Quotes About Ambition

The only answer a truly dedicated writer has to "What are your best books (or stories)?" is "My second best is the one I'm writing now, and my best is the one I'll be writing next.

It happens that way when a man strives to become the centre of attention, to bring sensational news somewhere.

Happy people are ignoramuses and glory is nothing else but success, and to achieve it one only has to be cunning.

How many people, in the beginning of life, think they will finish it as Alexander the Great or Lord Byron, and instead, retain for the whole of their existence, the rank of titulary counsellor?

It means what you are, wanting what you want and going after it without a sens od shame. People are slaves to rules.

A young woman forced to keep drunks supplied with beer and siblings with clean underwear -instead of being allowed to pursue something higher- stores up great reserves of vitality, a vitality never dreamed of by university students yawning over their books.

Anyone whose goal is 'something higher' must expect someday to suffer vertigo.

Tous les hommes politiques d'aujourd'hui, selon Pontevin, sont un peu danseurs, et tous les danseurs se mêlent de politique, ce qui, toutefois, ne devrait pas nous amener à les confondre. Le danseur se distingue de l'homme politique ordinaire en ceci qu'il ne désire pas le pouvoir mais la gloire ; il ne désire pas imposer au monde telle ou telle organisation sociale (il s'en soucie comme d'une guigne) mais occuper la scène pour faire rayonner son moi.

People fascinated by the idea of progress never suspect that every step forward is also a step on the way to the end and that behind all the joyous 'onward and upward' slogans lurks the lascivious voice of death urging us to make haste.

We can never know what to want, because, living only one life, we can neither compare it with our previous lives nor perfect it in our lives to come

le but que l'on poursuit est toujours voilé. Une jeune fille qui a envie de se marier a envie d'une chose qui lui est tout à fait inconnue. Le jeune homme qui court après la gloire n'a aucune idée de ce qu'est la gloire. Ce qui donne un sens à notre conduite nous est toujours totalement inconnu. (partie III, ch. 10)

Chi tende continuamente verso l'alto deve aspettarsi, prima o poi, di essere colto dalla vertigine.

B?t c? ai có ý ??nh mu?n vÆ°Æ¡n lên tá»›i cái gì cao hÆ¡n ??u ph?i tiên li?u ngày nào Ä'ó s? m?c ph?i c?n b?nh s? hãi Ä'á»™ cao.

He was not at all sure he was doing the right thing, but he was sure he was doing what he wanted to do.

Franz could not accept that the fact that the glory of the Grand March was equal to the comic vanity of its marchers.

Aquel que quiere permanentemente «llegar más alto» tiene que contar con que algún día le invadirá el vértigo.

La meta che l'uomo persegue è sempre velata. La ragazza che desidera il matrimonio desidera qualcosa di cui non sa nulla. Il giovane che brama la gloria non ha alcuna idea di cosa sia questa gloria. Ciò che dà un senso al nostro comportamento è sempre qualcosa che ci è completamente sconosciuto.

Anyone whose goal is 'something higher' must expect some day to suffer vertigo. What is vertigo? Fear of falling? Then why do we feel it even when the observation tower comes equipped with a sturdy handrail? No, vertigo is something other than the fear of falling. It is the voice of the emptiness below us which tempts and lures us, it is the desire to fall, against which, terrified, we defend ourselves.

battles over job and career, over every picture published. She had never been ambitious out of vanity. All she ever wanted was to escape from her mother's world. Yes, she saw it with absolute clarity: no matter how enthusiastic she was about taking pictures, she could just as easily have turned her enthusiasm to any other endeavour. Photography was nothing but a way of getting at 'something higher' and living beside Thomas.

The goals we pursue are always veiled.

Bernard ansiaba ser siempre el que hace las preguntas y no el que tiene que responderlas. La fama le corresponde siempre al que responde, no al que pregunta. La cara del que responde está iluminada por los reflectores, mientras que el que pregunta es filmado desde atrás.

Menschen, die vom Fortschrittsgedanken fasziniert sind, ahnen nicht, dass uns jeder Schritt vorwärts zugleich dem Ende näher bringt und in den Parolen immer weiter und vorwärts die laszive Stimme des Todes mitschwingt, die uns zur Eile drängt.

Nunca fora ambiciosa por vaidade. Tudo o que queria era escapar ao mundo da mãe

Seluruh kisah cintanya dengan orang-orang ternama (dia sama sekali tidak tertarik pada selain mereka) semata-mata hanyalah sebuah trampolin di mana dia menjatuhkan diri dengan seluruh tubuhnya agar terlontar jauh ke ketinggian di mana Tuhan jelmaan sejarah tinggal.