--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: From my boyhood I have had an intense and…" description: "\"“From my boyhood I have had an intense and overwhelming conviction that my real vocation lay in the direction of literature. I have, however, had a mos..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8ca/arthur-conan-doyle-273_ambition_from-my-boyhood-i-have-had-an-intense-an_2149817.jpg" --- # From my boyhood I have had an intense and overwhelming… ![“From my boyhood I have had an intense and overwhelming conviction that my real vocation lay in the direction of literature. I have, however, had a most unaccountable difficulty in getting any responsible person to share my views. - Cyprian Overbeck Wells: A Literary Mosaic” quote by Arthur Conan Doyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8ca/arthur-conan-doyle-273_ambition_from-my-boyhood-i-have-had-an-intense-an_2149817.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8ca/arthur-conan-doyle-273_ambition_from-my-boyhood-i-have-had-an-intense-an_2149817.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8ca/arthur-conan-doyle-273_ambition_from-my-boyhood-i-have-had-an-intense-an_2149817.jpg) > ““From my boyhood I have had an intense and overwhelming conviction that my real vocation lay in the direction of literature. I have, however, had a most unaccountable difficulty in getting any responsible person to share my views. - Cyprian Overbeck Wells: A Literary Mosaic ”” [Arthur Conan Doyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-conan-doyle/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. He believes his true calling is literature but struggles to find peers who share his perspective **In simple terms:** He feels isolated in his literary passion Key Takeaway Pursue writing despite lack of support Themes literature solitude determination Mood thoughtful determined Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - writing a novel - joining writer’s groups - seeking mentorship - publishing essays Key Concepts creative vocation intellectual isolation Questions to Reflect On - What drives your commitment to literature? - How can you build a supportive literary community? A Different Perspective Finding like‑minded collaborators can be difficult ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Ambition](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ambition/) [Authorship](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/authorship/) [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Failure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/failure/) [Faith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/faith/) [Literary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/literary/) [Literature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/literature/) [Rejection](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rejection/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [Momentum, in literary mosaic, derives not from narrative but from the subtle, progressive buildup of thematic resonances.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-shields/momentum-in-literary-mosaic-derives-not-from-narrative-but-from-the/) [David Shields](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-shields/) > [It's perfectly possible to spend forty hours a week on a job that's meaningless, as long as you know what your real vocation is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-keen/it-s-perfectly-possible-to-spend-forty-hours-a-week-on-a-job-that-s/) [Sam Keen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-keen/) > [No matter what I try to do or explore, my Kirov training, my expertise, and my background call me to return to dancing after…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mikhail-baryshnikov/no-matter-what-i-try-to-do-or-explore-my-kirov-training-my-expertise/) [Mikhail Baryshnikov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mikhail-baryshnikov/) > [Marriage is the real vocation crisis in the United States... We have a vocation crisis to life-long, life-giving, loving, faithful marriage. If we take…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-m-dolan/marriage-is-the-real-vocation-crisis-in-the-united-states-we-have-a/) [Timothy M. Dolan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-m-dolan/) > [I used to feel that I wouldn't be able to marry, since I am not a responsible person. I love two things - my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kapil-sharma/i-used-to-feel-that-i-wouldn-t-be-able-to-marry-since-i-am-not-a/) [Kapil Sharma](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kapil-sharma/) > [As A Responsible Person, We Should Never Permit Ourselves To Do Anything That We Are Not Willing To See Our Children Do.. Remember, You…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pacifiersucker/as-a-responsible-person-we-should-never-permit-ourselves-to-do/) Pacifiersucker > [... what we should be looking for is fresh ideas of how we make moral decisions about our dealings with one another, economic, social,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/davis-mccaughey/what-we-should-be-looking-for-is-fresh-ideas-of-how-we-make-moral/) Davis McCaughey > [“A teacher might be the only “responsible citizen” the student interacts with. It is important to show how a responsible adult acts. 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Thus the Jews were “a chosen nation,” “the elect.” Thus also in the NT, bodies…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/merrill-f-unger/privileges-with-reference-to-the-performance-of-special-services-thus/) Merrill F. Unger > [Responsible persons are mature people who have taken charge of themselves and their conduct, who own their actions and own up to them--who answer…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-bennett/responsible-persons-are-mature-people-who-have-taken-charge-of/) [William Bennett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-bennett/) ## More by Arthur Conan Doyle > [“shattered the bone and grazed the subclavian artery. I”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-conan-doyle/shattered-the-bone-and-grazed-the-subclavian-artery-i/) [Arthur Conan Doyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-conan-doyle/) > [My mind rebels at stagnation. Give me problems, give me work, give me the most abstruse cryptogram, or the most intricate analysis, and I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-conan-doyle/my-mind-rebels-at-stagnation-give-me-problems-give-me-work-give-me/) [Arthur Conan Doyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-conan-doyle/) > [...it was a huge creature, luminous, ghastly, and spectral. I have cross-examined these men, one of them a hard-headed countryman, one a farrier, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-conan-doyle/it-was-a-huge-creature-luminous-ghastly-and-spectral-i-have-cross/) [Arthur Conan Doyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-conan-doyle/) > [“A study in scarlet, eh? Why shouldn't we use a little art jargon. 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I ejaculated.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-conan-doyle/wonderful-i-ejaculated/) [Arthur Conan Doyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-conan-doyle/) > [Amberley excelled at chess - a mark, Watson, of a scheming mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-conan-doyle/amberley-excelled-at-chess-a-mark-watson-of-a-scheming-mind/) [Arthur Conan Doyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-conan-doyle/) > [Ex-Professor Moriarty of mathematical celebrity... is the Napoleon of crime, Watson.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-conan-doyle/ex-professor-moriarty-of-mathematical-celebrity-is-the-napoleon-of/) [Arthur Conan Doyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-conan-doyle/) > [“When a doctor does go wrong, he is the first of criminals. He has the nerve and he has the knowledge.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-conan-doyle/when-a-doctor-does-go-wrong-he-is-the-first-of-criminals-he-has-the/) [Arthur Conan Doyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-conan-doyle/) > [“How small we feel with our petty ambitions and strivings in the presence of the great elemental forces of Nature!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-conan-doyle/how-small-we-feel-with-our-petty-ambitions-and-strivings-in-the/) [Arthur Conan Doyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-conan-doyle/) > [You wish to put me in the dark. I tell you that I will never be put in the dark. You wish to beat…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-conan-doyle/you-wish-to-put-me-in-the-dark-i-tell-you-that-i-will-never-be-put-in/) [Arthur Conan Doyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-conan-doyle/) > [“My mind," he said, "rebels at stagnation. Give me problems, give me work, give me the most abstruse cryptogram or the most intricate analysis,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-conan-doyle/my-mind-he-said-rebels-at-stagnation-give-me-problems-give-me-work/) [Arthur Conan Doyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-conan-doyle/) > [“It is hard luck on a young fellow to have expensive tastes, great expectations, aristocratic connections but no actual money in his pocket, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-conan-doyle/it-is-hard-luck-on-a-young-fellow-to-have-expensive-tastes-great/) [Arthur Conan Doyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-conan-doyle/) > [“In the year 1878 I took my degree of Doctor of Medicine of the University of London, and proceeded to Netley to go through…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-conan-doyle/in-the-year-1878-i-took-my-degree-of-doctor-of-medicine-of-the/) [Arthur Conan Doyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-conan-doyle/) [Explore all 740 Arthur Conan Doyle quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-conan-doyle/) ## 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": "“From my boyhood I have had an intense and overwhelming conviction that my real vocation lay in the direction of literature. 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