--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It was the most earnest ambition I ever…" description: "\"It was the most earnest ambition I ever had…Not that I ever really wanted to be a preacher, but because it never occurred to me that a preacher could b..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b0e/mark-twain-22_ambition_it-was-the-most-earnest-ambition-i-ever_2208767.png" --- # It was the most earnest ambition I ever had…Not that I… ![“It was the most earnest ambition I ever had…Not that I ever really wanted to be a preacher, but because it never occurred to me that a preacher could be damned. It looked like a safe job.” quote by Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b0e/mark-twain-22_ambition_it-was-the-most-earnest-ambition-i-ever_2208767.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b0e/mark-twain-22_ambition_it-was-the-most-earnest-ambition-i-ever_2208767.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b0e/mark-twain-22_ambition_it-was-the-most-earnest-ambition-i-ever_2208767.png) > “It was the most earnest ambition I ever had…Not that I ever really wanted to be a preacher, but because it never occurred to me that a preacher could be damned. It looked like a safe job.” [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. He pursued a safe, respectable career as a preacher, not out of passion but because it seemed secure, overlooking moral complexities. **In simple terms:** He chose a safe job without considering its moral risks. Key Takeaway Question the safety of seemingly secure paths. Themes career morality security Mood critical introspective Type philosophical advice When to use this quote - choosing a profession - religious vocation - career planning - ethical decision-making Key Concepts vocational choice ethical dilemmas social expectations Questions to Reflect On - Is your career choice truly aligned with your values? - What moral risks might you be overlooking? A Different Perspective Safety may mask hidden ethical issues. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Ambition](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ambition/) [Ambition Really](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ambition-really-2440287/) [Earnest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/earnest/) [Earnest Ambition](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/earnest-ambition-4882468/) [Jobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/jobs/) [Preacher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/preacher/) [Preacher Damned](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/preacher-damned-4882467/) [Preacher Occurred](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/preacher-occurred-4882469/) [Safe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/safe/) [Wanted](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wanted/) [Wanted Preacher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wanted-preacher-3514801/) ## Related quotes > [Mama wanted me to be a preacher. I told her coachin' and preachin' were a lot alike.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bear-bryant/mama-wanted-me-to-be-a-preacher-i-told-her-coachin-and-preachin-were/) [Bear Bryant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bear-bryant/) > [I was being trained because I wanted to be a preacher like my father. I wanted to talk about Moses; I wanted to talk…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mr-t/i-was-being-trained-because-i-wanted-to-be-a-preacher-like-my-father/) [Mr. T](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mr-t/) > [I find ambition really attractive too - if someone's good at something they love doing. I want someone who is driven.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harry-styles/i-find-ambition-really-attractive-too-if-someone-s-good-at-something/) [Harry Styles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harry-styles/) > [My ambition really was, even as a child, to be a writer, a commentator, and a teacher, but a teacher of Talmud.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elie-wiesel/my-ambition-really-was-even-as-a-child-to-be-a-writer-a-commentator/) [Elie Wiesel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elie-wiesel/) > [I think the word for me is survival, not ambition. I'm really a lucky man. I've always accepted whatever I was in, whether it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-ho/i-think-the-word-for-me-is-survival-not-ambition-i-m-really-a-lucky/) [Don Ho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-ho/) > [I was never somebody who grew up going, 'I really want to be a singer in a band,' and I never had any ambition…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fiona-apple/i-was-never-somebody-who-grew-up-going-i-really-want-to-be-a-singer/) [Fiona Apple](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fiona-apple/) > [I always sang and I always wrote...it's just having that ambition. You really can't let go of your dreams.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mariah-carey/i-always-sang-and-i-always-wrote-it-s-just-having-that-ambition-you/) [Mariah Carey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mariah-carey/) > [I had immense ambition to become a really valuable actress.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/luise-rainer/i-had-immense-ambition-to-become-a-really-valuable-actress/) [Luise Rainer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/luise-rainer/) > [As if goaded by a kind of frantic despair, I sketched these dirty, ragged little victims of the war with their bruised, lacerated minds…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-keane/as-if-goaded-by-a-kind-of-frantic-despair-i-sketched-these-dirty/) [Walter Keane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-keane/) > [Earnest men never think in vain, though their thoughts may be errors.