--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The main threads running through the…" description: "\"The main threads running through the lives of W. A. Clark and his daughter Huguette include the costs of ambition, the burdens of inherited wealth, the..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/afc/bill-dedman-3519_ambition_the-main-threads-running-through-the-liv_1499620.jpg" --- # The main threads running through the lives of W. A. Clark… ![“The main threads running through the lives of W. A. Clark and his daughter Huguette include the costs of ambition, the burdens of inherited wealth, the fragility of reputation, the folly of judging someone's life from the outside, and the tension between engaging with the world, with all its…” quote by Bill Dedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/afc/bill-dedman-3519_ambition_the-main-threads-running-through-the-liv_1499620.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/afc/bill-dedman-3519_ambition_the-main-threads-running-through-the-liv_1499620.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/afc/bill-dedman-3519_ambition_the-main-threads-running-through-the-liv_1499620.jpg) > “The main threads running through the lives of W. A. Clark and his daughter Huguette include the costs of ambition, the burdens of inherited wealth, the fragility of reputation, the folly of judging someone's life from the outside, and the tension between engaging with the world, with all its risks, and keeping a safe distance from danger.” [Bill Dedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-dedman/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The narrative explores how ambition, inherited wealth, reputation, and external judgment shape lives, balancing risk engagement with safety. **In simple terms:** Ambition, wealth, and reputation affect life choices and risk. Key Takeaway Weigh ambition against risk and reputation. Themes ambition wealth reputation risk family social perception Mood analytical thoughtful Type narrative explanatory When to use this quote - career planning - family estate decisions - public relations - personal development Key Concepts inheritance social judgment personal growth Questions to Reflect On - How do you balance personal ambition with family expectations? - When should you prioritize safety over risk? A Different Perspective External judgments can misrepresent true motives and complexities. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Ambition](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ambition/) [Burdens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/burdens/) [Children](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/children/) [Costs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/costs/) [Danger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/danger/) [Daughter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/daughter/) [Folly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/folly/) [Fragility](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fragility/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Reputation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reputation/) [Risks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/risks/) [Running](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/running/) [Tension](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tension/) [Wealth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wealth/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) ## Related quotes > [We look at life from the back side of the tapestry. And most of the time, what we see is loose threads, tangled knots…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-piper/we-look-at-life-from-the-back-side-of-the-tapestry-and-most-of-the/) [John Piper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-piper/) > [History is not ended. It will sooner or later take up the threads apparently broken off forever and knit them together in a new…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rudolf-hess/history-is-not-ended-it-will-sooner-or-later-take-up-the-threads/) [Rudolf Hess](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rudolf-hess/) > [Baseball consists of a million threads of dullness, on a loom of ennui, woven into a tapestry of tedium.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-rushin/baseball-consists-of-a-million-threads-of-dullness-on-a-loom-of-ennui/) [Steve Rushin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-rushin/) > [“The threads can always be traced back to some earlier tale, and to the tales that preceded that:”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-threads-can-always-be-traced-back-to-some-earlier-tale-and-to-the/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“I’m just saying there are threads, okay? Threads in our lives. You pull one, and everything else gets affected.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dennis-lehane/i-m-just-saying-there-are-threads-okay-threads-in-our-lives-you-pull/) [Dennis Lehane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dennis-lehane/) > [I think our lives are connected by threads. We're weaving our own quilts as we go along and it has been my experience that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathy-garver/i-think-our-lives-are-connected-by-threads-we-re-weaving-our-own/) Kathy Garver > [Whenever you're writing a book or creating a movie or a game, your first task is to get the reader/audience/player to suspend disbelief, to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-a-salvatore-2/whenever-you-re-writing-a-book-or-creating-a-movie-or-a-game-your-2/) [R. A. Salvatore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-a-salvatore-2/) > [The madhouse is in a lot of places, not just a hospital, not just a palace, but also a pattern woven from threads so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-madhouse-is-in-a-lot-of-places-not-just-a-hospital-not-just-a/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [My right to be me is tied with a thousand threads to your right to be you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leslie-feinberg/my-right-to-be-me-is-tied-with-a-thousand-threads-to-your-right-to-be/) [Leslie Feinberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leslie-feinberg/) > [Each and every event in the past is connected to the present by invisible threads.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/momofuku-ando/each-and-every-event-in-the-past-is-connected-to-the-present-by/) [Momofuku Ando](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/momofuku-ando/) > [“Threads that are golden don't break easily.