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Vain the ambition of kings
Who seek by trophies and dead things
To leave a living name behind,
And weave but nets to catch the wind.

— John Webster The Devil's Law Case (1623)

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Ambition

More quotes by John Webster

Glories, like glow-worms, afar off shine bright,
But look'd too near have neither heat nor light.

The White Devil (1612)

I know death hath ten thousand several doors
For men to take their exits.

Duchess of Malfi (1623)

Cover her face; mine eyes dazzle: she died young.

Duchess of Malfi (1623)

Is not old wine wholesomest, old pippins toothsomest, old wood burn brightest, old linen wash whitest? Old soldiers, sweethearts, are surest, and old lovers are soundest.

Whether we fall by ambition, blood, or lust,
Like diamonds, we are cut with our own dust.

Duchess of Malfi (1623)

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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)

Attribution

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