--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Here is a fact: nothing in all…" description: "\"Here is a fact: nothing in all civilization has been as productive as ludicrous ambition. Whatever its ills, nothing has created more. Cathedrals, sona..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cf1/tom-rachman-8194_ambition_here-is-a-fact-nothing-in-all-civilizati_2201979.png" --- # Here is a fact: nothing in all civilization has been as… ![“Here is a fact: nothing in all civilization has been as productive as ludicrous ambition. Whatever its ills, nothing has created more. Cathedrals, sonatas, encyclopedias: love of God was not behind them, nor love of life. But the love of man to be worshiped by man.” quote by Tom Rachman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cf1/tom-rachman-8194_ambition_here-is-a-fact-nothing-in-all-civilizati_2201979.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cf1/tom-rachman-8194_ambition_here-is-a-fact-nothing-in-all-civilizati_2201979.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cf1/tom-rachman-8194_ambition_here-is-a-fact-nothing-in-all-civilizati_2201979.png) > “Here is a fact: nothing in all civilization has been as productive as ludicrous ambition. Whatever its ills, nothing has created more. Cathedrals, sonatas, encyclopedias: love of God was not behind them, nor love of life. But the love of man to be worshiped by man.” [Tom Rachman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-rachman/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Ambition drives humanity’s greatest achievements, often seeking admiration rather than altruism. **In simple terms:** Great works stem from bold, self‑focused ambition. Key Takeaway Channel ambition toward constructive goals. Themes ambition achievement human nature Mood reflective critical Type philosophical observational When to use this quote - building monuments - composing music - authoring encyclopedias - leading movements Key Concepts psychology social status creative drive Questions to Reflect On - What drives your ambition? - How can you balance self‑interest with societal good? A Different Perspective Ambition can neglect ethical considerations and harm others. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Ambition](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ambition/) [Behinds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/behinds/) [Cathedrals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cathedrals/) [Civilization](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/civilization/) [Civilization Productive](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/civilization-productive-923882/) [Encyclopedia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/encyclopedia/) [Facts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/facts/) [God love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/god-love/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) [Love & life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love-life-2/) [Love of god](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love-of-god/) [Love of life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love-of-life/) [Ludicrous Ambition](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ludicrous-ambition-4840684/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Productive](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/productive/) [Productive Ludicrous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/productive-ludicrous-4840685/) [Sonatas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sonatas/) ## Related quotes > [A semi-civilized state of society, equally removed from the extremes of barbarity and of refinement, seems to be that particular meridian under which all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/a-semi-civilized-state-of-society-equally-removed-from-the-extremes/) [Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) > [“But that some sonatas of Beethoven are written tragic no one can gainsay; yet they can triumph or despair as the player decides, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-m-forster-2/but-that-some-sonatas-of-beethoven-are-written-tragic-no-one-can/) [E.M. Forster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-m-forster-2/) > [Of true knowledge at any time, a good part is merely convenient, necessary indeed to the worker, but not to an understanding of his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-barzun/of-true-knowledge-at-any-time-a-good-part-is-merely-convenient/) [Jacques Barzun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-barzun/) > [Particles of raw inspiration sleet through the universe all the time. Every once in a while one of them hits a receptive mind, which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/particles-of-raw-inspiration-sleet-through-the-universe-all-the-time/) [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) > [ Scarlatti \[Kirkpatrick\] started writing sonatas when he was 66 and the idea that he ran off 500 or so after he was 66 was… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-stella/scarlatti-kirkpatrick-started-writing-sonatas-when-he-was-66-and-the/) [Frank Stella](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-stella/) > [Life can't be all bad when for ten dollars you can buy all the Beethoven sonatas and listen to them for ten years.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-f-buckley-jr/life-can-t-be-all-bad-when-for-ten-dollars-you-can-buy-all-the/) [William F. Buckley, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-f-buckley-jr/) > [Many Introverts are also "highly sensitive," which sounds poetic, but is actually a technical term in psychology. If you are a sensitive sort, then…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-cain/many-introverts-are-also-highly-sensitive-which-sounds-poetic-but-is/) [Susan Cain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-cain/) > [The other option we have are medication treatments. So you'll have the treatments such as Ambien, Lunesta, Sonata, and we'll also have Rozerem and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shelby-harris/the-other-option-we-have-are-medication-treatments-so-you-ll-have-the/) [Shelby Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shelby-harris/) > [Two years of close association with some of the best (as well as some of the worst) tunes in the world was a better…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-vaughan-williams/two-years-of-close-association-with-some-of-the-best-as-well-as-some/) [Ralph Vaughan Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-vaughan-williams/) > [Tokyo Sonata speaks to us, with feeling and passion, as one of the most eloquent statements on the world today that we are likely…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-sarris/tokyo-sonata-speaks-to-us-with-feeling-and-passion-as-one-of-the-most/) [Andrew Sarris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-sarris/) > [My 10th Sonata is a sonata of insects. Insects are born from the sun... they are the sun's kisses.