---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I had ambitions to set out and find, like…"
description: "\"I had ambitions to set out and find, like an odyssey or going home somewhere, set out to find this home that I'd left a while back and couldn't remembe..."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a80/bob-dylan-168_ambition_i-had-ambitions-to-set-out-and-find-like_703324.jpg"
---

#  I had ambitions to set out and find, like an odyssey or…

![“I had ambitions to set out and find, like an odyssey or going home somewhere, set out to find this home that I'd left a while back and couldn't remember exactly where it was, but I was on my way there. And encountering what I encountered on the way was how I envisioned it all. I didn't really have…” quote by Bob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a80/bob-dylan-168_ambition_i-had-ambitions-to-set-out-and-find-like_703324.jpg)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a80/bob-dylan-168_ambition_i-had-ambitions-to-set-out-and-find-like_703324.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a80/bob-dylan-168_ambition_i-had-ambitions-to-set-out-and-find-like_703324.jpg)

> “I had ambitions to set out and find, like an odyssey or going home somewhere, set out to find this home that I'd left a while back and couldn't remember exactly where it was, but I was on my way there. And encountering what I encountered on the way was how I envisioned it all. I didn't really have any ambition at all. I was born very far from where I'm supposed to be, and so, I'm on my way home, you know?”

[Bob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-dylan/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

The speaker reflects on a journey of self‑discovery, realizing that the true destination is an inner sense of belonging rather than external ambition.

**In simple terms:** Finding home within oneself.

Key Takeaway

Seek inner purpose, not external goals.

Themes

self‑discovery journey belonging

Mood

reflective nostalgic

Type

personal philosophical

When to use this quote

- career transitions
- personal growth
- spiritual seeking
- relocation
- creative projects

Key Concepts

identity existential quest

Questions to Reflect On

- What does “home” mean to you?
- How can you balance wandering with obligations?

A Different Perspective

The narrative may romanticize wandering, overlooking practical responsibilities.

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[Ambition](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ambition/) [Ambitions](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ambitions/) [Going home](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/going-home/) [Home](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/home/) [Motivation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/motivation/) [Odyssey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/odyssey/)

## Related quotes

> [Basically you have to suppress your own ambitions in order to be who you need to be.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-dylan/basically-you-have-to-suppress-your-own-ambitions-in-order-to-be-who/)

[Bob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-dylan/)

> [“I was born very far from where I'm supposed to be, and so I'm on my way home.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-dylan/i-was-born-very-far-from-where-i-m-supposed-to-be-and-so-i-m-on-my/)

[Bob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-dylan/)

> [There is no way, absolutely no way, that I would want people to stop reading the 'Odyssey.' But I want them to read it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-beard/there-is-no-way-absolutely-no-way-that-i-would-want-people-to-stop/)

[Mary Beard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-beard/)

> [The right sort of gossip is a charming and stimulating thing. The Odyssey itself is simply glorious gossip, and the same may be said…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-e-buckrose/the-right-sort-of-gossip-is-a-charming-and-stimulating-thing-the/)

[J. E. Buckrose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-e-buckrose/)

> [I read the Odyssey because it was the story of a man who returned home after being absent for more than twenty years and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guillermo-cabrera-infante/i-read-the-odyssey-because-it-was-the-story-of-a-man-who-returned/)

[Guillermo Cabrera Infante](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guillermo-cabrera-infante/)

> [If you take 2001: A Space Odyssey as an example of somebody who creates a new language in film by what he was able…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-modine/if-you-take-2001-a-space-odyssey-as-an-example-of-somebody-who/)

[Matthew Modine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-modine/)

> [“And so my Odyssey begins...”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vardan-partamyan/and-so-my-odyssey-begins/)

Vardan Partamyan

> [Every great literature has always been allegorical - allegorical of some view of the whole universe. The 'Iliad' is only great because all life…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-k-chesterton/every-great-literature-has-always-been-allegorical-allegorical-of/)

[Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/)

> [The book of 'The Hobbit' was given to me to read by a friend of my mother when I was about 12 years old:…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/conan-stevens/the-book-of-the-hobbit-was-given-to-me-to-read-by-a-friend-of-my/)

[Conan Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/conan-stevens/)

