--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: All ambitions are lawful except those…" description: "\"All ambitions are lawful except those which climb upward on the miseries or credulities of mankind.\" — Joseph Conrad" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/56f/joseph-conrad-336_ambition_all-ambitions-are-lawful-except-those-wh_984820.jpg" --- # All ambitions are lawful except those which climb upward… ![“All ambitions are lawful except those which climb upward on the miseries or credulities of mankind.” quote by Joseph Conrad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/56f/joseph-conrad-336_ambition_all-ambitions-are-lawful-except-those-wh_984820.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/56f/joseph-conrad-336_ambition_all-ambitions-are-lawful-except-those-wh_984820.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/56f/joseph-conrad-336_ambition_all-ambitions-are-lawful-except-those-wh_984820.jpg) > “All ambitions are lawful except those which climb upward on the miseries or credulities of mankind.” [Joseph Conrad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-conrad/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Ambitions that exploit others' suffering or gullibility are immoral. **In simple terms:** Exploiting others' pain is wrong. Key Takeaway Avoid harming others for personal gain. Themes ethics ambition exploitation Mood reflective serious Type ethical philosophical When to use this quote - politics - business - personal goals - social movements Key Concepts moral philosophy human dignity Questions to Reflect On - How do you ensure your goals respect others? - What defines a just ambition? A Different Perspective Power can be justified by self‑interest, blurring moral lines. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Ambition](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ambition/) [Ambitions Lawful](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ambitions-lawful-1978861/) [Climbs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/climbs/) [Credulities Mankind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/credulities-mankind-1978862/) [Credulity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/credulity/) [Feet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/feet/) [Lawful Climb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lawful-climb-1978865/) [Mankind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mankind/) [Miseries Credulities](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/miseries-credulities-1978864/) [Misery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/misery/) [Upward Miseries](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/upward-miseries-1978863/) ## Related quotes > [All ambitions are lawful except those which climb upward upon the miseries and credulities of mankind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-conrad/all-ambitions-are-lawful-except-those-which-climb-upward-upon-the/) [Joseph Conrad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-conrad/) > [All ambitions are lawful except those that climb upward on the miseries or credulities of mankind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-ward-beecher/all-ambitions-are-lawful-except-those-that-climb-upward-on-the/) [Henry Ward Beecher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-ward-beecher/) > [All ambitions are lawful except those which climb upward on the miseries or credulities of mankind. All intellectual and artistic ambitions are permissible, up…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-conrad/all-ambitions-are-lawful-except-those-which-climb-upward-on-the-2/) [Joseph Conrad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-conrad/) > [There is no credulity so eager and blind as the credulity of covetousness, which, in its universal extent, measures the moral misery and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-conrad/there-is-no-credulity-so-eager-and-blind-as-the-credulity-of/) [Joseph Conrad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-conrad/) > [Credulity is the man's weakness, but the child's strength.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/credulity-is-the-man-s-weakness-but-the-child-s-strength/) [Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) > [If I could do just one thing, it would be to dissociate faith from virtue, now and for good, and to expose it for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hitchens/if-i-could-do-just-one-thing-it-would-be-to-dissociate-faith-from/) [Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/) > [Fear, if it be not immoderate, puts a guard about us that does watch and defend us; but credulity keeps us naked, and lays…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/owen-feltham/fear-if-it-be-not-immoderate-puts-a-guard-about-us-that-does-watch/) [Owen Feltham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/owen-feltham/) > [What the light of your mind, which is the direct inspiration of the Almighty, pronounces incredible, that, in God's name, leave uncredited. At your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-carlyle/what-the-light-of-your-mind-which-is-the-direct-inspiration-of-the/) [Thomas Carlyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-carlyle/) > [The New Age movement looks like a mixed bag. I see much in it that seems good: It's optimistic; it's enthusiastic; it has the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/huston-smith/the-new-age-movement-looks-like-a-mixed-bag-i-see-much-in-it-that/) [Huston Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/huston-smith/) > [Cunning has effect from the credulity of others, rather than from the abilities of those who are cunning. It requires no extraordinary talents to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/cunning-has-effect-from-the-credulity-of-others-rather-than-from-the/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [Hatred as well as love, renders its votaries credulous.