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-bulwer-lytton-1st-baron-lytton/earnest-men-never-think-in-vain-though-their-thoughts-may-be-errors/) [Edward Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Baron Lytton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-bulwer-lytton-1st-baron-lytton/) > [The family circle has widened. The worldpool of information fathered by the electric media--movies, Telstar, flight--far surpassesany possible influence mom and dad can now…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marshall-mcluhan/the-family-circle-has-widened-the-worldpool-of-information-fathered/) [Marshall McLuhan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marshall-mcluhan/) > [Those who love their dream of a Christian community more than the Christian community itself become destroyers of that Christian community even though their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dietrich-bonhoeffer/those-who-love-their-dream-of-a-christian-community-more-than-the/) [Dietrich Bonhoeffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dietrich-bonhoeffer/) > [In the formation of such a government, it is not only the right, but the indispensable duty of every citizen to examine the principles…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noah-webster/in-the-formation-of-such-a-government-it-is-not-only-the-right-but/) [Noah Webster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noah-webster/) > [Lord, send Your life throughout the entire church. Visit Your church; restore sound doctrine and holy, earnest living. Take away from professing Christians their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-spurgeon/lord-send-your-life-throughout-the-entire-church-visit-your-church/) [Charles Spurgeon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-spurgeon/) > [ He \[an earnest young reporter\] seemed to share the view of many intelligent, well-educated, well-meaning people that, while adult literature may aim to be… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katherine-paterson/he-an-earnest-young-reporter-seemed-to-share-the-view-of-many/) [Katherine Paterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katherine-paterson/) ## More by Mark Twain > [Sing like no one's listening, love like you've never been hurt, dance like nobody's watching, and live like its heaven on earth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/sing-like-no-one-s-listening-love-like-you-ve-never-been-hurt-dance/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [If you had made the acquiring of ignorance the study of your life, you could not have graduated with higher honor than you could…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/if-you-had-made-the-acquiring-of-ignorance-the-study-of-your-life-you/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [“The Creator sat upon the throne, thinking. Behind him stretched the illimitable continent of heaven, steeped in a glory of light and color; before…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/the-creator-sat-upon-the-throne-thinking-behind-him-stretched-the/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [It's easy to quit smoking. I've done it hundreds of times.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/it-s-easy-to-quit-smoking-i-ve-done-it-hundreds-of-times/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [“It is never wrong to do the right thing.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/it-is-never-wrong-to-do-the-right-thing/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [A man accustomed to American food and American domestic cookery would not starve to death suddenly in Europe, but I think he would gradually…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/a-man-accustomed-to-american-food-and-american-domestic-cookery-would/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [There is nothing training can't cannot do. Nothing is above its reach.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/there-is-nothing-training-can-t-cannot-do-nothing-is-above-its-reach/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [I never write Metropolis for seven cents because I can get the same price for city. I never write policeman because I can get…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/i-never-write-metropolis-for-seven-cents-because-i-can-get-the-same/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [The higher animals get their teeth without pain or inconvenience. Man gets his through months and months of cruel torture; he will never get…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/the-higher-animals-get-their-teeth-without-pain-or-inconvenience-man/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [“As far as I can see, Italy, for fifteen hundred years, has turned all her energies, all her finances, and all her industry to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/as-far-as-i-can-see-italy-for-fifteen-hundred-years-has-turned-all/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [Begin with the determination to succeed and the work is half done already.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/begin-with-the-determination-to-succeed-and-the-work-is-half-done/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [Many public-school children seem to know only two dates—1492 and 4th of July; and as a rule they don't know what happened on either…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/many-public-school-children-seem-to-know-only-two-dates-1492-and-4th/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [If we could imagine such a man, that is a man who could invent the fly and send him out on his mission and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/if-we-could-imagine-such-a-man-that-is-a-man-who-could-invent-the-fly/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [You perceive, now, that these things are all impossible except in a dream. You perceive that they are pure and puerile insanities, the silly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/you-perceive-now-that-these-things-are-all-impossible-except-in-a/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [Lord save us all from a hope tree that has lost the faculty of putting out blossoms.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/lord-save-us-all-from-a-hope-tree-that-has-lost-the-faculty-of/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) [Explore all 3,277 Mark Twain quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) ## 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": "It was the most earnest ambition I ever had…Not that I ever really wanted to be a preacher, but because it never occurred to me that a preacher could be damned. 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