--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I take no pride in hopeless longing; I…" description: "\"I take no pride in hopeless longing; I wouldn't hold a stillborn aspiration. I'd want to have it, to make it, to live it.\" — Ayn Rand" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/401/ayn-rand-59_aspiration_i-take-no-pride-in-hopeless-longing-i-wo_3047981.jpg" --- # I take no pride in hopeless longing; I wouldn't hold a… ![“I take no pride in hopeless longing; I wouldn't hold a stillborn aspiration. I'd want to have it, to make it, to live it.” quote by Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/401/ayn-rand-59_aspiration_i-take-no-pride-in-hopeless-longing-i-wo_3047981.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/401/ayn-rand-59_aspiration_i-take-no-pride-in-hopeless-longing-i-wo_3047981.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/401/ayn-rand-59_aspiration_i-take-no-pride-in-hopeless-longing-i-wo_3047981.jpg) > “I take no pride in hopeless longing; I wouldn't hold a stillborn aspiration. I'd want to have it, to make it, to live it.” [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Desire for impossible goals is futile; true fulfillment comes from creating and living attainable aspirations. **In simple terms:** Don't chase hopeless dreams; create and live real goals. Key Takeaway Focus on achievable aspirations. Themes ambition creation realism Mood determined focused Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - career planning - entrepreneurship - personal projects - creative endeavors Key Concepts Objectivism self‑determination Questions to Reflect On - What tangible goal can you start today? - How do you differentiate hope from delusion? A Different Perspective Even realistic goals need perseverance and resources. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Aspiration](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/aspiration/) [Dreams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dreams/) [Longing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/longing/) [Nostalgia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nostalgia/) [Pride](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pride/) ## Related quotes > [“There is a hopeless longing for nostalgia that pervades the human soul, a return to the warm glow of remembrance or some imagined past.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deborah-l-norris/there-is-a-hopeless-longing-for-nostalgia-that-pervades-the-human/) Deborah L. Norris > [You need aspiration if you want to really achieve greatness in this world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-johnson/you-need-aspiration-if-you-want-to-really-achieve-greatness-in-this/) [Jack Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-johnson/) > [First you look for discipline and control. You want to exercise your will, bend the language your way, bend the world your way. You…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-delillo/first-you-look-for-discipline-and-control-you-want-to-exercise-your/) [Don DeLillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-delillo/) > [Come to me in my dreams, and then By day I shall be well again. 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Because by doing so, they also discourage the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kamand-kojouri/no-one-has-any-right-to-tell-you-that-the-way-you-perceive-yourself/) [Kamand Kojouri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kamand-kojouri/) > [The emerging church movement has come to believe that the ultimate context of the spiritual aspirations of a follower of Jesus Christ is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samir-selmanovic/the-emerging-church-movement-has-come-to-believe-that-the-ultimate/) [Samir Selmanovic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samir-selmanovic/) > [To refer even in passing to unpublished or struggling authors and their problems is to put oneself at some risk, so I will say…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kingsley-amis/to-refer-even-in-passing-to-unpublished-or-struggling-authors-and/) [Kingsley Amis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kingsley-amis/) ## More by Ayn Rand > [There are no white lies, there is only the blackest of destruction, and a white lie is the blackest of all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/there-are-no-white-lies-there-is-only-the-blackest-of-destruction-and/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [She watched the prairies the rivers, the towns slipping past at an untouchable distance below - and she noted that the sense of detachment…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/she-watched-the-prairies-the-rivers-the-towns-slipping-past-at-an/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [“This was reality, she thought, this sense of clear outlines, of purpose, of lightness, of hope.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/this-was-reality-she-thought-this-sense-of-clear-outlines-of-purpose/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [A “collective” mind does not exist. It is merely the sum of endless numbers of individual minds. If we have an endless number of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/a-collective-mind-does-not-exist-it-is-merely-the-sum-of-endless/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [Lobbying' is the activity of attempting to influence legislation by privately influencing the legislators. It is the result and creation of a mixed economy-of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/lobbying-is-the-activity-of-attempting-to-influence-legislation-by/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [“She moved her hand and let it rest against his. He did not withdraw his fingers and he did not pretend indifference. 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She thought: To find a feeling that would hold, as their sum, as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/there-was-still-one-response-the-greatest-that-she-had-missed-she/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [Inflation is not caused by the actions of private citizens, but by the government: by an artificial expansion of the money supply required to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/inflation-is-not-caused-by-the-actions-of-private-citizens-but-by-the/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [“We are fornicating in the sight of six billion people.