--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Ambition is the incentive that makes…" description: "\"Ambition is the incentive that makes purpose GREAT and ACHIEVEMENT greater!\" — Orison Swett Marden" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e65/orison-swett-marden-711_achievement_ambition-is-the-incentive-that-makes-pur_349504.png" --- # Ambition is the incentive that makes purpose GREAT and… ![“Ambition is the incentive that makes purpose GREAT and ACHIEVEMENT greater!” quote by Orison Swett Marden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e65/orison-swett-marden-711_achievement_ambition-is-the-incentive-that-makes-pur_349504.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e65/orison-swett-marden-711_achievement_ambition-is-the-incentive-that-makes-pur_349504.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e65/orison-swett-marden-711_achievement_ambition-is-the-incentive-that-makes-pur_349504.png) > “Ambition is the incentive that makes purpose GREAT and ACHIEVEMENT greater!” [Orison Swett Marden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orison-swett-marden/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Ambition fuels purpose, amplifying achievement when aligned with meaningful goals. **In simple terms:** Ambition boosts purpose and results. Key Takeaway Channel ambition toward purposeful goals. Themes ambition purpose achievement motivation Mood inspirational energetic Type motivational self-help When to use this quote - entrepreneurship - career planning - personal projects - team leadership Key Concepts goal-setting drive success mindset Questions to Reflect On - What purpose drives your ambition? - How do you measure meaningful achievement? A Different Perspective Blind ambition may ignore ethics or sustainability. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Achievement](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/achievement/) [Ambition](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ambition/) [Incentive](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/incentive/) [Incentives](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/incentives/) [Inspiring](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspiring/) [One day at a time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/one-day-at-a-time/) [Purpose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/purpose/) [Success](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/success/) ## Related quotes > [“The resistance is always in proportion to the achievement. The greater the impediment, the greater the result.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-erzfeld/the-resistance-is-always-in-proportion-to-the-achievement-the-greater/) [Chris Erzfeld](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-erzfeld/) > [An incentive is a bullet, a key: an often tiny object with astonishing power to change a situation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/an-incentive-is-a-bullet-a-key-an-often-tiny-object-with-astonishing/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [People say that the monetary system produces incentive. This may be true in limited areas, but it also produces greed, embezzlement, corruption, pollution, jealousy,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacque-fresco/people-say-that-the-monetary-system-produces-incentive-this-may-be/) [Jacque Fresco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacque-fresco/) > [The problem we were struggling with within the closed market was what the incentive would be. You probably wouldn't use dollars. But those are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-poindexter/the-problem-we-were-struggling-with-within-the-closed-market-was-what/) [John Poindexter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-poindexter/) > [The incentive that you give to your youth is going to be the make-or-break future of the country.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-incentive-that-you-give-to-your-youth-is-going-to-be-the-make-or/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [When incentive to acquire and obtain property is gone, people no longer make efforts to acquire any... Those who infringe upon property rights commit…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ibn-khaldun/when-incentive-to-acquire-and-obtain-property-is-gone-people-no/) [Ibn Khaldun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ibn-khaldun/) > [The long-range sloution to high unemployment is to increase the incentive for ordinary people to save, invest, work, and employ others. We make it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milton-friedman/the-long-range-sloution-to-high-unemployment-is-to-increase-the/) [Milton Friedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milton-friedman/) > [To all our means of culture is added the powerful incentive to personal ambition, no post of honor is so high but the poorest…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-a-garfield/to-all-our-means-of-culture-is-added-the-powerful-incentive-to/) [James A. Garfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-a-garfield/) > [I think things that contribute to the destruction of our free-incentive system are wrong. A trend against that free-incentive system is wrong, and should…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-m-humphrey/i-think-things-that-contribute-to-the-destruction-of-our-free/) [George M. 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And the reason we don’t is because it is detrimental to teamwork.