Quotes by Krishnamurti
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Ambition

Ambition darkens the mind
Ambition produces certain industrial benefits, but in its wake there is the darkening of the mind.
—KRISHNAMURTI
Krishnamurti in Bombay 1953, Talk 10
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Ambition is a form of power
Ambition is a form of power, the desire for power over oneself and others, the power to do something better than anybody else. In ambition is a sense of comparison, and so the ambitious man is not a creative man, is never a happy man; in himself he is discontented.
—KRISHNAMURTI
Krishnamurti at Rajghat 1954, Talk 8
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Is there a different way of doing things without ambition, a different way of living, acting, building, inventing, without this struggle of competition in which there is cruelty and which ultimately ends in war? I think there is a different way but that way requires doing something contrary to all the established customs of thought. When we are seeking a result, to us the important thing is the result, not the thing we do, in itself. Can we understand and love the thing which we are doing, without caring for what it will produce, what it will get us, or what name or what reputation we will have?

The ambitious are afraid
The ambitious man is afraid to be what he is.
—KRISHNAMURTI
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A mind free of ambition flowers in goodness
A mind that is not concerned with itself, that is free of ambition, a mind that not caught up in its own desires or driven by its own pursuit of success – such a mind is not shallow and it flowers in goodness.
—KRISHNAMURTI
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Society is based on ambition
Society is based on ambition and conflict, and almost everyone accepts this fact as inevitable
—KRISHNAMURTI
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I wonder if that would happen if we saw the whole significance of the problem? We might not live according to the usual pattern, but we would live creatively and happily, with a wholly different out look. Such a state cannot be brought about if we accept the present social pattern as inevitable. But do ambition, competition and conflict constitute a predestined and inevitable way of life? You evidently assume that they do. Now let us begin from there. Why do you take this competitive way of life to be the only process of existence?

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