Tolstoy, Russian philosopher: “Ambition does not go well with kindness, but rather with pride, cunning, and cruelty”

Ambition is a driving force in many people’s behavior, pushing them to strive for something significant, often tied to power, wealth, fame, or personal growth. While ambition can involve positive qualities such as passion, hard work, and the pursuit of lofty goals, when taken to an extreme it can have the opposite effect. Instead of serving as healthy motivation for growth, it can turn into greed.

That is why it is important to stay grounded, remain aware of our circumstances and starting point, and set realistic goals, above all goals that are truly attainable. When the objective, or the “mountain to climb,” is too high or too steep, what begins as an epic struggle against oneself can ultimately become a clear act of self-sabotage.

Ambition does not go well with kindness

“In order to get power and retain it, it is necessary to love power; but love of power is not connected with goodness but with qualities that are the opposite of goodness, such as pride, cunning and cruelty.”

These are the words of Leo Tolstoy on the subject. The Russian writer and philosopher, widely regarded as one of the most important literary figures and thinkers in history, explored many dimensions of human life in his work, and ambition was one of them.

In this sense, Tolstoy presents ambition as a trait that does not naturally belong to a person whose defining quality is goodness. In fact, he suggests the opposite. For the Russian thinker, unchecked ambition can carry us into places where we do not truly want to be, places shaped more by pride, manipulation, and cruelty than by integrity or compassion.

Excessive ambition can corrupt the moral compass of those who allow themselves to be consumed by it. To avoid falling into that trap, the healthiest approach when setting future goals is to engage in honest self-reflection. Doing so helps us distinguish between aspirations that are realistic and meaningful and those that lie beyond our control or reach.

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