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/we-are-fornicating-in-the-sight-of-six-billion-people/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [“She was fifteen when it occurred to her for the first time that women did not run railroads and that people might object. To…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/she-was-fifteen-when-it-occurred-to-her-for-the-first-time-that-women/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [Fransisco, you're some kind of very high nobility, aren't you?" He answered, "Not yet. The reason my family has lasted for such a long…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/fransisco-you-re-some-kind-of-very-high-nobility-aren-t-you-he/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [Have you felt it too? Have you seen how your best friends love everything about you- except the things that count? And your most…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/have-you-felt-it-too-have-you-seen-how-your-best-friends-love/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [Every coercive monopoly was created by government intervention into the economy: by special privileges, such as franchises or subsidies, which closed the entry of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/every-coercive-monopoly-was-created-by-government-intervention-into/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [We are all brothers under the skin - and I, for one, would be willing to skin humanity to prove it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/we-are-all-brothers-under-the-skin-and-i-for-one-would-be-willing-to/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) [Explore all 1,777 Ayn Rand quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) ## More Aspiration quotes > [To refer even in passing to unpublished or struggling authors and their problems is to put oneself at some risk, so I will say…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kingsley-amis/to-refer-even-in-passing-to-unpublished-or-struggling-authors-and/) [Kingsley Amis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kingsley-amis/) > [The emerging church movement has come to believe that the ultimate context of the spiritual aspirations of a follower of Jesus Christ is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samir-selmanovic/the-emerging-church-movement-has-come-to-believe-that-the-ultimate/) [Samir Selmanovic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samir-selmanovic/) > [“No one has any right to tell you that the way you perceive yourself is wrong. Because by doing so, they also discourage the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kamand-kojouri/no-one-has-any-right-to-tell-you-that-the-way-you-perceive-yourself/) [Kamand Kojouri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kamand-kojouri/) > [We were all children once. And we all share the desire for the well-being of our children, which has always been and will continue…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kofi-annan/we-were-all-children-once-and-we-all-share-the-desire-for-the-well/) [Kofi Annan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kofi-annan/) > [Noise has taken the place of punk rock. People who play noise have no real aspirations to being part of the mainstream culture. Punk…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thurston-moore/noise-has-taken-the-place-of-punk-rock-people-who-play-noise-have-no/) [Thurston Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thurston-moore/) > [“A responsible woman doesn’t see opportunities and needs and look the other way pretending not to see them rather she gets to work to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/agu-jaachynma-n-e/a-responsible-woman-doesn-t-see-opportunities-and-needs-and-look-the/) [Agu Jaachynma N.E](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/agu-jaachynma-n-e/) > [Our task today is to bring India to the threshold of the twenty-first century, free of burden of poverty, legacy of our colonial past,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajiv-gandhi/our-task-today-is-to-bring-india-to-the-threshold-of-the-twenty-first/) [Rajiv Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajiv-gandhi/) > [I know well, Monsieur, how much you have to endure in your present duty, and I ask Our Lord to strengthen you in your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vincent-de-paul/i-know-well-monsieur-how-much-you-have-to-endure-in-your-present-duty/) [Vincent de Paul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vincent-de-paul/) > [“Don't die without fulfilling your purpose.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jaachynma-n-e-agu/don-t-die-without-fulfilling-your-purpose/) [Jaachynma N.E. Agu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jaachynma-n-e-agu/) > [“Eschew evil and it's machinations.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jaachynma-n-e-agu/eschew-evil-and-it-s-machinations/) [Jaachynma N.E. Agu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jaachynma-n-e-agu/) > [ One of the great crimes of the Bloomberg/Klein administration \[in New York City\] is that they've removed themselves from communities, as if communities have… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-ayers/one-of-the-great-crimes-of-the-bloomberg-klein-administration-in-new/) [Bill Ayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-ayers/) > [You boys know what tropism is, it's what makes a plant grow toward the light. Everything aspires to the light. You don't have to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tobias-wolff/you-boys-know-what-tropism-is-it-s-what-makes-a-plant-grow-toward-the/) [Tobias Wolff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tobias-wolff/) > [The world of rumor and gossip is like a privileged world with which a social scientist or an anthropologist can take the temperature of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-c-scott/the-world-of-rumor-and-gossip-is-like-a-privileged-world-with-which-a/) [James C. Scott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-c-scott/) > [“Don't let any situation intimidate you anymore, don't accept defeat anymore.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jaachynma-n-e-agu/don-t-let-any-situation-intimidate-you-anymore-don-t-accept-defeat/) [Jaachynma N.E. Agu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jaachynma-n-e-agu/) > [The most important part of our lives-our sensations, emotions, desires, and aspirations-takes place in a universe of illusions which science can attenuate or destroy,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-wood-krutch/the-most-important-part-of-our-lives-our-sensations-emotions-desires/) [Joseph Wood Krutch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-wood-krutch/) [Browse all 1,137 Aspiration quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/aspiration/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I take no pride in hopeless longing; I wouldn't hold a stillborn aspiration. 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