking for a brighter crown to wear; Despair enchains her, Hope her transient guest, Unfurls her wings, and leaves her still unblest; But naught can keep her quenchless ardor back; She bears the struggling Demon in her track, Mounts on the wind's wild wings, her zeal on fire; And treads the paths to which her dreams aspire.
MARTHA LAVINIA HOFFMAN
"Ambition's Climax"
Men climb from one ambition to another.
NICCOLO MACHIAVELLI
Discourses on Livy
But unscrupulous ambition has nothing to work upon, save in a nation corrupted by avarice and luxury.
ST. AUGUSTINE
The City of God