--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: My mother carried on and supported us…" description: "\"My mother carried on and supported us; her ambition had been to write poetry and songs.\" — Philip Levine" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/727/philip-levine-14083_ambition_my-mother-carried-on-and-supported-us-he_864745.jpg" --- # My mother carried on and supported us; her ambition had… ![“My mother carried on and supported us; her ambition had been to write poetry and songs.” quote by Philip Levine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/727/philip-levine-14083_ambition_my-mother-carried-on-and-supported-us-he_864745.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/727/philip-levine-14083_ambition_my-mother-carried-on-and-supported-us-he_864745.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/727/philip-levine-14083_ambition_my-mother-carried-on-and-supported-us-he_864745.jpg) > “My mother carried on and supported us; her ambition had been to write poetry and songs.” [Philip Levine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-levine/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A mother’s support and artistic ambition inspire her children, highlighting the power of familial encouragement. **In simple terms:** Mother’s support fuels creative dreams. Key Takeaway Value and nurture family encouragement. Themes family creativity support legacy artistic ambition Mood warm reflective Type poetic personal When to use this quote - family gatherings - creative workshops - educational programs - community arts Key Concepts psychology sociology literature Questions to Reflect On - How does family shape your artistic path? - What balance is needed between support and independence? A Different Perspective Creative pressure may strain personal relationships. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Ambition](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ambition/) [Mother](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mother/) [Parenting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/parenting/) [Poetry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poetry/) ## Related quotes > [I am shaped by my community - and I have been supported in my ambition to be an actor and storyteller.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lily-gladstone/i-am-shaped-by-my-community-and-i-have-been-supported-in-my-ambition/) [Lily Gladstone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lily-gladstone/) > [“Liesel was sure her mother carried the memory of him, slung over her shoulder. She dropped him. She saw his feet and legs and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/markus-zusak/liesel-was-sure-her-mother-carried-the-memory-of-him-slung-over-her-2/) [Markus Zusak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/markus-zusak/) > [I was adopted when I was a baby. My mother carried me for nine months and she held me for one hour, and didn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-franti/i-was-adopted-when-i-was-a-baby-my-mother-carried-me-for-nine-months/) [Michael Franti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-franti/) > [¥ Be Grateful to Your Mother ¥ 1. Your mother carried you for 9 months bearing pain upon pain. 2. During this time, she…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/usman-ismaheel/be-grateful-to-your-mother-1-your-mother-carried-you-for-9-months/) [Usman Ismaheel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/usman-ismaheel/) > [“Liesel was sure her mother carried the memory of him, slung over her shoulder. She dropped him. She saw his feet and legs and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/markus-zusak/liesel-was-sure-her-mother-carried-the-memory-of-him-slung-over-her/) [Markus Zusak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/markus-zusak/) > [A lot of people, I think, harbor some kind of ambition to write a novel - they say, 'One day I'm going to write…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-garland/a-lot-of-people-i-think-harbor-some-kind-of-ambition-to-write-a-novel/) [Alex Garland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-garland/) > [Generally speaking, it has been my ambition to write as a good old nurse will speak when she tells fairy tales.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-jacobs/generally-speaking-it-has-been-my-ambition-to-write-as-a-good-old/) [Joseph Jacobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-jacobs/) > [I was four when I announced my ambition to write, eight when I began publishing such claims.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/taiye-selasi/i-was-four-when-i-announced-my-ambition-to-write-eight-when-i-began/) [Taiye Selasi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/taiye-selasi/) > [“Her ambition to write stories was the most visible burden of her life.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/her-ambition-to-write-stories-was-the-most-visible-burden-of-her-life/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [For a person whose sole burning ambition is to write - like myself - college is useless beyond the Sophomore year.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-styron/for-a-person-whose-sole-burning-ambition-is-to-write-like-myself/) [William Styron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-styron/) > [My sole literary ambition is to write one good novel, then retire to my hut in the desert, assume the lotus position, compose my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-abbey/my-sole-literary-ambition-is-to-write-one-good-novel-then-retire-to/) [Edward Abbey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-abbey/) > [I have an ambition to write a great book, but that's really a competition with myself. I've noticed that a lot of young writers,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zadie-smith/i-have-an-ambition-to-write-a-great-book-but-that-s-really-a/) [Zadie Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zadie-smith/) > [“She had no ambition to write a good book, but was painfully anxious to write a book that the critics should say was good.