quotations about ambition
Ambition is like choler; which is an humor that maketh men active, earnest, full of alacrity, and stirring, if it be not stopped. But if it be stopped, and cannot have his way, it becometh adust, and thereby malign and venomous.
SIR FRANCIS BACON
"Of Ambition", Essays, or Counsels Civil and Moral
Ambition is an uncomfortable companion many times. He creates a discontent with present surroundings and achievements; he is never satisfied but always pressing forward to better things in the future. Restless, energetic, purposeful, it is ambition that makes of the creature a real man.
LYNDON B. JOHNSON
The (Southwest Texas State) College Star, June 19, 1929
An ambition which has conscience in it will always be a laborious and faithful engineer, and will build the road, and bridge the chasms between itself and eminent success by the most faithful and minute performances of duty.
HENRY WARD BEECHER
Life Thoughts
Ambition is all very well, my lad, but you must cloak it.
JONATHAN STROUD
The Amulet of Samarkand
Ambition displeases when it has been sated ... having reached the peak, it aspires to descend.
PIERRE CORNEILLE
Cinna
If you're like me, accolades make you want more accolades. Though responsible for great success and progress, ambition can also cause feelings of worthlessness, mania and anxiety.... At its worst, ambition mirrors the sick cycle of addiction.
CAROLINE BEATON
"Addicted To Ambition: 3 Ways Millennials Can Manage Their Stress", Forbes, February 10, 2016
The topic of ambition is especially relevant in a world in which personal achievement, power and fame are prized above everything else. But at what price?
TOM SCHAEFER
"The many faces of ambition -- is it a virtue or vice?", The Wichita Eagle, February 14, 2016
Ambition is but Avarice on stilts and masked.
WALTER SAVAGE LANDOR
Imaginary Conversations
Ambition! We must be careful what we mean by it. If it means the desire to get ahead of other people -- which is what I think it does mean -- then it is bad. If it means simply wanting to do a thing well, then it is good. It isn't wrong for an actor to want to act his part as well as it can possibly be acted, but the wish to have his name in bigger type than the other actors is a bad one.
C. S. LEWIS
God in the Dock
Ambition is like choler; which is an humor that maketh men active, earnest, full of alacrity, and stirring, if it be not stopped. But if it be stopped, and cannot have his way, it becometh a dust, and thereby malign and venomous. So ambitious men, if they find the way open for their rising, and still get forward, they are rather busy than dangerous; but if they be checked in their desires, they become secretly discontent, and look upon men and matters with an evil eye, and are best pleased, when things go backward; which is the worst property in a servant of a prince, or state.
FRANCIS BACON
"Of Ambition", The Essays or Counsels, Civil and Moral
It seems idle to rail at ambition merely because it is a boundless passion; or rather is not this circumstance an argument in its favor? If one would be employed or amused through life, should we not make choice of a passion that will keep one long in play?
WILLIAM SHENSTONE
Essays on Men and Manners
Selfish ambition is idolatry and self-worship.
DAN DUMAS
Live Smart: Preparing for the Future God Wants for You
On what strange stuff ambition feeds!
ELIZA COOK
Thomas Hood
The burden of ambition is the strain of seeking approval. It is the taxing effort to earn the envy of others, many of whom are in competition with us. It is the weight of self-imposed anxiety over the recognition we believe is due us. The burden of ambition is the back-breaking labor required to maintain our place on the record board and defend it against all comers. It is the grief we feel when someone else matches or surpasses our achievement.
JOHN KOESSLER
The Radical Pursuit of Rest: Escaping the Productivity Trap
A man without ambition is worse than dough that has no yeast in it to raise it.
HENRY WARD BEECHER
Proverbs from Plymouth Pulpit
Few are more unhappy than those who have great ambition, but little energy to urge it into activity.
NORMAN MACDONALD
Maxims and Moral Reflections
There was no more dangerous kind of madman than one who devoted a good brain and a courageous heart to unhealthy ambitions.
MICHAEL MOORCOCK
The City in the Autumn Stars
Ambition is a dream with a V8 engine.
ELVIS PRESLEY
attributed, "The many faces of ambition -- is it a virtue or vice?", The Wichita Eagle, February 14, 2016
Ambition is the ecclesiastical lust.
DANIEL NOONAN
The Passion of Fulton Sheen
With the ambitious, the failure of one expedient is the suggestion of another; but with the irresolute, defeat usually occasions abandonment of purpose.
NORMAN MACDONALD
Maxims and Moral Reflections