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-scriabin/my-10th-sonata-is-a-sonata-of-insects-insects-are-born-from-the-sun/) [Alexander Scriabin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-scriabin/) > [There is a moonlight note in the Moonlight Sonata; there is a thunder note in an angry sky.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dejan-stojanovic/there-is-a-moonlight-note-in-the-moonlight-sonata-there-is-a-thunder/) [Dejan Stojanovic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dejan-stojanovic/) > [The meaning and purpose of dancing is the dance. Like music also, it is fulfilled in each moment of its course. You do not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/the-meaning-and-purpose-of-dancing-is-the-dance-like-music-also-it-is/) [Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) > [Shakespeare wrote his sonnets within a strict discipline, fourteen lines of iambic pentameter, rhyming in three quatrains and a couplet. Were his sonnets dull?…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-ogilvy/shakespeare-wrote-his-sonnets-within-a-strict-discipline-fourteen/) [David Ogilvy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-ogilvy/) > [“Music makes me forget my real situation. It transports me into a state which is not my own. Under the influence of music I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/music-makes-me-forget-my-real-situation-it-transports-me-into-a-state-2/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) ## More by Tom Rachman > [At the outset, my notion of being a writer was that you would have moments of inspiration and moments of frustration, when you'd crumple…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-rachman/at-the-outset-my-notion-of-being-a-writer-was-that-you-would-have/) [Tom Rachman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-rachman/) > [“He cannot deny a certain relief in being able to sift through academic tomes, fulfilling his journalistic duty without having to barge past security…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-rachman/he-cannot-deny-a-certain-relief-in-being-able-to-sift-through/) [Tom Rachman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-rachman/) > [My intent was to gain experience for fiction I eventually hoped to write. But there's no question I was drawn in by the hope…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-rachman/my-intent-was-to-gain-experience-for-fiction-i-eventually-hoped-to/) [Tom Rachman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-rachman/) > [“I built and I built— heaven knows I have done that well. Those skyscrapers, full of tenants, floor after floor, and not a single…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-rachman/i-built-and-i-built-heaven-knows-i-have-done-that-well-those/) [Tom Rachman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-rachman/) > [“What is wrong with guys? Half are molting; half are nothing but undergrowth.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-rachman/what-is-wrong-with-guys-half-are-molting-half-are-nothing-but/) [Tom Rachman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-rachman/) > [“What I really fear is time. That's the devil: whipping us on when we'd rather loll, so the present sprints by, impossible to grasp,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-rachman/what-i-really-fear-is-time-that-s-the-devil-whipping-us-on-when-we-d/) [Tom Rachman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-rachman/) > [“Journalism is a bunch of dorks pretending to be alpha males.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-rachman/journalism-is-a-bunch-of-dorks-pretending-to-be-alpha-males/) [Tom Rachman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-rachman/) > [My parents used to rent old movies - my whole childhood is in black and white - and it was my dream to make…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-rachman/my-parents-used-to-rent-old-movies-my-whole-childhood-is-in-black-and/) [Tom Rachman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-rachman/) > [I went to the University of Toronto to study the history and theory of film, in the back of my mind thinking I'd go…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-rachman/i-went-to-the-university-of-toronto-to-study-the-history-and-theory/) [Tom Rachman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-rachman/) > [The training of a journalist, of working with words for thousands of hours, is extraordinarily useful for a fiction writer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-rachman/the-training-of-a-journalist-of-working-with-words-for-thousands-of/) [Tom Rachman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-rachman/) > [During my past career as a journalist, I relished writing obits and equally dreaded phoning relatives for the necessary facts. But to my surprise…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-rachman/during-my-past-career-as-a-journalist-i-relished-writing-obits-and/) [Tom Rachman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-rachman/) > [“Don't people drown their sorrows in things like scotch? Not strawberry whatever-it's-called.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-rachman/don-t-people-drown-their-sorrows-in-things-like-scotch-not-strawberry/) [Tom Rachman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-rachman/) > [“Nothing epitomizes the futility of human striving quite like aspartame.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-rachman/nothing-epitomizes-the-futility-of-human-striving-quite-like-aspartame/) [Tom Rachman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-rachman/) > [“She is a wonderful nerd, and he hopes this won't change. He'd be distressed if she were cool-- it'd be as if his flesh…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-rachman/she-is-a-wonderful-nerd-and-he-hopes-this-won-t-change-he-d-be/) [Tom Rachman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-rachman/) > [Many things embarrass me, but reading isn't one of them. I'm not ashamed of my slightly weird collection of prison memoirs. Nor the flaky…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-rachman/many-things-embarrass-me-but-reading-isn-t-one-of-them-i-m-not/) [Tom Rachman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-rachman/) [Explore all 83 Tom Rachman quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-rachman/) ## 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": "Here is a fact: nothing in all civilization has been as productive as ludicrous ambition. 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