--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The man of ambition thinks to find his…" description: "\"“The man of ambition thinks to find his good in the operations of others; the man of pleasure in his own sensations; but the man of understanding in hi..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b8d/marcus-aurelius-139_ambition_the-man-of-ambition-thinks-to-find-his-g_2208247.jpg" --- # The man of ambition thinks to find his good in the… ![“The man of ambition thinks to find his good in the operations of others; the man of pleasure in his own sensations; but the man of understanding in his own actions.” quote by marcus aurelius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b8d/marcus-aurelius-139_ambition_the-man-of-ambition-thinks-to-find-his-g_2208247.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b8d/marcus-aurelius-139_ambition_the-man-of-ambition-thinks-to-find-his-g_2208247.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b8d/marcus-aurelius-139_ambition_the-man-of-ambition-thinks-to-find-his-g_2208247.jpg) > ““The man of ambition thinks to find his good in the operations of others; the man of pleasure in his own sensations; but the man of understanding in his own actions.”” [marcus aurelius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-aurelius/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. People seek fulfillment differently: ambition looks to others, pleasure to sensations, true wisdom to personal deeds. **In simple terms:** Understanding comes from one’s own actions, not external sources. Key Takeaway Focus on personal growth through action. Themes wisdom self‑reliance fulivation Mood reflective determined Type philosophical motivational When to use this quote - career development - personal health - skill learning - relationship building Key Concepts Stoicism ethical conduct Questions to Reflect On - How can you measure success by your own deeds? - What actions reflect your deepest values? A Different Perspective Relying solely on external validation can hinder true insight. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Ambition](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ambition/) [Greatness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/greatness/) [Learning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/learning/) [Motivation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/motivation/) ## Related quotes > [Ambition thinks no face so beautiful as that which looks from under a crown.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-sidney/ambition-thinks-no-face-so-beautiful-as-that-which-looks-from-under-a/) [Philip Sidney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-sidney/) > [Through seven figures come sensations for a man; there is hearing for sounds, sight for the visible, nostril for smell, tongue for pleasant or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hippocrates/through-seven-figures-come-sensations-for-a-man-there-is-hearing-for/) [Hippocrates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hippocrates/) > [What a great thing is understanding! It is priceless. No man can give greater pleasure to his fellow man than by understanding him.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hazrat-inayat-khan/what-a-great-thing-is-understanding-it-is-priceless-no-man-can-give/) [Hazrat Inayat Khan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hazrat-inayat-khan/) > [It is no proof of a man's understanding to be able to affirm whatever he pleases; but to be able to discern that what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emanuel-swedenborg/it-is-no-proof-of-a-man-s-understanding-to-be-able-to-affirm-whatever/) [Emanuel Swedenborg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emanuel-swedenborg/) > [The Greatest Gift a man can have is an Understanding Woman in His Life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frenchqueen/the-greatest-gift-a-man-can-have-is-an-understanding-woman-in-his-life/) Frenchqueen > [The man of understanding finds everything laughable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/the-man-of-understanding-finds-everything-laughable/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [“There is a big difference between knowing and understanding. If I had a choice of being remembered as a knowledgeable or an understanding man,give…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rob-wood/there-is-a-big-difference-between-knowing-and-understanding-if-i-had/) [Rob Wood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rob-wood/) > [“The size of a man’s understanding may always be justly measured by his mirth.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/the-size-of-a-man-s-understanding-may-always-be-justly-measured-by/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [A man of understanding finds less difficulty in submitting to a wrong-headed fellow, than in attempting to set him right.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francois-de-la-rochefoucauld/a-man-of-understanding-finds-less-difficulty-in-submitting-to-a-wrong/) [Francois de La Rochefoucauld](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francois-de-la-rochefoucauld/) > [“The intellectual or logical man, rather than the understanding or observant man, set himself to imagine designs — to dictate purposes to God.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-allan-poe/the-intellectual-or-logical-man-rather-than-the-understanding-or/) [Edgar Allan Poe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-allan-poe/) > [It is absolutely impossible at the same time to be a man of understanding and not to be ashamed to gratify the body.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clement-of-alexandria/it-is-absolutely-impossible-at-the-same-time-to-be-a-man-of/) [Clement of Alexandria](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clement-of-alexandria/) > [The size of a man's understanding can be justly measured by his mirth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/the-size-of-a-man-s-understanding-can-be-justly-measured-by-his-mirth/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [“Nobody likes these things life hands us. But part of becoming a man is understanding how to face them head on instead of running…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mira-jacob/nobody-likes-these-things-life-hands-us-but-part-of-becoming-a-man-is/) [Mira Jacob](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mira-jacob/) > [“Mm, there was no need, but that s how the mind goes on working. The mind goes on creating troubles which are not needed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/osho/mm-there-was-no-need-but-that-s-how-the-mind-goes-on-working-the-mind/) [Osho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/osho/) > [The size of a man's understanding might always be justly measured by his mirth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/the-size-of-a-man-s-understanding-might-always-be-justly-measured-by/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) ## More by marcus aurelius > [A man should be upright, not kept upright.