--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The vague torment of ... ambition." description: "\"The vague torment of ... ambition.\" — Emile Zola" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/333/mile-zola-1188_ambition_the-vague-torment-of-ambition-65869_65869.png" --- # The vague torment of ... ambition. ![“The vague torment of ... ambition.” quote by Emile Zola](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/333/mile-zola-1188_ambition_the-vague-torment-of-ambition-65869_65869.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/333/mile-zola-1188_ambition_the-vague-torment-of-ambition-65869_65869.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/333/mile-zola-1188_ambition_the-vague-torment-of-ambition-65869_65869.png) > “The vague torment of ... ambition.” [Emile Zola](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mile-zola/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A restless drive that fuels both progress and inner conflict, highlighting the dual nature of ambition as both motivating and unsettling. **In simple terms:** Ambition can be both inspiring and distressing. Key Takeaway Ambition is a double‑edged sword. Themes drive inner conflict motivation psychology human nature Mood determined anxious Type philosophical reflective When to use this quote - career advancement - artistic creation - entrepreneurial ventures - personal development Key Concepts goal pursuit self‑expectation Practical Applications - coaching - creative writing Questions to Reflect On - How does ambition shape your decisions? - When does ambition become harmful? ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Ambition](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ambition/) [Inspirational](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspirational/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) [Motivation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/motivation/) [Suffering](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/suffering/) [Torment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/torment/) [Vague](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/vague/) ## Related 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/) > [“fuck wishing. you're missing the ambition on your mission.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/outkast/fuck-wishing-you-re-missing-the-ambition-on-your-mission/) [OutKast](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/outkast/) > [Failure is only postponed success as long as courage 'coaches' ambition. The habit of persistence is the habit of victory.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-kaufman/failure-is-only-postponed-success-as-long-as-courage-coaches-ambition/) [Herbert Kaufman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-kaufman/) > [Ability determines how much you are capable, motivation determines how much you are interested and committed, attitude determines your approach to endeavor.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dr-anil-kr-sinha/ability-determines-how-much-you-are-capable-motivation-determines-how/) [Dr Anil Kr Sinha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dr-anil-kr-sinha/) > [Great ambition is the passion of a great character. Those endowed with it may perform very good or very bad acts. All depends on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/napoleon-bonaparte/great-ambition-is-the-passion-of-a-great-character-those-endowed-with/) [Napoleon Bonaparte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/napoleon-bonaparte/) > [“Why should some foul word-slinging curb my ambitions?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/veronika-carnaby/why-should-some-foul-word-slinging-curb-my-ambitions/) [Veronika Carnaby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/veronika-carnaby/) > [Intelligence without ambition is a bird without wings. Dedicate yourself. Anything you truly want must be worth fighting for.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/intelligence-without-ambition-is-a-bird-without-wings-dedicate/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Ambition devours gold and drinks blood and climbs so high by other men's heads, that at the length in the fall, it breaks its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-wentworth-1st-earl-of-strafford/ambition-devours-gold-and-drinks-blood-and-climbs-so-high-by-other/) Thomas Wentworth, 1st Earl of Strafford > [America breeds ambition and while that can be a good thing, sometimes it's not. Ambition also breeds competition and that can be a very…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chaka-khan/america-breeds-ambition-and-while-that-can-be-a-good-thing-sometimes/) [Chaka Khan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chaka-khan/) > [My ambition is to win some trophies. That's why I am playing football.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/olivier-giroud/my-ambition-is-to-win-some-trophies-that-s-why-i-am-playing-football/) [Olivier Giroud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/olivier-giroud/) > [A lot of people have the ambition, but they never ask themselves, Do I really believe I can do this?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brendon-burchard/a-lot-of-people-have-the-ambition-but-they-never-ask-themselves-do-i/) [Brendon Burchard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brendon-burchard/) > [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/) > [“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/) > [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/) > [It's interesting when you wind up distilling all your ambitions and your goals and dreams into one single person. It's giving that person a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/damien-chazelle/it-s-interesting-when-you-wind-up-distilling-all-your-ambitions-and/) [Damien Chazelle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/damien-chazelle/) ## More by Emile Zola > [“Hélène, her eyes once more raised and remote, was deep in a dream. She was Lady Rowena, she was in love, with the deep…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mile-zola/h-l-ne-her-eyes-once-more-raised-and-remote-was-deep-in-a-dream-she/) [Émile