--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: To appear unambitious amongst the…" description: "\"To appear unambitious amongst the ambitious is to invite loathing or fear. To be in the game, but not playing with intent to win, is to be the enemy.\" ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bc9/josephine-hart-17041_ambition_to-appear-unambitious-amongst-the-ambiti_3058126.png" --- # To appear unambitious amongst the ambitious is to invite… ![“To appear unambitious amongst the ambitious is to invite loathing or fear. To be in the game, but not playing with intent to win, is to be the enemy.” quote by Josephine Hart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bc9/josephine-hart-17041_ambition_to-appear-unambitious-amongst-the-ambiti_3058126.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bc9/josephine-hart-17041_ambition_to-appear-unambitious-amongst-the-ambiti_3058126.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bc9/josephine-hart-17041_ambition_to-appear-unambitious-amongst-the-ambiti_3058126.png) > “To appear unambitious amongst the ambitious is to invite loathing or fear. To be in the game, but not playing with intent to win, is to be the enemy.” [Josephine Hart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/josephine-hart/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Pretending to be modest while surrounded by driven people breeds resentment and makes you a threat to their success. **In simple terms:** Feigning modesty among high achievers creates hostility. Key Takeaway Be genuine and set clear intentions. Themes ambition authenticity social dynamics Mood reflective cautious Type advice observational When to use this quote - team projects - leadership roles - networking events - career advancement Key Concepts psychology status competition Questions to Reflect On - How do you balance humility with ambition? - What signals show genuine intent? A Different Perspective May be misinterpreted as arrogance if not communicated well. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Ambition](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ambition/) [Ambitious](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ambitious/) [Enemy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/enemy/) [Fear](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fear/) [Games](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/games/) [Unambitious](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/unambitious/) [Winning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/winning/) ## Related quotes > [To win against an enemy do the OPPOSITE of what they want you to do. Ignore them when they want a response and be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sonya-parker/to-win-against-an-enemy-do-the-opposite-of-what-they-want-you-to-do/) [Sonya Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sonya-parker/) > [You can win over your enemy by Love... But I say:- Love is the biggest enemy of life when it hurts...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/you-can-win-over-your-enemy-by-love-but-i-say-love-is-the-biggest/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Tennis is not a game. It's a sport and a puzzle, an endurance test. You do whatever you can to win. it has been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maria-sharapova/tennis-is-not-a-game-it-s-a-sport-and-a-puzzle-an-endurance-test-you/) [Maria Sharapova](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maria-sharapova/) > [Nature is your friend; it helps you to win. Your enemy will have unnatural movement, therefore you will be able to know what he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/masaaki-hatsumi/nature-is-your-friend-it-helps-you-to-win-your-enemy-will-have/) [Masaaki Hatsumi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/masaaki-hatsumi/) > [If you found really hard to win over your enemy even after several of tries, bow to him, accept your defeat by heart and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lucky-arora/if-you-found-really-hard-to-win-over-your-enemy-even-after-several-of/) [Lucky Arora](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lucky-arora/) > [We need more true mystery in our lives Hem- he said. The completely unambitious writer and the really good unpublished poem are the things…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/we-need-more-true-mystery-in-our-lives-hem-he-said-the-completely/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [“The completely unambitious writer and the really good unpublished poem are the things we lack most at this time. There is, of course, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hemingway-ernest/the-completely-unambitious-writer-and-the-really-good-unpublished/) [Hemingway Ernest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hemingway-ernest/) > [I've been accused of being unambitious, but what I do takes up every minute. I'm executive producer, I'm a writer and the host.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-colbert/i-ve-been-accused-of-being-unambitious-but-what-i-do-takes-up-every/) [Stephen Colbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-colbert/) > [I'm an unambitious politician.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jyotiraditya-madhavrao-scindia/i-m-an-unambitious-politician/) [Jyotiraditya Madhavrao Scindia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jyotiraditya-madhavrao-scindia/) > [I am the most chilled out, non-competitive and unambitious girl.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayesha-takia/i-am-the-most-chilled-out-non-competitive-and-unambitious-girl/) [Ayesha Takia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayesha-takia/) > [“This was my modest dream come true: unambitious flight. The kind that never even got high enough for a view.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lorrie-moore/this-was-my-modest-dream-come-true-unambitious-flight-the-kind-that/) [Lorrie Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lorrie-moore/) > [I have no other view than to promote the public good, and am unambitious of honors not founded in the approbation of my Country.