Ambition Quote by Christopher Hitchens
““The high ambition, therefore, seems to me to be this: That one should strive to combine the maximum of impatience with the maximum of skepticism, the maximum of hatred of injustice and irrationality with the maximum of ironic self-criticism. This would mean really deciding to learn from history rather than invoking or sloganising it.””
About This Quote
Source Essay: “The High Ambition” (unpublished), 2005
He advocates combining impatience, skepticism, and hatred of injustice with ironic self‑criticism to truly learn from history.
In simple terms: Blend urgency, doubt, and self‑irony to avoid repeating past mistakes.
Key Takeaway
Cultivate critical, self‑aware activism.
Themes
history
activism
critical thinking
self‑reflection
Mood
thought‑provoking
serious
Type
philosophical
motivational
When to use this quote
- political analysis
- education reform
- social movements
Key Concepts
skepticism
irony
ethical urgency
Questions to Reflect On
- How can one balance irony with earnest action?
- What safeguards prevent cynicism from stalling progress?
A Different Perspective
Overemphasis on irony can dilute sincere commitment.
![“Science in England is not a profession: its cultivators are scarcely recognised even as a class. Our language itself contains no single term by which their occupation can be expressed. We borrow a foreign word [Savant] from another country whose high ambition it is to advance science, and whose…” quote by Charles Babbage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/b12/charles-babbage-8461_accord_science-in-england-is-not-a-profession-i_256777.jpg)
![“It's [Los Angeles] mostly full of nonsense and delusion and egomania. They think they'll be young and beautiful forever, even though most of them aren't even young and beautiful now.” quote by Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/a86/christopher-hitchens-117_beautiful_it-s-los-angeles-mostly-full-of-nonsense_10462.jpg)
![“[Religion] attacks us in our deepest integrity - the core of our self-respect. Religion says that we would not know right from wrong, we would not know an evil, wicked act from a decent human act without divine permission, without divine authority or without, even worse, either the fear of a…” quote by Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/ab6/christopher-hitchens-117_action_religion-attacks-us-in-our-deepest-integ_23299.jpg)
