Quotes About Ambition

Ah, but a man's reach should exceed his grasp, Or what's a heaven for?

Look not thou down but up!

He ventured neck or nothing—heaven's successFound, or earth's failure.

What I aspired to be,And was not, comforts me.

'Tis not what man does which exalts him, but what man would do!

Like dogs in a wheel, birds in a cage, or squirrels in a chain, ambitious men still climb and climb, with great labor, and incessant anxiety, but never reach the top.

Fail I alone, in words and deeds? Why, all men strive and who succeeds?

Ambition is not what man does... but what man would do.

Ah, but a man's reach should exceed his grasp, Or what's a heaven for?

In this world, who can do a thing, will not; And who would do it, cannot, I perceive: Yet the will's somewhat — somewhat, too, the power — And thus we half-men struggle.

God knows, I'm no the thing I should be,Nor am I even the thing I could be.

Set a beggar on horseback and he will ride a gallop.

Every man for himself, his own ends, the Devil for all.

[Ambitious men] may not cease, but as a dog in a wheel, a bird in a cage, or a squirrel in a chain, so Budaeus compares them; they climb and climb still, with much labour, but never make an end, never at the top.

If you have no dreams, you shall live within them

A promising young man should go into politics so that he can go on promising for the rest of his life.

There is no indication that he thought of himself as a "machine politician" in our sense of that phrase.

Before long, however, Djugashvili was organizing one or more new study circles of which he himself was the mentor.[129] Again, a quality by which he was distinguished in later years—the urge for personal power—was finding expression in the seminary period.

I wanted to sell tomorrow to the highest bidder and settle down forever in July second.

The person who is obviously angling for money or other material reward can only repel. If that is your intention, if you are looking for something other than pleasure—for money, for power—never show it. The suspicion of an ulterior motive is anti-seductive. Never let anything break the illusion.

Lola pushed aside the sentries and entered his room anyway. In the process, the front of her dress somehow got torn (perhaps by her, perhaps by one of the sentries), and to the astonishment of all, most especially the king, her bare breasts were brazenly exposed. Lola was granted her audience with Ludwig. Fifty-five hours later she made her debut on the Bavarian stage; the reviews were terrible, but that did not stop Ludwig from arranging more performances.

The character you seem to have been born with is not necessarily who you are… The Promethean task of the powerful is to remake yourself into a character of power. Working on yourself like clay should be one of your greatest and most pleasurable life tasks. It makes you in essence an artist - an artist creating yourself.

Through our work and through getting what we need on our own, without depending on others, we can stand tall and realize our potential as humans.

50 Cent is a master player at power, a kind of hip-hop Napoleon Bonaparte.