Sin, Ambition, and Virtue
"All sins have their origin in a sense of inferiority, otherwise called ambition. "
~ Cesar Pavese
"Though ambition in itself is a vice, it often is also the parent of virtue."
~ Edgar Quinet
Read and interpret the two quotations above. Which quotation fits your personal philosophy/experiences and WHY? Alternatively, you may explain why you agree with neither quotation.
Which quotation is more closely aligned with the first part of Macbeth and why? Please give a specific example in your response.
posted by Kristin L at 1:54 PM
22 Comments:
Okie Dokie-I don't think I did this right but here it goes........
1st quote: All sins can lower people and put them in their place, but ambition can also show who belongs where in rank.
2nd quote: Ambition can lead to really bad things, but it also leads to good things
I don't think that either quotation fits my personal philosophy/experiences. I'm not that ambitious and I don't think that being ambitious can put you in your place or tell you where you belong. Maybe I'm just interpreting these wrong, but I can't relate to either one.
I think that the second quote is more closely aligned with the first part of Macbeth. Macbeth has great ambition in that he wants the throne of scotland and will do anything to get that. But his ambition will lead him to do bad things. If he put that ambition to other use, he could really do something special.
All things that a person does are ambition to better themselves.
Only through ambition do we truly grow.
I would have to say that I relate more closely to the second quote. I firmly believe that as humans we only grow when we are challenged and that is what I am constantly at work on.
Macbeth however is more related to the first quote. Macbeth wants power and he has been told that he can get it so he has ambition and drive twoards his goal. Nothing will stand in his way to reach that as well.
1. Sins are rooted in ambition.
2. Sin can be an awful act, but we have the opportunity to learn from them.
I agree with the second one that sin is an evil thing, but we have the opportunity to make those mistakes and do better in the future. Some decisions will hurt us at the time, but they will help us learn to make life better by not being repetitive with them.
I think the first quote is more closely aligned with the first part of Macbeth because he knows that killing Duncan would be a bad thing, but he really wants to be the leader. His ambition seems to be taking over which will lead him to killing Duncan.
1. I think what the first quote is saying is that, sins come from ambition.
2. The second quote means virtue comes from ambition.
I think I relate more to the second quote because when I want to do something or become something, it usually is something that will better me. It usually is the right thing.
The first quote relates more to Macbeth. He wants to become king so bad. And he is willing to kill, to sin, just to become the king.
"All sins have their origin in a sense of inferiority, otherwise called ambition."~Cesar Pavese
-I agree with this quote because in my opinion most sins do come from ambition. I can't think of a time someone has sinned and it wasn't because of something they wanted to achieve or have. I also think this quote relates the most to Macbeth. He is going to sin and kill King Duncan merely because he wants to be king. He is planning on sinning because of something he wants.
“All sins have their origin in a sense of inferiority, otherwise called ambition.”
1. All sins have a beginning in a sense of not being as good as something else, otherwise called ambition.
2. I think that people want to be inferior to others and have a great ambition to do so. Sometimes ambition can go too far and can lead to sins. Therefore, I agree with this quote!
“Through ambition in itself, is a vice, it often is also the parent of virtue.”
1. Though only ambition, is immoral, it is also a great moral act .
2. Yes, ambition can be immoral and wrong when it goes to far, it can also do great things. I think ambition all depends on the person and how much they want something and if they can keep it from going wrong.
I think that the first quote shows the beginning of act I better. All sins do have an origin, and they usually begin with great ambition. Macbeth ambition started with wanting to be king, but quickly turned into a sin when he started thinking that he had to kill the king to be king. It started out as a want, but turned into something worse.
1st quote: all sins start when someone feels inferior, also called ambition. sins start by feeling inferior and are carried out by ambition.
2nd quote: ambition itself is a bad thing but it's often a good thing if it's used right.
I don't really beilive in any of them. I've never really viewed ambition as a bad thing. Oviously it can go wrong, but I think without it we would have nothing to drive us. Eveyone's life would be the same.
I think the first one fits for lady macbeth. She feels inferior for being a women, as we see think to herself, so to make her position more powerful she uses her drive of ambition to do what she thinks she must.
"All sins have their origin in a sense of inferiority, otherwise called ambition. "
~ Cesar Pavese
I think this quote means that when you want something you should go and get it. This might mean that nothing is to crazy when it comes to someone ambitions.
"Though ambition in itself is a vice, it often is also the parent of virtue."
~ Edgar Quinet
This I think means that even though someones ambitions are very imprortant some actions to get to them arent always right and there for should not be done.
I agree with the first quote because I will do anything to get what I want. I wont stop till I reach my goal. Sometimes the people that get stepped on need to step on someone thereselves.
All sins have their origin in a sense of inferiority, otherwise called ambition
I believe this quote is saying that sins occur because the person does not feel equal too the rest of society. This quote also states that ambition is not a driven determined mindset but instead a desire to better oneself due to feeling less than another person. The quote references ambition as a very negative aspect on life.
On the other hand, the quote from Quinet, "Though ambition in itself is a vice, it often is also the parent of virtue." portrays ambition as an initially aspect of life that, instead of being the origin of sin, can help man to better himself if used properly.
In terms of personal philosophy neither fit exactly (mainly because it's a personal philosophy :) ) but I am more in agreement with the second quote. This is simply because I believe that in life, not just ambition, one can find good in every aspect of life, regardless of its initial appearance. No matter how bad something is I (personally) believe that if one looks hard enough (and are creative) it's possible to find a Brightside, at least theoretically. This is not to say, of course that such a discovery will make it any better, hence the "theoretically" but isn't all of life a theory anyway?