> [Poems are language turned into art; sound and sense matter; they can be as long or longer than The Odyssey or as short or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/campbell-mcgrath/poems-are-language-turned-into-art-sound-and-sense-matter-they-can-be/)

[Campbell McGrath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/campbell-mcgrath/)

> [“The Odyssey was written by Homer, or another Greek of the same name.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/the-odyssey-was-written-by-homer-or-another-greek-of-the-same-name/)

[Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/)

> [What do you think you're doing?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-aaronovitch/what-do-you-think-you-re-doing/)

[Ben Aaronovitch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-aaronovitch/)

> ['The Odyssey' is a great poem to refugee-dom... Odysseus is not entirely a refugee... he's somebody who's blown off course. The entire book is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lawrence-osborne/the-odyssey-is-a-great-poem-to-refugee-dom-odysseus-is-not-entirely-a/)

[Lawrence Osborne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lawrence-osborne/)

> [The Iliad is only great because all life is a battle, The Odyssey because all life is a journey, The Book of Job because…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-iliad-is-only-great-because-all-life-is-a-battle-the-odyssey/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [“Where we sail and anchor our heart fill up the multitude odyssey paving to the coming home of our soul.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angelica-hopes/where-we-sail-and-anchor-our-heart-fill-up-the-multitude-odyssey/)

[Angelica Hopes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angelica-hopes/)

## More by Bob Dylan

> [The hollow horn plays wasted words, proves to warn that he not busy being born is busy dying.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-dylan/the-hollow-horn-plays-wasted-words-proves-to-warn-that-he-not-busy/)

[Bob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-dylan/)

> [Don't forget to support your public library.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-dylan/don-t-forget-to-support-your-public-library/)

[Bob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-dylan/)

> [You don't count the dead, when god's on your side.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-dylan/you-don-t-count-the-dead-when-god-s-on-your-side/)

[Bob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-dylan/)

> [She makes love just like a woman.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-dylan/she-makes-love-just-like-a-woman/)

[Bob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-dylan/)

> [Silvio, I gotta go, find out something only dead men know.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-dylan/silvio-i-gotta-go-find-out-something-only-dead-men-know/)

[Bob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-dylan/)

> [I don't really have a retirement plan.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-dylan/i-don-t-really-have-a-retirement-plan/)

[Bob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-dylan/)

> [Just a reminder, if you tell anyone about what happened with Jonah last night, I'll destroy all of my writing and never play music…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-dylan/just-a-reminder-if-you-tell-anyone-about-what-happened-with-jonah/)

[Bob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-dylan/)

> [Little red wagon, little red bike, I ain’t no monkey but I know what I like.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-dylan/little-red-wagon-little-red-bike-i-ain-t-no-monkey-but-i-know-what-i/)

[Bob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-dylan/)

> [Twenty years of schooling and they put you on the day shift - look out out kid, they keep it all hid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-dylan/twenty-years-of-schooling-and-they-put-you-on-the-day-shift-look-out/)

[Bob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-dylan/)

> [The drunken politician leaps upon the street where mothers weep, and the saviors who are fast asleep, they wait for you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-dylan/the-drunken-politician-leaps-upon-the-street-where-mothers-weep-and/)

[Bob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-dylan/)

> [Your eyes are like two jewels in the sky.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-dylan/your-eyes-are-like-two-jewels-in-the-sky/)

[Bob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-dylan/)

> [I gotta friend who spends his life, stabbing my picture with a bowie knife. Dreams of strangling me with a scarf, when my name…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-dylan/i-gotta-friend-who-spends-his-life-stabbing-my-picture-with-a-bowie/)

[Bob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-dylan/)

> [She speaks with a stutter and she and she walks with a hop. I don't know why I love her, but I just can't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-dylan/she-speaks-with-a-stutter-and-she-and-she-walks-with-a-hop-i-don-t/)

[Bob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-dylan/)

> [The man in the coon skin cap in the pig pen wants eleven dollar bills, you've only got ten.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-dylan/the-man-in-the-coon-skin-cap-in-the-pig-pen-wants-eleven-dollar-bills/)

[Bob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-dylan/)

> [Don't put my faith in nobody, not even a scientist.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-dylan/don-t-put-my-faith-in-nobody-not-even-a-scientist/)

[Bob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-dylan/)

[Explore all 1,018 Bob Dylan quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-dylan/)

## 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/)

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