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If you wish to reach the highest, begin at the lowest.

— Publilius Syrus

Si vis ad summum progredi ab infimo ordire.

Original text (Latin)

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Ambition

More quotes by Publilius Syrus

Confession of our faults is the next thing to innocence.

Conversation is the image of the mind; as the man, so is his speech.

Pardon one offence and you encourage the commission of many.

The judge is condemned when the guilty is acquitted.

It is a bad plan that admits of no modification.

All Publilius Syrus quotes →

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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.

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