"There is a secret pride in every human heart that revolts at tyranny. You may order and drive an individual, but you cannot make him respect you."

Ambition

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Thematic Reflection

This quotation examines the core nature of Ambition as articulated by William Hazlitt. Within historical and literary traditions, reflections on Ambition provide actionable mental models, challenging individuals to evaluate personal ethics, self-discipline, and daily actions.

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About William Hazlitt

William Hazlitt was an English essayist, drama and literary critic, painter, social commentator, and philosopher. He is now considered one of the greatest critics and essayists in the history of the English language, placed in the company of Samuel Johnson and George Orwell. He is also acknowledged as the finest art critic of his age. Despite his high standing among historians of literature and art, his work is currently little read and mostly out of print.

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More by William Hazlitt

"Grace in women has more effect than beauty."

— William Hazlitt
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"Rules and models destroy genius and art."

— William Hazlitt
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"The seat of knowledge is in the head of wisdom, in the heart. We are sure to judge wrong, if we do not feel right."

— William Hazlitt
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"Those who are at war with others are not at peace with themselves."

— William Hazlitt
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More about Ambition

"I'm deeply ambitious and I always have been."

— Hayley Atwell
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"When two people first meet, they can only have a very ordinary kind of friendship. But when you begin to understand each other, when you get close to them, you discover that you're suddenly eager to know him or her even better."

— Zhang Ziyi
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"We continue to recognize the greater ability of some to earn more than others. But we do assert that the ambition of the individual to obtain for him a proper security is an ambition to be preferred to the appetite for great wealth and great power."

— Franklin D. Roosevelt
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"Ambition - it is the last infirmity of noble minds."

— James M. Barrie
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