--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Some of the best of us are quite…" description: "\"“Some of the best of us are quite unambitious.”\" — Anthony Powell" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3c4/anthony-powell-2659_ambition_some-of-the-best-of-us-are-quite-unambit_183351.jpg" --- # Some of the best of us are quite unambitious. ![“Some of the best of us are quite unambitious.” quote by Anthony Powell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3c4/anthony-powell-2659_ambition_some-of-the-best-of-us-are-quite-unambit_183351.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3c4/anthony-powell-2659_ambition_some-of-the-best-of-us-are-quite-unambit_183351.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3c4/anthony-powell-2659_ambition_some-of-the-best-of-us-are-quite-unambit_183351.jpg) > ““Some of the best of us are quite unambitious.”” [Anthony Powell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-powell/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Observes that many talented individuals lack ambition, suggesting a paradox of ability versus drive. **In simple terms:** Even the best can be unambitious. Key Takeaway Cultivate ambition alongside talent. Themes talent ambition paradox Mood thoughtful motivational Type observational philosophical When to use this quote - goal setting - mentorship - self‑motivation - creative pursuits Key Concepts psychology career development Questions to Reflect On - What fuels your ambition? - How can you inspire drive in others? A Different Perspective Ambition may be suppressed by fear or complacency. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Ambition](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ambition/) [Unambitious](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/unambitious/) ## Related quotes > [“no best is quite so good you don't conceive a better; 5”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-e-cummings/no-best-is-quite-so-good-you-don-t-conceive-a-better-5/) [e. e. cummings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-e-cummings/) > [To appear unambitious amongst the ambitious is to invite loathing or fear. To be in the game, but not playing with intent to win,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/josephine-hart/to-appear-unambitious-amongst-the-ambitious-is-to-invite-loathing-or/) [Josephine Hart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/josephine-hart/) > [We need more true mystery in our lives Hem- he said. The completely unambitious writer and the really good unpublished poem are the things…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/we-need-more-true-mystery-in-our-lives-hem-he-said-the-completely/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [“The completely unambitious writer and the really good unpublished poem are the things we lack most at this time. There is, of course, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hemingway-ernest/the-completely-unambitious-writer-and-the-really-good-unpublished/) [Hemingway Ernest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hemingway-ernest/) > [I've been accused of being unambitious, but what I do takes up every minute. I'm executive producer, I'm a writer and the host.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-colbert/i-ve-been-accused-of-being-unambitious-but-what-i-do-takes-up-every/) [Stephen Colbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-colbert/) > [I'm an unambitious politician.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jyotiraditya-madhavrao-scindia/i-m-an-unambitious-politician/) [Jyotiraditya Madhavrao Scindia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jyotiraditya-madhavrao-scindia/) > [I am the most chilled out, non-competitive and unambitious girl.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayesha-takia/i-am-the-most-chilled-out-non-competitive-and-unambitious-girl/) [Ayesha Takia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayesha-takia/) > [“This was my modest dream come true: unambitious flight. The kind that never even got high enough for a view.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lorrie-moore/this-was-my-modest-dream-come-true-unambitious-flight-the-kind-that/) [Lorrie Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lorrie-moore/) > [I have no other view than to promote the public good, and am unambitious of honors not founded in the approbation of my Country.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-washington/i-have-no-other-view-than-to-promote-the-public-good-and-am/) [George Washington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-washington/) > [“Don't hang out with people who are: Ungrateful Unhelpful Unruly Unkindly Unloving Unambitious Unmotivated or make you feel... Uncomfortable”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/germany-kent/don-t-hang-out-with-people-who-are-ungrateful-unhelpful-unruly/) [Germany Kent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/germany-kent/) > [If we accept being talked to any kind of a way, then we are telling ourselves we are not quite worth the best. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/if-we-accept-being-talked-to-any-kind-of-a-way-then-we-are-telling/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) > [There's no way a director can communicate with every single person on the set and yet they need to motivate and instill an ambition…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathleen-kennedy/there-s-no-way-a-director-can-communicate-with-every-single-person-on/) [Kathleen Kennedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathleen-kennedy/) > [Our world is drowning in a sea of self-centeredness. You can make yourself quite unique right away by leaving this ocean of selfishness and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-bytheway/our-world-is-drowning-in-a-sea-of-self-centeredness-you-can-make/) [John Bytheway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-bytheway/) > [I don't mind positive criticism, but when it is negative and personal, it is quite hard.