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-washington/i-have-no-other-view-than-to-promote-the-public-good-and-am/) [George Washington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-washington/) > [“Don't hang out with people who are: Ungrateful Unhelpful Unruly Unkindly Unloving Unambitious Unmotivated or make you feel... Uncomfortable”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/germany-kent/don-t-hang-out-with-people-who-are-ungrateful-unhelpful-unruly/) [Germany Kent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/germany-kent/) > [“Some of the best of us are quite unambitious.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-powell/some-of-the-best-of-us-are-quite-unambitious/) [Anthony Powell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-powell/) > [My ambition is to one day shed my wardrobe and figure out how to look like Gilles Bensimon - or a famous stylist -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-finch/my-ambition-is-to-one-day-shed-my-wardrobe-and-figure-out-how-to-look/) [Charles Finch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-finch/) ## More by Josephine Hart > [Time, for a man who has never truly felt a second of it, it not a great sacrifice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/josephine-hart/time-for-a-man-who-has-never-truly-felt-a-second-of-it-it-not-a-great/) [Josephine Hart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/josephine-hart/) > [We do have choice, but not without some agony.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/josephine-hart/we-do-have-choice-but-not-without-some-agony/) [Josephine Hart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/josephine-hart/) > [A concealed truth, that's all a lie is. Either by omission or commission we never do more than obscure. The truth stays in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/josephine-hart/a-concealed-truth-that-s-all-a-lie-is-either-by-omission-or/) [Josephine Hart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/josephine-hart/) > [Poetry contains almost all you need to know about life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/josephine-hart/poetry-contains-almost-all-you-need-to-know-about-life/) [Josephine Hart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/josephine-hart/) > [“What really makes us is beyond grasping. It's way beyond knowing. We give in to love... because it gives us some sense of what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/josephine-hart/what-really-makes-us-is-beyond-grasping-it-s-way-beyond-knowing-we/) [Josephine Hart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/josephine-hart/) > [“She was the split-second experience that changes everything.; the car smash; the letter we shouldn't have opened; the lump in the breast or groin;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/josephine-hart/she-was-the-split-second-experience-that-changes-everything-the-car/) [Josephine Hart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/josephine-hart/) > [“There is an internal landscape, a geography of the soul: we search for its outlines all over our lives. Those who are lucky enough…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/josephine-hart/there-is-an-internal-landscape-a-geography-of-the-soul-we-search-for/) [Josephine Hart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/josephine-hart/) > [We say that life is sweet, its satisfactions deep. All this we say, as we sleepwalk our time through years of days and nights.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/josephine-hart/we-say-that-life-is-sweet-its-satisfactions-deep-all-this-we-say-as/) [Josephine Hart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/josephine-hart/) > [There is an eternal landscape, a geography of the soul; we search for its outline all our lives.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/josephine-hart/there-is-an-eternal-landscape-a-geography-of-the-soul-we-search-for/) [Josephine Hart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/josephine-hart/) > [Lucky people should hide. Pray the days of wrath do not visit their home.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/josephine-hart/lucky-people-should-hide-pray-the-days-of-wrath-do-not-visit-their/) [Josephine Hart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/josephine-hart/) > [Our sanity depends essentially on a narrowness of vision--the ability to select the elements vital to survival, while ignoring the great truths.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/josephine-hart/our-sanity-depends-essentially-on-a-narrowness-of-vision-the-ability/) [Josephine Hart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/josephine-hart/) > [“We learn from tragedy. Slowly.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/josephine-hart/we-learn-from-tragedy-slowly/) [Josephine Hart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/josephine-hart/) > [We are here to add to the sum of human goodness. To prove the thing exists.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/josephine-hart/we-are-here-to-add-to-the-sum-of-human-goodness-to-prove-the-thing/) [Josephine Hart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/josephine-hart/) > [“There was a full moon in the starless sky. I thought how rarely I had noticed such things. Some deep failure of the soul…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/josephine-hart/there-was-a-full-moon-in-the-starless-sky-i-thought-how-rarely-i-had/) [Josephine Hart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/josephine-hart/) > [Those who do not have imaginary conversations do not love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/josephine-hart/those-who-do-not-have-imaginary-conversations-do-not-love/) [Josephine Hart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/josephine-hart/) [Explore all 38 Josephine Hart quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/josephine-hart/) ## 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": "To appear unambitious amongst the ambitious is to invite loathing or fear. 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