"If you will look at your own heart and see when you are ambitious, when you are struggling to be somebody, spiritually or in the world, you find that there is the worm of fear inside it. The ambitious man is the most frightened man because he is afraid to be what he is, because he says, 'If I am what I am, I shall be nobody. Therefore, I must be somebody, I must become the engineer, the engine driver, the magistrate, the judge, the minister.'"

The Collected Works of J Krishnamurti, Vol.7 p.83


"...ambition and interest are two different things, are they not? I am interested in painting, I love it, I do not want to compete with the best painter or the most famous painter, I just love painting. You may be better at painting, but I do not compare myself with you. I love what I am doing when I paint; that in itself is sufficient for me."

Life Ahead, Pt.1 p.66-67


"...You want to have power, position, a better house, better cars. Have you ever understood that a man who is ambitious has no love in his heart."

Unknown source


"...The understanding of what one is uncovers creativeness, but comparison breeds competitiveness, ruthlessness, ambition, which we think brings about progress. Progress has only led so far to more ruthless wars and misery than the world has ever known. To bring up children without comparison is true education."

J. Krishnamurti, Krishnamurti, A Biography


"If we would live at peace with each other, surely ambition must come to an end - not only political, economic, social ambition, but also the more subtle and pernicious ambition, the spiritual ambition - to be something."

The First and Last Freedom, p.62