Quotes About Ambition

Golden apples are beautiful–I remember the lawless days of boyhood, when orchards in crimson and gold tempted me over fence and field–and, too, the merchant who has dethroned the planter is no despicable parvenu.

Alas, with the years all this fine contempt began to fade; for the words I longed for, and all their dazzling opportunities, were theirs, not mine. But they should not keep these prizes, I said; some, all, I would wrest from them. Just how I would do it I could never decide: by reading law, by healing the sick, by telling the wonderful tales that swam in my head,—some way.

Four things make life worthy to most men: to move, to know, to love, to aspire.

There is no force equal to a woman determined to rise.

How much better it would be if they weren't so damn understanding--if they kicked me out of the house. To find yourself out in the street with two dollars to your name, to catch the streetcar downtown and get a job, perhaps as an airline stewardess. Think how wonderful it would be to fly to Houston and back three times a week for the next twenty years. You think I'm kidding? I'm not. It would be wonderful.

you can advance only by more than filling your present place.

Do not wait for an opportunity to be all that you want to be.

Let us die trying.

If it was true that the meek were going to inherit the earth, then Ma was going to be a Rockefeller.

Have you surpassed the rest? Are you the president? It doesn't matter. They will more than arrive there, every one, and still pass on.

What is commonest, cheapest, nearest, easiest, is Me, Me going in for my chances, spending for vast returns, Adorning myself to bestow myself on the first that will take me, Not asking the sky to come down to my good will, Scattering it freely forever.

Speed on my book! spread your white sails my little bark athwart the       imperious waves

Eu intreb:Cine e cel ce-a trecut inainte? Pentru eu vreau sa trec si mai inainte!

Hard work by itself isn't worth two cents on a rainy day if it doesn't give you a good life.

I'm not out here looking for no garbage cans to curl up in. I'm looking for the same good dreams everybody else is hoping for, but I don't see where they are. Or maybe I see where they are, but I don't see how to get there.

What some people wanted was sometimes too hard to get, and the stress of trying was sometimes too hard to deal with... Maybe doing well in life was just too hard for some people.

That's what makes poor people poor...They're looking to find treasures instead of working and saving every day.

In a sane world, we would be heroes. Teachers would applaud as we walked into the school. There is the smart one, the one who wants to be a writer. And there is the runner.

He had the attitude that he could do anything, and therefore so can you. He put his life in my hands. So that made me do something I didn't think I could do.... If you trust him, you can do things. If he's decided that something should happen, then he's just going to make it happen. (Elizabeth Holmes)

On Startups: I hate it when people call themselves entrepreneurs when what they're really trying to do is launch a startup and then sell or go public, so they can cash in and move on.

Success breeds complacency. Complacency breeds failure. Only the paranoid survive.

Steve's head dropped and stared at his feet. After a weighty, uncomfortable pause, he issued a challenge that would haunt me for days. Do you want to spend the rest of your life selling sugared water, or do you want a chance to change the world? Sculley felt as if he had been punched in the stomach. There was no response possible other than to acquiesce. He had a uncanny ability to always get what he wanted, to size up a person and know exactly what to say to reach a person, Sculley recalled.

The goal was never to beat the competition, or to make a lot of money. It was to do the greatest thing possible, or even a little greater.

Everything you've ever done in your life is shit," Jobs said, "so why don't you come work for me?