However, in terms of Macbeth I relate more to the first quote. This is mainly because the play has not progressed far enough to understand the results of Macbeth's ambition in a "big picture" type sense. One can only see the immediate result which is the murder of the king. I also relate to quote one because I enjoy the concept of Macbeth's ambition being rooted in a feeling of inferiority with the king.
All sins are based off of ambition.
Often ambition itself can get you into a lot of trouble, sometimes good can come from ambition.
I think that I agree more with the second quote. Ambition, though dangerous can also be helpful. Ambition and motivation are closely related. Both can drive you to do things you never thought possible, for good or bad.
I think that Macbeth is more closely related to the first quote because so far we have only seen ambition tear Macbeth apart as he plans to kill the king.
1st quote: All sins come from ambition.
2nd quote: Ambition can be powerful in all ways, good or bad.
I wouldn say that the second quote fits my personal philosophy/ experiences. I have many goals in my life. My biggest one for example is not to waste life, and sometimes that can lead to great things, but sometimes it can get me into trouble or hurt.
I think that the first quote applies more to the act I because he has the ambition to become king, but he has to do something bad to get it.
1st quote: Sins start when someone feels inferior. Sins make you feel bad which them crates ambition.
2nd quote: ambition is a bad thing, but it can be a good thing if you use it in a good way.
My experiences have more to deal with Edgar Quinet’s quote because I think that when I have ambition its used in a bad way because of something bad happened. But when I feel the need to do right in these cases my ambition is a good thing and I think it can take me to good places in my lifetime to come (after high school).
I think the first one because when Macbeth learns that he has to sin, he was frightened and inferior. It made him feel bad and the need to hold back and thing about what he might do next.
1st quote: All sins stem from ambition.
2nd quote: Ambition can be strong and bad act but also can be very good.
Personally I think that the second quote fits my personality the most because the things I do can get me into trouble but also can be good for me and help me achieve things.
Macbeth is related closely to the first quote because Macbeth is just going to murder Duncan because of his own ambitions that he has to further himself in life. This is also not a good thing to do.
The first quote fits me the best. It has alot of truth in it. I think that people always do something out due to instinct. They drive to taco bell, to eat, or drive to hospital for help. It also fits Macbeth really well because Macbeths sins in the play are mostly an effect of the witches prophecy and his seductive wife.
1st quote- all sins are based off ambition
2nd quote- ambition has the posibility to lead to good things, as well as bad things, we just need to be careful about which way it leads us.
I think that the second quote fits me, and i agre with nathan that when we are challenged by any thing then we can build off of it and get stronger.
I think that the first act of Macbeth relates better to the first quote because Macbeth is trying to kill the king because he wants to be king so bad.
1st quote: Sins originate from a person's desires.
2nd quote:Although ambition can sometimes cause a person to sin, it can also be the cause of good things.
I do not think that either of these quotes fit my personality. I am generally an ambitious person but I don't think that my ambitions lead me to do what I know I know is wrong.
The first quote reminds me of Macbeth because Macbeth has the desire to be king and that ambition causes him to commit a murder.
I got my computer to work! So I’m just getting all of these in now.
Wow! Those are really tough. I THINK that the first one means that say you feel inferior about something you own compared to something some one else owns. Then you covet it. That is sin spawned from a feeling of inferiority. I’m not sure how that relates to ambition though.
The second one says that ambition is vice, in other words it’s an “immoral or evil habit or practice” (dictionary.com) but this evil in itself is a path to virtue or “moral excellence; goodness; righteousness” (dictionary.com). For example: you have the ambition, which is vice, or bad, to become some one righteous (priest, pastor, monk, sister, etc…), which is something good coming from that bad.
I do not agree 100% with the first one because I don’t think that ALL sin comes from a feeling of inferiority. I do on the other hand think that this one relates best to act one of Macbeth because Macbeth feels like he is in an inferior position after hearing that he has the potential to become king. This makes him covet the position of king and become willing to murder to get it.
I don’t agree with the second one totally either because I do not feel that all ambition is vice. For example, I am ambitious to become a successful person when I grow older. I do not feel that that is a bad thing.
Sorry it took so long to get this done, my computer and I don't get along very well. Anyways...
My article was about the terrible tragedy that was the Bingham family that got hit by a drunk driver near Christmas last year. The truck killed the wife and two children leaving only Frank Bingham. This accident affected my family directly because my stepmother knew their family really well.
I know that the Binghams had no control over what happened at all so it couldn’t have been choice. The problem is that I don’t believe in chance either, I believe that everything happens for a reason, so it couldn’t have been chance.
That is a very difficult question to answer. A tragedy that happens because of a bad choice is hard on two groups, the one that made the choice, and the one that was affected by it. The tragedy that happens by “chance” only affects one group, the one who was on the receiving end. So I think that a tragedy made by a choice is worse.
I think that the first quote is talking about how sin can be a virtue in the head but it can also be lower how people can over react to things that do not have to be blown out of porpotion.
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I agree with the first one because i am more driving to show people that i can do it and for an example with lacrosse you cant have anything lower than 2 f's or you cant play so i want to show the coach that i have ambition to play
I think that the first quote is more closely related to the first part of macbeth because he knows that killing King Duncan would be a bad thing but he wants to become the leader, so his ambition will take over and he will kill King Duncan
I love you for posting this! I'm working on the same exact thing for my english class. I was having a really hard time figuring out the first quote, now I got it. Thank you.
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