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/hatred-as-well-as-love-renders-its-votaries-credulous/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Her expression was oafish, but it was on the whole this quality that gave her face a certain retentive efficacy. She had the look…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-powell/her-expression-was-oafish-but-it-was-on-the-whole-this-quality-that/) [Anthony Powell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-powell/) > [Gullibility and credulity are considered undesireable qualities in every department of human life - except religion ... Why are we praised by godly men…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hitchens/gullibility-and-credulity-are-considered-undesireable-qualities-in/) [Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/) > [Credulity is belief in slight evidence, with no evidence, or against evidence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tryon-edwards/credulity-is-belief-in-slight-evidence-with-no-evidence-or-against/) [Tryon Edwards](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tryon-edwards/) > [One would think that a system loaded with such gross and vulgar absurdities as Scripture religion is could never have obtained credit; yet we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-paine/one-would-think-that-a-system-loaded-with-such-gross-and-vulgar/) [Thomas Paine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-paine/) ## More by Joseph Conrad > [“Hunters for gold or pursuers of fame, they all had gone out on that stream, bearing the sword, and often the torch, messengers of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-conrad/hunters-for-gold-or-pursuers-of-fame-they-all-had-gone-out-on-that/) [Joseph Conrad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-conrad/) > [The good author is he who contemplates without marked joy or excessive sorrow the adventures of his soul amongst criticisms.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-conrad/the-good-author-is-he-who-contemplates-without-marked-joy-or/) [Joseph Conrad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-conrad/) > [“Let the earth and the sea each have its own.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-conrad/let-the-earth-and-the-sea-each-have-its-own/) [Joseph Conrad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-conrad/) > [He hated all this, and somehow he couldn't get away.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-conrad/he-hated-all-this-and-somehow-he-couldn-t-get-away/) [Joseph Conrad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-conrad/) > [“A fool, what with sheer fright and fine sentiments, is always safe.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-conrad/a-fool-what-with-sheer-fright-and-fine-sentiments-is-always-safe/) [Joseph Conrad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-conrad/) > [“The mind of man is capable of anything-because everything is in it, all the past as well as all the future. What was there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-conrad/the-mind-of-man-is-capable-of-anything-because-everything-is-in-it/) [Joseph Conrad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-conrad/) > [Few men realize that their life, the very essence of their character, their capabilities and their audacities, are only the expression of their belief…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-conrad/few-men-realize-that-their-life-the-very-essence-of-their-character/) [Joseph Conrad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-conrad/) > [“Perhaps on some quiet night the tremor of far-off drums, sinking, swelling, a tremor vast, faint; a sound weird, appealing, suggestive and wild -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-conrad/perhaps-on-some-quiet-night-the-tremor-of-far-off-drums-sinking/) [Joseph Conrad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-conrad/) > [“All that mysterious life of the wilderness that stirs in the forest, in the jungles, in the hearts of wild men.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-conrad/all-that-mysterious-life-of-the-wilderness-that-stirs-in-the-forest/) [Joseph Conrad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-conrad/) > [“The fascination of the abomination—you know.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-conrad/the-fascination-of-the-abomination-you-know/) [Joseph Conrad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-conrad/) > [It's only those who do nothing that make no mistakes, I suppose.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-conrad/it-s-only-those-who-do-nothing-that-make-no-mistakes-i-suppose/) [Joseph Conrad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-conrad/) > [“Thieving was not a sheer absurdity. It was a form of human industry, perverse indeed, but still an industry exercised in an industrious world;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-conrad/thieving-was-not-a-sheer-absurdity-it-was-a-form-of-human-industry/) [Joseph Conrad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-conrad/) > [I found myself back in the sepulchral city resenting the sight of people hurrying through the streets to filch a little money from each…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-conrad/i-found-myself-back-in-the-sepulchral-city-resenting-the-sight-of/) [Joseph Conrad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-conrad/) > [Society was calling to its accomplished child to come, to be taken care of, to be instructed, to be judged, to be condemned; it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-conrad/society-was-calling-to-its-accomplished-child-to-come-to-be-taken/) [Joseph Conrad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-conrad/) > [I was constantly watching myself, my secret self, as dependent on my actions as my own personality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-conrad/i-was-constantly-watching-myself-my-secret-self-as-dependent-on-my/) [Joseph Conrad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-conrad/) [Explore all 645 Joseph Conrad quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-conrad/) ## 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": "All ambitions are lawful except those which climb upward on the miseries or credulities of mankind.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Joseph Conrad" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-conrad/all-ambitions-are-lawful-except-those-which-climb-upward-on-the/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Ambition" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-conrad/all-ambitions-are-lawful-except-those-which-climb-upward-on-the/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/56f/joseph-conrad-336_ambition_all-ambitions-are-lawful-except-those-wh_984820.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/56f/joseph-conrad-336_ambition_all-ambitions-are-lawful-except-those-wh_984820.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/56f/joseph-conrad-336_ambition_all-ambitions-are-lawful-except-those-wh_984820.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“All ambitions are lawful except those which climb upward on the miseries or credulities of mankind.” — Joseph Conrad", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Joseph Conrad", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-conrad/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "All ambitions are lawful except those...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-conrad/all-ambitions-are-lawful-except-those-which-climb-upward-on-the/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-conrad/all-ambitions-are-lawful-except-those-which-climb-upward-on-the/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```