--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Ambition is but avarice on stilts, and…" description: "\"Ambition is but avarice on stilts, and masked.\" — Walter Savage Landor" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/856/walter-savage-landor-1404_ambition_ambition-is-but-avarice-on-stilts-and-ma_1028974.png" --- # Ambition is but avarice on stilts, and masked. ![“Ambition is but avarice on stilts, and masked.” quote by Walter Savage Landor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/856/walter-savage-landor-1404_ambition_ambition-is-but-avarice-on-stilts-and-ma_1028974.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/856/walter-savage-landor-1404_ambition_ambition-is-but-avarice-on-stilts-and-ma_1028974.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/856/walter-savage-landor-1404_ambition_ambition-is-but-avarice-on-stilts-and-ma_1028974.png) > “Ambition is but avarice on stilts, and masked.” [Walter Savage Landor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-savage-landor/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Ambition disguises greed, appearing noble yet driven by selfish desire. **In simple terms:** Ambition can be hidden greed. Key Takeaway Examine motives behind your goals. Themes greed ambition ethics Mood thoughtful critical Type philosophical motivational When to use this quote - career planning - political leadership - personal goal setting Key Concepts Moral philosophy self‑interest Questions to Reflect On - Is your ambition serving others or only yourself? - Can ambition be ethical? A Different Perspective Not all ambition is harmful; it can inspire positive change. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Ambition](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ambition/) [Avarice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/avarice/) [Masked](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/masked/) [Stilts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stilts/) ## Related quotes > [Ambition is but avarice on stilts, and masked. God sometimes sends a famine, sometimes a pestilence, and sometimes a hero, for the chastisement of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-savage-landor/ambition-is-but-avarice-on-stilts-and-masked-god-sometimes-sends-a/) [Walter Savage Landor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-savage-landor/) > [Be assured that, although men of eminent genius have been guilty of all other vices, none worthy of more than a secondary name has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-savage-landor/be-assured-that-although-men-of-eminent-genius-have-been-guilty-of/) [Walter Savage Landor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-savage-landor/) > [“Masked, I advance.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ren-descartes/masked-i-advance/) [Rene Descartes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ren-descartes/) > [“I've changed so many masks. None suits me.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ljupka-cvetanova/i-ve-changed-so-many-masks-none-suits-me/) [Ljupka Cvetanova](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ljupka-cvetanova/) > [“Masked by a pair of pink cotton panties, the man looks like some sort of deranged bank robber.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dave-lundy/masked-by-a-pair-of-pink-cotton-panties-the-man-looks-like-some-sort/) Dave Lundy > [In Paris, our lives are one masked ball.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gaston-leroux/in-paris-our-lives-are-one-masked-ball/) [Gaston Leroux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gaston-leroux/) > [“Our lives are one masked ball.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gaston-leroux/our-lives-are-one-masked-ball/) [Gaston Leroux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gaston-leroux/) > [“Your darkest moment rips off every mask. It makes you see the world for what it really is. And people, for who they truly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-bassey-johnson/your-darkest-moment-rips-off-every-mask-it-makes-you-see-the-world/) [Michael Bassey Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-bassey-johnson/) > [“Every dystopia is masked by a utopia.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rose-lovejoy/every-dystopia-is-masked-by-a-utopia/) Rose Lovejoy > [“masked ball tonight,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/morgan-rice/masked-ball-tonight/) [Morgan Rice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/morgan-rice/) > [And I wasnt playing a role I was trying to be myself. But the harder I was striving, the more I was realizing that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/and-i-wasnt-playing-a-role-i-was-trying-to-be-myself-but-the-harder-i/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [It has long been my conviction that a masked man with a gun is a target. I see no reason to change that view.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeff-cooper/it-has-long-been-my-conviction-that-a-masked-man-with-a-gun-is-a/) [Jeff Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeff-cooper/) > [“His character would be blamed, loathed, discussed, and adored – but somewhere there, behind his mask of a hero, Cardew would remain faceless. Anonymous.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simona-panova/his-character-would-be-blamed-loathed-discussed-and-adored-but/) [Simona Panova](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simona-panova/) > [They look so expectant, and then they look so depressed... that was the other great lesson that The Royal Hunt of the Sun taught…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-shaffer/they-look-so-expectant-and-then-they-look-so-depressed-that-was-the/) [Peter Shaffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-shaffer/) > [“but at heart, he was still a coward which he masked by being a bully. ”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dirk-patton/but-at-heart-he-was-still-a-coward-which-he-masked-by-being-a-bully/) [Dirk Patton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dirk-patton/) ## More by Walter Savage Landor > [Nations, like individuals, interest us in their growth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-savage-landor/nations-like-individuals-interest-us-in-their-growth/) [Walter Savage Landor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-savage-landor/) > [Ah what avails the sceptred race, Ah what the form divine! What every virtue, every grace! Rose Aylmer, all were thine. Rose Aylmer, whom…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-savage-landor/ah-what-avails-the-sceptred-race-ah-what-the-form-divine-what-every/) [Walter Savage Landor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-savage-landor/) > [A solitude is the audience-chamber of God.