---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Ambition may be defined as the…"
description: "\"Ambition may be defined as the willingness to receive any number of hits on the nose.\" — Wilfred Owen"
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dee/wilfred-owen-4642_ambition_ambition-may-be-defined-as-the-willingne_207224.png"
---

#  Ambition may be defined as the willingness to receive any…

![“Ambition may be defined as the willingness to receive any number of hits on the nose.” quote by Wilfred Owen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dee/wilfred-owen-4642_ambition_ambition-may-be-defined-as-the-willingne_207224.png)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dee/wilfred-owen-4642_ambition_ambition-may-be-defined-as-the-willingne_207224.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dee/wilfred-owen-4642_ambition_ambition-may-be-defined-as-the-willingne_207224.png)

> “Ambition may be defined as the willingness to receive any number of hits on the nose.”

[Wilfred Owen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilfred-owen/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

Ambition involves enduring repeated setbacks and criticism while persisting toward a goal.

**In simple terms:** Ambition means taking hits and keeping going.

Key Takeaway

Accept criticism as part of growth.

Themes

ambition resilience criticism

Mood

determined serious

Type

motivational reflective

When to use this quote

- career advancement
- artistic pursuits
- sports competition
- entrepreneurship

Key Concepts

psychology motivation

Questions to Reflect On

- Are you learning from each setback?
- When do you need to pause?

A Different Perspective

Excessive hits can lead to burnout if not balanced with self‑care.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Ambition](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ambition/) [Willingness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/willingness/)

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> [If you keep your nose to the grindstone, you don’t have any nose,](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/les-wexner/if-you-keep-your-nose-to-the-grindstone-you-don-t-have-any-nose/)

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> [A person is unlucky who falls on his back and breaks his nose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/french-proverb/a-person-is-unlucky-who-falls-on-his-back-and-breaks-his-nose/)

French Proverb

> [People say am shy,but hey am not, I just cant help it poking my nose around.!!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/crosby-kwaw/people-say-am-shy-but-hey-am-not-i-just-cant-help-it-poking-my-nose/)

[Crosby Kwaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/crosby-kwaw/)

> [I'll always be this once-famous actress nobody recognises because of a nose job.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-grey/i-ll-always-be-this-once-famous-actress-nobody-recognises-because-of/)

[Jennifer Grey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-grey/)

> [Like, if you look at Heidi Montag, who got 10 surgeries she didn't need, I think that's unfortunate. I've always been voluptuous with a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/holly-madison/like-if-you-look-at-heidi-montag-who-got-10-surgeries-she-didn-t-need/)

[Holly Madison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/holly-madison/)

> [If the first bite is with the eye and the second with the nose, some people will never take that third, actual bite if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yotam-ottolenghi/if-the-first-bite-is-with-the-eye-and-the-second-with-the-nose-some/)

[Yotam Ottolenghi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yotam-ottolenghi/)

> [“I had a nose tickle.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-pine/i-had-a-nose-tickle/)

[Chris Pine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-pine/)

> [I've hated my nose since I was 13.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/farrah-abraham/i-ve-hated-my-nose-since-i-was-13/)

[Farrah Abraham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/farrah-abraham/)

> [“To recognize bullshit, nose is better than ear.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toba-beta/to-recognize-bullshit-nose-is-better-than-ear/)

[Toba Beta](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toba-beta/)

> [We always want what we don't have, and I'd like a long, sophisticated nose rather than a short, turned-up one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/darcey-bussell/we-always-want-what-we-don-t-have-and-i-d-like-a-long-sophisticated/)

[Darcey Bussell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/darcey-bussell/)

> [Since I was a little child, my nose - I think it's too big.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/celine-dion/since-i-was-a-little-child-my-nose-i-think-it-s-too-big/)

[Celine Dion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/celine-dion/)

## More by Wilfred Owen

> [Was it for this the clay grew tall?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilfred-owen/was-it-for-this-the-clay-grew-tall/)

[Wilfred Owen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilfred-owen/)

> [The war effects me less than it ought. I can do no service to anybody by agitating for news or making dole over the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilfred-owen/the-war-effects-me-less-than-it-ought-i-can-do-no-service-to-anybody/)

[Wilfred Owen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilfred-owen/)

> [Escape? There is one unwatched way: your eyes. O Beauty! Keep me good that secret gate.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilfred-owen/escape-there-is-one-unwatched-way-your-eyes-o-beauty-keep-me-good/)

[Wilfred Owen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilfred-owen/)

> [And by his smile, I knew that sullen hall, By his dead smile I knew we stood in Hell.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilfred-owen/and-by-his-smile-i-knew-that-sullen-hall-by-his-dead-smile-i-knew-we/)

[Wilfred Owen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilfred-owen/)

> [Walking abroad, one is the admiration of all little boys, and meets an approving glance from every eye of elderly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilfred-owen/walking-abroad-one-is-the-admiration-of-all-little-boys-and-meets-an/)

[Wilfred Owen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilfred-owen/)

> [Those who, like the beasts, have no such Hope, pass their old age shrouded with an inward gloom.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilfred-owen/those-who-like-the-beasts-have-no-such-hope-pass-their-old-age/)

[Wilfred Owen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilfred-owen/)

> [The English say, Yours Truly, and mean it. The Italians say, I kiss your feet, and mean, I kick your head.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilfred-owen/the-english-say-yours-truly-and-mean-it-the-italians-say-i-kiss-your/)

[Wilfred Owen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilfred-owen/)

> [“These are men whose minds the Dead have ravished. Memory fingers in their hair of murders Multitudinous murders they once witnessed. Wading sloughs of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilfred-owen/these-are-men-whose-minds-the-dead-have-ravished-memory-fingers-in/)

[Wilfred Owen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilfred-owen/)

> [Was it for this the clay grew tall? O what made fatuous sunbeams toil To break earth's sleep at all?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilfred-owen/was-it-for-this-the-clay-grew-tall-o-what-made-fatuous-sunbeams-toil/)

[Wilfred Owen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilfred-owen/)

> [I was a boy when I first realized that the fullest life liveable was a Poet's](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilfred-owen/i-was-a-boy-when-i-first-realized-that-the-fullest-life-liveable-was/)

[Wilfred Owen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilfred-owen/)

> [And some cease feeling Even themselves or for themselves. Dullness best solves The tease and doubt of shelling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilfred-owen/and-some-cease-feeling-even-themselves-or-for-themselves-dullness/)

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> [“Sleep mothered them; and left the twilight sad.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilfred-owen/sleep-mothered-them-and-left-the-twilight-sad/)

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> [After all my years of playing soldiers, and then of reading History, I have almost a mania to be in the East, to see…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilfred-owen/after-all-my-years-of-playing-soldiers-and-then-of-reading-history-i/)

[Wilfred Owen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilfred-owen/)

> [My subject is war, and the pity of war.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilfred-owen/my-subject-is-war-and-the-pity-of-war/)

[Wilfred Owen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilfred-owen/)

> [She is elegant rather than belle.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilfred-owen/she-is-elegant-rather-than-belle/)

[Wilfred Owen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilfred-owen/)

[Explore all 108 Wilfred Owen quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilfred-owen/)

## 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/)

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[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/)

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[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/)

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