Forbes Asia — December 2017

“If you would hit the mark, you must aim a

little above it; every arrow that flies feels the

attraction of the earth.”

—HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW

“Would you give

up the craft of

your hands, and

the passion of

your heart, and

the hunger of

your mind, to

buy safety?”

—URSULA K. LEGUIN

FINAL

THOUGHT

“Ambition is best

not naked.”

—MALCOLM FORBES

THOUGHTS ON

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP CENTER: ART COLLECTION/ALAMY; HULTON ARCHIVE/GETTY IMAGES; CULTURE CLUB/GETTY IMAGES; HULTON-DEUTSCH COLLECTION/CORBIS/GETTY IMAGES; JOHN LINDSAY/AP; BETTMANN/GETTY IMAGES

“’TIS NOT WHAT A

MAN DOES THAT

EXALTS HIM, BUT

WHAT A MAN

WOULD DO.”

—ROBERT BROWNING

“FIRST

THINGS

FIRST;

SECOND

THINGS

NEVER.”

—SHIRLEY CONRAN

SOURCES: POETICAL SKETCHES, BY WILLIAM BLAKE; SAUL, BY ROBERT BROWNING; THE TIMES BOOK OF

QUOTATIONS; ELEGIAC VERSE, BY HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW; THE DEVIL’S DICTIONARY,

BY AMBROSE BIERCE; OXFORD DICTIONARY OF MODERN QUOTATIONS; SUPERWOMAN, BY SHIRLEY CONRAN;

THE UNABRIDGED JOURNALS OF SYLVIA PLATH; THE FARTHEST SHORE, BY URSULA K. LEGUIN.

“THERE IS ALWAYS

ROOM AT THE TOP.”
—DANIEL WEBSTER

Ambition

“Ambition, n. An overmastering desire to be vilified by enemies

while living and made ridiculous by friends when dead.”

—AMBROSE BIERCE

“Ambition is

the growth of

ev’ry clime.”

—WILLIAM BLAKE

“ALL MY LIFE

I WANTED TO

BE SOMEBODY.

NOW I SEE THAT

I SHOULD HAVE

BEEN MORE

SPECIFIC.”

—JANE WAGNER

“At age 6 I wanted
to be a cook. At
7 I wanted to be
Napoleon. And my
ambition has been
growing steadily
ever since.”
—SALVADOR DALÍ

96 | FORBES ASIA DECEMBER 2017

“The trouble

with fulfilling

your ambitions is

you think you’ll

be transformed

into some sort of

archangel, and you’re

not. You still have to

wash your socks.”

—LOUIS DE BERNIÈRES

“The future is what matters,

because one never reaches it,

but always stays in the present.”

—SYLVIA PLATH

“MAY HE GIVE YOU THE DESIRE OF YOUR

HEART AND MAKE ALL YOUR PLANS SUCCEED.”

—PSALM 20:4

“Desire makes everything

blossom; possession makes

everything wither and fade.”

—MARCEL PROUST

“Well is it known

that ambition

can creep as

well as soar.”

—EDMUND BURKE

“FAIN WOULD I CLIMB, YET FEAR I TO FALL.”
—WALTER RALEIGH