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-savage-landor/a-solitude-is-the-audience-chamber-of-god/) [Walter Savage Landor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-savage-landor/) > [No ashes are lighter than those of incense, and few things burn out sooner.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-savage-landor/no-ashes-are-lighter-than-those-of-incense-and-few-things-burn-out/) [Walter Savage Landor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-savage-landor/) > [As there are some flowers which you should smell but slightly to extract all that is pleasant in them ... so there are some…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-savage-landor/as-there-are-some-flowers-which-you-should-smell-but-slightly-to/) [Walter Savage Landor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-savage-landor/) > [We talk on principle, but we act on interest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-savage-landor/we-talk-on-principle-but-we-act-on-interest/) [Walter Savage Landor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-savage-landor/) > [States, like men, have their growth, their manhood, their decrepitude, their decay.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-savage-landor/states-like-men-have-their-growth-their-manhood-their-decrepitude/) [Walter Savage Landor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-savage-landor/) > [The only effect of public punishment is to show the rabble how bravely it can be borne; and that every one who hath lost…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-savage-landor/the-only-effect-of-public-punishment-is-to-show-the-rabble-how/) [Walter Savage Landor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-savage-landor/) > [Every great writer is a writer of history, let him treat on almost what subject he may.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-savage-landor/every-great-writer-is-a-writer-of-history-let-him-treat-on-almost/) [Walter Savage Landor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-savage-landor/) > [I strove with none; for none was worth my strife.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-savage-landor/i-strove-with-none-for-none-was-worth-my-strife/) [Walter Savage Landor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-savage-landor/) > [The habit of pleasing by flattery makes a language soft; the fear of offending by truth makes it circuitous and conventional.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-savage-landor/the-habit-of-pleasing-by-flattery-makes-a-language-soft-the-fear-of/) [Walter Savage Landor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-savage-landor/) > [There is no eloquence which does not agitate the soul.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-savage-landor/there-is-no-eloquence-which-does-not-agitate-the-soul/) [Walter Savage Landor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-savage-landor/) > [We care not how many see us in choler, when we rave and bluster, and make as much noise and bustle as we can;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-savage-landor/we-care-not-how-many-see-us-in-choler-when-we-rave-and-bluster-and/) [Walter Savage Landor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-savage-landor/) > [Whatever is worthy to be loved for anything is worthy of preservation. A wise and dispassionate legislator, if any such should ever arise among…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-savage-landor/whatever-is-worthy-to-be-loved-for-anything-is-worthy-of-preservation/) [Walter Savage Landor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-savage-landor/) > [The present, like a note in music, is nothing but as it appertains to what is past and what is to come.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-savage-landor/the-present-like-a-note-in-music-is-nothing-but-as-it-appertains-to/) [Walter Savage Landor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-savage-landor/) [Explore all 245 Walter Savage Landor quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-savage-landor/) ## 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": "Ambition is but avarice on stilts, and masked.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Walter Savage Landor" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-savage-landor/ambition-is-but-avarice-on-stilts-and-masked/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Ambition" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-savage-landor/ambition-is-but-avarice-on-stilts-and-masked/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/856/walter-savage-landor-1404_ambition_ambition-is-but-avarice-on-stilts-and-ma_1028974.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/856/walter-savage-landor-1404_ambition_ambition-is-but-avarice-on-stilts-and-ma_1028974.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/856/walter-savage-landor-1404_ambition_ambition-is-but-avarice-on-stilts-and-ma_1028974.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Ambition is but avarice on stilts, and masked.” — Walter Savage Landor", "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": "Walter Savage Landor", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-savage-landor/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Ambition is but avarice on stilts,...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-savage-landor/ambition-is-but-avarice-on-stilts-and-masked/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-savage-landor/ambition-is-but-avarice-on-stilts-and-masked/#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 } } ] } ```