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-aurelius/a-man-should-be-upright-not-kept-upright/) [Marcus Aurelius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-aurelius/) > [Everything is mere opinion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-aurelius/everything-is-mere-opinion/) [Marcus Aurelius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-aurelius/) > [If any man has done wrong, the harm is his own. But perhaps he has not done wrong.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-aurelius/if-any-man-has-done-wrong-the-harm-is-his-own-but-perhaps-he-has-not/) [Marcus Aurelius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-aurelius/) > [Pray look upon the plants and birds, the ants, spiders, and bees, and you will see them all exerting their nature, and busy in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-aurelius/pray-look-upon-the-plants-and-birds-the-ants-spiders-and-bees-and-you/) [Marcus Aurelius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-aurelius/) > [“We should remark the grace and fascination that there is even in the incidentals of Nature's processes.. When a loaf of bread,. for instance,.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-aurelius/we-should-remark-the-grace-and-fascination-that-there-is-even-in-the/) [Marcus Aurelius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-aurelius/) > [My true Self is free. I cannot be contained.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-aurelius/my-true-self-is-free-i-cannot-be-contained/) [Marcus Aurelius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-aurelius/) > [The best revenge is to be unlike him who performed the injury.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-aurelius/the-best-revenge-is-to-be-unlike-him-who-performed-the-injury/) [Marcus Aurelius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-aurelius/) > [Nothing befalls any man which he is not fitted to endure.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-aurelius/nothing-befalls-any-man-which-he-is-not-fitted-to-endure/) [Marcus Aurelius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-aurelius/) > [Adorn thyself with simplicity and with indifference towards the things which lie between virtue and vice. Love mankind. Follow God. The poet says that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-aurelius/adorn-thyself-with-simplicity-and-with-indifference-towards-the/) [Marcus Aurelius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-aurelius/) > [Let it be your constant method to look into the design of people's actions, and see what they would be at, as often as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-aurelius/let-it-be-your-constant-method-to-look-into-the-design-of-people-s/) [Marcus Aurelius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-aurelius/) > [“Our life is a warfare, and a mere pilgrimage.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-aurelius/our-life-is-a-warfare-and-a-mere-pilgrimage/) [Marcus Aurelius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-aurelius/) > [“If therefore it be a thing external that causes thy grief, know, that it is not that properly that doth cause it, but thine…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-aurelius/if-therefore-it-be-a-thing-external-that-causes-thy-grief-know-that/) [Marcus Aurelius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-aurelius/) > [Frightened of change? But what can exist without it? What's closer to nature's heart? Can you take a hot bath and leave the firewood…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-aurelius/frightened-of-change-but-what-can-exist-without-it-what-s-closer-to/) [Marcus Aurelius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-aurelius/) > [We are too much accustomed to attribute to a single cause that which is the product of several, and the majority of our controversies…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-aurelius/we-are-too-much-accustomed-to-attribute-to-a-single-cause-that-which/) [Marcus Aurelius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-aurelius/) > [“At dawn, when you have trouble getting out of bed, tell yourself, "I have to go to work - as a human being. What…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-aurelius/at-dawn-when-you-have-trouble-getting-out-of-bed-tell-yourself-i-have/) [Marcus Aurelius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-aurelius/) [Explore all 1,138 marcus aurelius quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-aurelius/) ## 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 man of ambition thinks to find his good in the operations of others; the man of pleasure in his own sensations; but the man of understanding in his own actions.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "marcus aurelius" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-aurelius/the-man-of-ambition-thinks-to-find-his-good-in-the-operations-of/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Ambition" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-aurelius/the-man-of-ambition-thinks-to-find-his-good-in-the-operations-of/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b8d/marcus-aurelius-139_ambition_the-man-of-ambition-thinks-to-find-his-g_2208247.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b8d/marcus-aurelius-139_ambition_the-man-of-ambition-thinks-to-find-his-g_2208247.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b8d/marcus-aurelius-139_ambition_the-man-of-ambition-thinks-to-find-his-g_2208247.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The man of ambition thinks to find his good in the operations of others; the man of pleasure in his own…” — marcus aurelius", "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": "marcus aurelius", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-aurelius/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“The man of ambition thinks to...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-aurelius/the-man-of-ambition-thinks-to-find-his-good-in-the-operations-of/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-aurelius/the-man-of-ambition-thinks-to-find-his-good-in-the-operations-of/#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 } } ] } ```