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My principal motive is the belief that we can still make admirable sense of our lives even if we cease to have … "an ambition of transcendence."

— Richard Rorty

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Ambition

More quotes by Richard Rorty

To abjure the notion of the "truly human" is to abjure the attempt to divinize the self as a replacement for a divinized world.

Contingency, Irony, and Solidarity (1989)

The usual picture of Socrates is of an ugly little plebeian who inspired a handsome young nobleman to write long dialogues on large topics.

Contingency, Irony, and Solidarity (1989)

National pride is to countries what self-respect is to individuals: a necessary condition for self-improvement.

Philosophy makes progress not by becoming more rigorous but by becoming more imaginative.

There is nothing deep down inside us except what we have put there ourselves.

Consequences of Pragmatism (1982)

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Men accept servility in order to acquire wealth; as if they could acquire anything of their own when they cannot even assert that they belong to themselves.

Étienne de La Boétie Discourse on Voluntary Servitude (1548)

To rank the effort above the prize may be called love.

Confucius

The poor, by thinking unceasingly of money, reach the point of losing the spiritual advantages of non-possession, thereby sinking as low as the rich.

Emil Cioran The Trouble With Being Born (1973)

A wise man is cured of ambition by ambition itself; his aim is so exalted that riches, office, fortune, and favor cannot satisfy him.

Jean de La Bruyère Les Caractères (1688)

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Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Richard Rorty (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.