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/inzamam-ul-haq/i-don-t-mind-positive-criticism-but-when-it-is-negative-and-personal/) [Inzamam-ul-Haq](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/inzamam-ul-haq/) > [I do try and keep my scripts quite economical.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leigh-whannell/i-do-try-and-keep-my-scripts-quite-economical/) [Leigh Whannell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leigh-whannell/) ## More by Anthony Powell > [I was impressed for the ten thousandth time by the fact that literature illuminates life only for those to whom books are a necessity.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-powell/i-was-impressed-for-the-ten-thousandth-time-by-the-fact-that/) [Anthony Powell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-powell/) > [“Like everything that's any good, it has about twenty different meanings.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-powell/like-everything-that-s-any-good-it-has-about-twenty-different-meanings/) [Anthony Powell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-powell/) > [“I have absolutely no histrionic talent, none at all, a constitutional handicap in almost all undertakings of life;but then, after all, plenty of actors…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-powell/i-have-absolutely-no-histrionic-talent-none-at-all-a-constitutional/) [Anthony Powell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-powell/) > [“The crematorium was a blaze of sunshine.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-powell/the-crematorium-was-a-blaze-of-sunshine/) [Anthony Powell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-powell/) > [Parents. . . are sometimes a bit of a disappointment to their children. They don't fulfil the promise of their early years.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-powell/parents-are-sometimes-a-bit-of-a-disappointment-to-their-children/) [Anthony Powell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-powell/) > [“Her expression was oafish, but it was on the whole this quality that gave her face a certain retentive efficacy. She had the look…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-powell/her-expression-was-oafish-but-it-was-on-the-whole-this-quality-that/) [Anthony Powell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-powell/) > [“Enormous simplifications were possibly necessary to carry a deeper truth than lay on the surface of a mass of unsorted detail.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-powell/enormous-simplifications-were-possibly-necessary-to-carry-a-deeper/) [Anthony Powell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-powell/) > [“I hate anything superficial. But I will take the book and look at it, and tell you what I think of the writing.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-powell/i-hate-anything-superficial-but-i-will-take-the-book-and-look-at-it/) [Anthony Powell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-powell/) > [“It is rather an occasion, darling,’ said Moreland, vexed at these objections. ‘After all, I am noted among composers for the smallness of my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-powell/it-is-rather-an-occasion-darling-said-moreland-vexed-at-these/) [Anthony Powell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-powell/) > [“There seemed no particular object in avoiding banality from the start, as the evening showed every sign of developing into a banal one.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-powell/there-seemed-no-particular-object-in-avoiding-banality-from-the-start/) [Anthony Powell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-powell/) > [Dinner at the Huntercombes possessed only two dramatic features: the wine was a farce and the food a tragedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-powell/dinner-at-the-huntercombes-possessed-only-two-dramatic-features-the/) [Anthony Powell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-powell/) > [“Even then I did not recognise the quest for power.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-powell/even-then-i-did-not-recognise-the-quest-for-power/) [Anthony Powell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-powell/) > [One passes through the world knowing few, if any, of the important things about even the people with whom one has been from time…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-powell/one-passes-through-the-world-knowing-few-if-any-of-the-important/) [Anthony Powell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-powell/) > [“He stood pondering this flat, forthright declaration of anti-simianism on Miss Weedon’s part. The notion that some people might not like monkeys was evidently…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-powell/he-stood-pondering-this-flat-forthright-declaration-of-anti-simianism/) [Anthony Powell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-powell/) > [“His mastery of the hard-luck story was of a kind never achieved by persons not wholly concentrated on themselves.