Zola](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mile-zola/) > [How evil life must be if it were indeed necessary that such imploring cries, such cries of physical and moral wretchedness, should ever and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mile-zola/how-evil-life-must-be-if-it-were-indeed-necessary-that-such-imploring/) [Emile Zola](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mile-zola/) > [“he was carried aloft, for the moment, on one of those great waves of hope from which he was usually plunged deep into the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mile-zola/he-was-carried-aloft-for-the-moment-on-one-of-those-great-waves-of/) [Émile Zola](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mile-zola/) > [“Death had to take her little by little, bit by bit, dragging her along to the bitter end of the miserable existence she'd made…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mile-zola/death-had-to-take-her-little-by-little-bit-by-bit-dragging-her-along/) [Émile Zola](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mile-zola/) > [If something's just, I'll let myself be hacked to bits for it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mile-zola/if-something-s-just-i-ll-let-myself-be-hacked-to-bits-for-it/) [Emile Zola](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mile-zola/) > [“Lastly, I accuse the first court-martial of having violated the law by condemning an accused person on one document kept secret, and I accuse…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mile-zola/lastly-i-accuse-the-first-court-martial-of-having-violated-the-law-by/) [Émile Zola](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mile-zola/) > [“vexation, yet filled with unconscious regret for the terrible unknown things that might have, but had not, happened (23)”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mile-zola/vexation-yet-filled-with-unconscious-regret-for-the-terrible-unknown/) [Émile Zola](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mile-zola/) > [“Good gracious!" she exclaimed, "she's been more than an hour in there! When the priests set about cleansing her of her sins, the choir-boys…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mile-zola/good-gracious-she-exclaimed-she-s-been-more-than-an-hour-in-there/) [Émile Zola](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mile-zola/) > [The only basis for living is believing in life, loving it, and applying the whole force of one's intellect to know it better.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mile-zola/the-only-basis-for-living-is-believing-in-life-loving-it-and-applying/) [Emile Zola](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mile-zola/) > [“A new dynasty is never founded without a struggle. Blood makes good manure. It will be a good thing for the Rougon family to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mile-zola/a-new-dynasty-is-never-founded-without-a-struggle-blood-makes-good/) [Émile Zola](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mile-zola/) > [I believe that all is illusion and vanity outside the treasure of truths slowly accumulated, and which will never again be lost. I believe…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mile-zola/i-believe-that-all-is-illusion-and-vanity-outside-the-treasure-of/) [Emile Zola](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mile-zola/) > [“After a time, she believed in the reality of this comedy”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mile-zola/after-a-time-she-believed-in-the-reality-of-this-comedy/) [Émile Zola](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mile-zola/) > [“She wanted to live, and live fully, and to give life, she who loved life! What was the good of existing, if you couldn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mile-zola/she-wanted-to-live-and-live-fully-and-to-give-life-she-who-loved-life/) [Émile Zola](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mile-zola/) > [The fear of life, the fear of burdens and of duties, of annoyances and of catastrophes! The fear of life, which makes us, through…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mile-zola/the-fear-of-life-the-fear-of-burdens-and-of-duties-of-annoyances-and/) [Emile Zola](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mile-zola/) > [ “He \[Muffat\] experienced a sense of pleasure mingled with remorse, the sort of pleasure peculiar to those Catholics whom the fear of hell spurs… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mile-zola/he-muffat-experienced-a-sense-of-pleasure-mingled-with-remorse-the/) [Émile Zola](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mile-zola/) [Explore all 243 Emile Zola quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mile-zola/) ## 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 vague torment of ... ambition.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Emile Zola" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mile-zola/the-vague-torment-of-ambition/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Ambition" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mile-zola/the-vague-torment-of-ambition/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/333/mile-zola-1188_ambition_the-vague-torment-of-ambition-65869_65869.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/333/mile-zola-1188_ambition_the-vague-torment-of-ambition-65869_65869.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/333/mile-zola-1188_ambition_the-vague-torment-of-ambition-65869_65869.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The vague torment of ... ambition.” — Emile Zola", "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": "Emile Zola", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mile-zola/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "The vague torment of ... ambition.", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mile-zola/the-vague-torment-of-ambition/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mile-zola/the-vague-torment-of-ambition/#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 } } ] } ```