Do good by stealth, and blush to find it fame.
Alexander PopeRead
Ambition first sprung from your blest abodes: the glorious fault of angels and of gods.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Ambition is a powerful drive that originates from high ideals, often revered but also seen as a flaw in both divine and mortal realms.
In this quote, Alexander Pope reflects on the nature of ambition, suggesting that it has its roots in exalted places associated with divine beings. While ambition can lead to greatness, it is also described as a 'glorious fault', highlighting the duality of this drive, which can inspire both admirable achievements and potential downfalls, depending on how it is pursued.
Themes
AmbitionAspirationSuccessDivineDrive
In practice
Example use cases
During a motivational speech to inspire students at a graduation ceremony.
More from Alexander Pope
All quotes βWhat dire offence from am'rous causes springs, What mighty contests rise from trivial things.
Alexander PopeRead
Fair tresses man's imperial race ensnare; And beauty draws us with a single hair.
Alexander PopeRead
An honest man's the noblest work of God.
Alexander PopeRead
One thought of thee puts all the pomp to flight;_x000D_ _x000D_ Priests, tapers, temples, swim before my sight.
Alexander PopeRead
Who breaks a butterfly on a wheel?
Alexander PopeRead
Similar quotes
If we are ever in doubt about what to do, it is a good rule to ask ourselves what we shall wish on the morrow that we had done.
John LubbockRead
Mock mockers after that That would not lift a hand maybe To help good, wise or great To bar that foul storm out, for we Traffic in mockery.
William Butler YeatsRead
What I fear and desire most in this world is passion. I fear it because it promises to be spontaneous, out of my control, unnamed, beyond my reasonable self. I desire it because passion has color, like the landscape before me. It is not pale. It is not neutral. It reveals the backside of the heart.
Terry Tempest WilliamsRead
Don't appear so scholarly, pray. Humanize your talk, and speak to be understood.
MoliereRead
The people with very hard problems are understood by God. He knows what wretched machines they are trying to drive. Some day he will fling them away and give those people new ones; then they may astonish everyone, for they learned their driving in a hard school. Some of the last will be first and some of the first will be last.
C. S. LewisRead
Wish and learn to smooth away the surly wrinkles, to raise your lids frankly, and change the fiends to confident, innocent angels, suspecting and doubting nothing, and always seeing friends where they are not sure of foes.
Emily BronteRead