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tori-amos/threads-that-are-golden-don-t-break-easily/) [Tori Amos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tori-amos/) > [“The threads of problems dangled in front of me, and I tried to think of a way to weave them into a solution. I”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kiran-millwood-hargrave/the-threads-of-problems-dangled-in-front-of-me-and-i-tried-to-think/) Kiran Millwood Hargrave > [For a lot of people, 4chan is their tree house - they go there to hang out. You can actually see the culture shift…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-poole/for-a-lot-of-people-4chan-is-their-tree-house-they-go-there-to-hang/) [Christopher Poole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-poole/) > [“From every book invisible threads reach out to other books; and as the mind comes to use and control those threads the whole panorama…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-e-haines/from-every-book-invisible-threads-reach-out-to-other-books-and-as-the/) Helen E. Haines > [If POSIX threads are a good thing, perhaps I don't want to know what they're better than.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rob-pike/if-posix-threads-are-a-good-thing-perhaps-i-don-t-want-to-know-what/) [Rob Pike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rob-pike/) ## More by Bill Dedman > [NBC News found that FEMA has redrawn maps even for properties that have repeatedly filed claims for flood losses from previous storms. At least…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-dedman/nbc-news-found-that-fema-has-redrawn-maps-even-for-properties-that/) [Bill Dedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-dedman/) > [Huguette Clark has had her own tax liens - four times, the IRS has filed to collect taxes from her.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-dedman/huguette-clark-has-had-her-own-tax-liens-four-times-the-irs-has-filed/) [Bill Dedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-dedman/) > [At one point, Sarah Palin sent her husband instructions to stock up on 'fresh fruit and veggies' for the kids, and 'as little processed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-dedman/at-one-point-sarah-palin-sent-her-husband-instructions-to-stock-up-on/) [Bill Dedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-dedman/) > [In New York, FEMA granted the Mamaroneck Beach & Yacht Club's request to be remapped from the high-risk flood zone in August 2012 -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-dedman/in-new-york-fema-granted-the-mamaroneck-beach-yacht-club-s-request-to/) [Bill Dedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-dedman/) > [Wal-Mart has always paid low wages, or, as Sam Walton put it, 'as little as we could get by with at the time.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-dedman/wal-mart-has-always-paid-low-wages-or-as-sam-walton-put-it-as-little/) [Bill Dedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-dedman/) > [Less than a year after the Sept. 11 attacks, al-Qaida attacks were continuing: the firebombing of a synagogue in Tunisia in April, a bomb…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-dedman/less-than-a-year-after-the-sept-11-attacks-al-qaida-attacks-were/) [Bill Dedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-dedman/) > [The Manhattan district attorney has closed the well-publicized investigation of the handling of the $300 million fortune of reclusive heiress Huguette Clark - without…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-dedman/the-manhattan-district-attorney-has-closed-the-well-publicized/) [Bill Dedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-dedman/) > [Mohammed al-Qahtani was not alleged to be a leader of the Sept. 11 plot. He was not trained as a pilot. If he was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-dedman/mohammed-al-qahtani-was-not-alleged-to-be-a-leader-of-the-sept-11/) [Bill Dedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-dedman/) > [If he is convicted, Dr. Kevorkian says he will die a martyr's death by going on a hunger strike.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-dedman/if-he-is-convicted-dr-kevorkian-says-he-will-die-a-martyr-s-death-by/) [Bill Dedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-dedman/) > [In votes cast, Latinos have increased to five million in the 1996 Presidential election, up from two million in the 1976 election. The number…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-dedman/in-votes-cast-latinos-have-increased-to-five-million-in-the-1996/) [Bill Dedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-dedman/) > [Lie detectors sometimes work because people believe they work, deterring the wrong people from applying for jobs in the first place, or prompting admissions…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-dedman/lie-detectors-sometimes-work-because-people-believe-they-work/) [Bill Dedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-dedman/) > [Each year, at the typical nuclear reactor in the U.S., there's a 1 in 74,176 chance of an earthquake strong enough to cause damage…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-dedman/each-year-at-the-typical-nuclear-reactor-in-the-u-s-there-s-a-1-in-74/) [Bill Dedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-dedman/) > [It may be no surprise that Pittsburgh has direct flights to London, Paris and Frankfurt, but consider this: many of the tourists here have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-dedman/it-may-be-no-surprise-that-pittsburgh-has-direct-flights-to-london/) [Bill Dedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-dedman/) > [More than 30 of America's 100 nuclear power reactors have the same brand of General Electric reactors or containment system used in Fukushima.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-dedman/more-than-30-of-america-s-100-nuclear-power-reactors-have-the-same/) [Bill Dedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-dedman/) > [While the House of Blues slogan has been 'In blues we trust,' its stages are usually filled with more reliable moneymakers - Neil Diamond…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-dedman/while-the-house-of-blues-slogan-has-been-in-blues-we-trust-its-stages/) [Bill Dedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-dedman/) [Explore all 128 Bill Dedman quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-dedman/) ## 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": "The main threads running through the lives of W. 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