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[A]mbition should be spoken of as not the last, but the first infirmity of noble minds, of which they gradually purge themselves as they grow more mature.

— Alfred Austin In Veronica's Garden (1895)

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Ambition

More quotes by Alfred Austin

Hospitality should be accidental, spontaneous, and impulsive, not pre-arranged and calculated.

Haunts of Ancient Peace (1902)

Women are more frequently charming than men, because they are less self-conscious.

The Garden That I Love: Second Series (1907)

Whatever else he may do, a critic reveals and criticises himself.

In Veronica's Garden (1895)

Show me your garden, provided it be your own, and I will tell you what you are like.

The Garden That I Love (1894)

Once learn how Nature gardens for herself, and you will be able to spare yourself a good deal of trouble.

The Garden That I Love (1894)

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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: Alfred Austin (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.