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeff-bezos/we-also-have-no-incentive-compensation-of-any-kind-and-the-reason-we/) [Jeff Bezos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeff-bezos/) ## More by Orison Swett Marden > [“We can so educate the will power that it will focus the thoughts upon the bright side of things, and upon objects which elevate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orison-swett-marden/we-can-so-educate-the-will-power-that-it-will-focus-the-thoughts-upon/) [Orison Swett Marden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orison-swett-marden/) > [“Gulliver was a giant whom the dwarfs captured while he was napping by binding him with tiny threads. Each thread was a trifle which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orison-swett-marden/gulliver-was-a-giant-whom-the-dwarfs-captured-while-he-was-napping-by/) [Orison Swett Marden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orison-swett-marden/) > [“The hatred thought cannot live an instant in the presence of the love thought.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orison-swett-marden/the-hatred-thought-cannot-live-an-instant-in-the-presence-of-the-love/) [Orison Swett Marden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orison-swett-marden/) > [“About as poor business as one can engage in is that of going through life with one's eyes so fixed upon what others have,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orison-swett-marden/about-as-poor-business-as-one-can-engage-in-is-that-of-going-through/) [Orison Swett Marden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orison-swett-marden/) > [“We tend to get what we expect, and if we expect nothing we get nothing. 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Everything that exists has brought with it its own peculiar lesson. The mountain teaches stability and grandeur; the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orison-swett-marden/the-universe-is-one-great-kindergarten-everything-that-exists-has/) [Orison Swett Marden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orison-swett-marden/) > [If you want to enlarge your life, you must first enlarge your thought of it and of yourself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orison-swett-marden/if-you-want-to-enlarge-your-life-you-must-first-enlarge-your-thought/) [Orison Swett Marden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orison-swett-marden/) > [The moment man cuts himself off from living connection with the human race and its needs, he begins to die from poor circulation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orison-swett-marden/the-moment-man-cuts-himself-off-from-living-connection-with-the-human/) [Orison Swett Marden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orison-swett-marden/) > [“There is something inside of a man which protests against doing that which tends to injure another, that which does not square with his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orison-swett-marden/there-is-something-inside-of-a-man-which-protests-against-doing-that/) [Orison Swett Marden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orison-swett-marden/) > [A good system shortens the road to the goal.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orison-swett-marden/a-good-system-shortens-the-road-to-the-goal/) [Orison Swett Marden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orison-swett-marden/) > [Keep fear out of your child's mind, as you would keep poison out of his body; for fear is the deadliest of mental poisons.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orison-swett-marden/keep-fear-out-of-your-child-s-mind-as-you-would-keep-poison-out-of/) [Orison Swett Marden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orison-swett-marden/) [Explore all 396 Orison Swett Marden quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orison-swett-marden/) ## More Achievement quotes > [You, of Canada, are building a magnificent record of achievement. 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Deep-rooted desires for esteem, affection, belonging, achievement, self-actualization, power, and control motivate us to push for what we want and need…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lorii-myers/needs-cause-motivation-deep-rooted-desires-for-esteem-affection/) [Lorii Myers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lorii-myers/) > [Each man is capable of doing one thing well. 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Contrary to popular belief, it is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathaniel-branden/to-preserve-an-unclouded-capacity-for-the-enjoyment-of-life-is-an/) [Nathaniel Branden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathaniel-branden/) > [Joel Lane documents a life we don’t quite live, in a city we can’t quite find: half glimpsed and half imagined, we know it’s…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chaz-brenchley/joel-lane-documents-a-life-we-don-t-quite-live-in-a-city-we-can-t/) Chaz Brenchley > [The main substantive achievement of neoliberalism has been to redistribute rather than to generate wealth and income.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-harvey/the-main-substantive-achievement-of-neoliberalism-has-been-to/) [David Harvey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-harvey/) > [Every profession has an ideology and a drive for power that goes far beyond its achievements and it is the task of democracy to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-feyerabend/every-profession-has-an-ideology-and-a-drive-for-power-that-goes-far/) [Paul Feyerabend](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-feyerabend/) > [We have Internet now and people are not stupid. 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