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-trollope/she-had-no-ambition-to-write-a-good-book-but-was-painfully-anxious-to/) [Anthony Trollope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-trollope/) > [One ambition of poetry, certainly, is to create a reverberant silence in its wake, one that means more or differently than the silence that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-doty/one-ambition-of-poetry-certainly-is-to-create-a-reverberant-silence/) [Mark Doty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-doty/) > [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/) ## More by Philip Levine > [I find you in these tears, few, useless and here at last. Don't come back.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-levine/i-find-you-in-these-tears-few-useless-and-here-at-last-don-t-come-back/) [Philip Levine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-levine/) > [I'm afraid we live at the mercy of a power, maybe a God, without mercy. And yet we find it, as I have, from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-levine/i-m-afraid-we-live-at-the-mercy-of-a-power-maybe-a-god-without-mercy/) [Philip Levine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-levine/) > [There'll always be working people in my poems because I grew up with them, and I am a poet of memory.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-levine/there-ll-always-be-working-people-in-my-poems-because-i-grew-up-with/) [Philip Levine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-levine/) > [How weightless/ words are when nothing will do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-levine/how-weightless-words-are-when-nothing-will-do/) [Philip Levine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-levine/) > [But I'm too old to be written about as a young poet.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-levine/but-i-m-too-old-to-be-written-about-as-a-young-poet/) [Philip Levine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-levine/) > [But most commonly, it's one poem that I work on with a lot of intensity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-levine/but-most-commonly-it-s-one-poem-that-i-work-on-with-a-lot-of-intensity/) [Philip Levine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-levine/) > [“He embodied what he worshipped, the exquisite in the commonplace…salt for the spirit.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-levine/he-embodied-what-he-worshipped-the-exquisite-in-the-commonplace-salt/) [Philip Levine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-levine/) > [“As you know, Joyce was a writer who asked his reader to give him a lifetime,” he said. “I am that reader, and I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-levine/as-you-know-joyce-was-a-writer-who-asked-his-reader-to-give-him-a/) [Philip Levine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-levine/) > [“Thirty years will pass before I remember that moment when suddenly I knew each man has one brother who dies when he sleeps and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-levine/thirty-years-will-pass-before-i-remember-that-moment-when-suddenly-i/) [Philip Levine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-levine/) > [“From they sack and they belly opened And all that was hidden burning on the oil-stained earth They feed they Lion and he comes.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-levine/from-they-sack-and-they-belly-opened-and-all-that-was-hidden-burning/) [Philip Levine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-levine/) > [Corruption is subtle, just like the Bible said. Many young poets have come to me and asked, How am I gonna make it? They…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-levine/corruption-is-subtle-just-like-the-bible-said-many-young-poets-have/) [Philip Levine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-levine/) > [“ Our Valley We don't see the ocean, not ever, but in July and August when the worst heat seems to rise from the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-levine/our-valley-we-don-t-see-the-ocean-not-ever-but-in-july-and-august/) [Philip Levine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-levine/) > [“The earth drinks all that’s left of you and asks for more.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-levine/the-earth-drinks-all-that-s-left-of-you-and-asks-for-more/) [Philip Levine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-levine/) > [I started listening to music when I wrote when I had three sons at home.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-levine/i-started-listening-to-music-when-i-wrote-when-i-had-three-sons-at/) [Philip Levine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-levine/) > [Listen to these young poets and you'll discover the voice of the present and hear the voice of the future before the future is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-levine/listen-to-these-young-poets-and-you-ll-discover-the-voice-of-the/) [Philip Levine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-levine/) [Explore all 48 Philip Levine quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-levine/) ## 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": "My mother carried on and supported us; her ambition had been to write poetry and songs.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Philip Levine" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-levine/my-mother-carried-on-and-supported-us-her-ambition-had-been-to-write/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Ambition" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-levine/my-mother-carried-on-and-supported-us-her-ambition-had-been-to-write/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/727/philip-levine-14083_ambition_my-mother-carried-on-and-supported-us-he_864745.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/727/philip-levine-14083_ambition_my-mother-carried-on-and-supported-us-he_864745.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/727/philip-levine-14083_ambition_my-mother-carried-on-and-supported-us-he_864745.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“My mother carried on and supported us; her ambition had been to write poetry and songs.” — Philip Levine", "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": "Philip Levine", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-levine/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "My mother carried on and supported...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-levine/my-mother-carried-on-and-supported-us-her-ambition-had-been-to-write/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-levine/my-mother-carried-on-and-supported-us-her-ambition-had-been-to-write/#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 } } ] } ```