“A slave has but one master; an ambitious man has as many as there are people useful to his fortune.”
What this quote means
La Bruyère, a 17th-century moralist, paints a scathing portrait of the ambitious man: whereas a slave has only one master, the ambitious man subjects himself to all who can help him climb the ladder. This multiple dependence is a form of modern slavery, where one sacrifices independence and dignity for power. The quote invites us to reflect on our own compromises and the value of our freedom.
How to apply it daily
Identify the people on whom you depend excessively for your career or status, and seek to reduce that dependence by cultivating your autonomy.
Continue
Related quotes
Same author or same theme — keep reading.
“I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”Create visual
“Very few of us are what we seem.”Create visual
“The meeting of two personalities is like the contact of two chemical substances: if there is any reaction, both are transformed.”Create visual
“Monsters are real, and ghosts are real too. They live inside us, and sometimes, they win.”Create visual
“Nothing is so painful to the human mind as a great and sudden change.”Create visual
“The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in the mind at the same time, and still retain the ability to function.”Create visual