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-powell/his-mastery-of-the-hard-luck-story-was-of-a-kind-never-achieved-by/) [Anthony Powell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-powell/) [Explore all 156 Anthony Powell quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-powell/) ## More Ambition quotes > [Ambition drives you on, ability certainly helps, but the fickle finger of fate and luck are great things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fergus-henderson/ambition-drives-you-on-ability-certainly-helps-but-the-fickle-finger/) [Fergus Henderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fergus-henderson/) > [One needs more than ambition and talent to make a success of anything, really. There must be love and a vocation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jessye-norman/one-needs-more-than-ambition-and-talent-to-make-a-success-of-anything/) [Jessye Norman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jessye-norman/) > [I just think my own ambition would not allow me to sit on the gifts that my creator had given me. And so that's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janelle-monae/i-just-think-my-own-ambition-would-not-allow-me-to-sit-on-the-gifts/) [Janelle Monae](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janelle-monae/) > [A man's worth is no greater than the worth of his ambitions](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/a-man-s-worth-is-no-greater-than-the-worth-of-his-ambitions/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I'm hungry and ambitious.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julen-lopetegui/i-m-hungry-and-ambitious/) [Julen Lopetegui](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julen-lopetegui/) > [“I was ambitious and desperate to direct my first film, so I capitulated and blew it. Never again. Never fucking again.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/craig-ferguson/i-was-ambitious-and-desperate-to-direct-my-first-film-so-i/) [Craig Ferguson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/craig-ferguson/) > [I was always attracted most to joining City, and I am pleased to be at such a good club with such a big ambition…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edin-dzeko/i-was-always-attracted-most-to-joining-city-and-i-am-pleased-to-be-at/) [Edin Dzeko](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edin-dzeko/) > [Work towards your goal and dont watch the post size,its either they hate,or like you.there is no room for both sides.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-buabeng/work-towards-your-goal-and-dont-watch-the-post-size-its-either-they/) [Isaac Buabeng](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-buabeng/) > [“But young men have not only this frivolous ambition of being thought masters of execution, inciting them on the one hand, but also their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/but-young-men-have-not-only-this-frivolous-ambition-of-being-thought/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I almost never have a plan for myself... I'm not ambitious in that way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martha-plimpton/i-almost-never-have-a-plan-for-myself-i-m-not-ambitious-in-that-way/) [Martha Plimpton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martha-plimpton/) > [I play for high stakes and given an audience - there is no act too daring or too noble.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winston-churchill/i-play-for-high-stakes-and-given-an-audience-there-is-no-act-too/) [Winston Churchill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winston-churchill/) > [There's nothing worse than a leader who lacks ambition.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/there-s-nothing-worse-than-a-leader-who-lacks-ambition/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [If i can't even protect my captain's dream, then whatever ambition i have is nothing but talk..](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zoro/if-i-can-t-even-protect-my-captain-s-dream-then-whatever-ambition-i/) [Zoro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zoro/) > [It may seem unattainable but if you put actions, your heart and your mind into it, you will prevail.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/london-mond/it-may-seem-unattainable-but-if-you-put-actions-your-heart-and-your/) [London Mond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/london-mond/) > [Obligation is what's leading us to toward successful, and what keeps us moving towards the future.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wazim-shaw/obligation-is-what-s-leading-us-to-toward-successful-and-what-keeps/) [Wazim Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wazim-shaw/) [Browse all 4,601 Ambition quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ambition/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Some of the best of us are quite unambitious.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Anthony Powell" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-powell/some-of-the-best-of-us-are-quite-unambitious/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Ambition" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-powell/some-of-the-best-of-us-are-quite-unambitious/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3c4/anthony-powell-2659_ambition_some-of-the-best-of-us-are-quite-unambit_183351.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3c4/anthony-powell-2659_ambition_some-of-the-best-of-us-are-quite-unambit_183351.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3c4/anthony-powell-2659_ambition_some-of-the-best-of-us-are-quite-unambit_183351.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Some of the best of us are quite unambitious.” — Anthony Powell", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Anthony Powell", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-powell/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“Some of the best of us...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-powell/some-of-the-best-of-us-are-quite-unambitious/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-powell/some-of-the-best-of-us-are-quite-unambitious/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```