Source: Culture and Value (1980), p. 77e
“Ambition is the death of thought.”
Elias Canetti (1905–1994) Bulgarian-born Swiss and British jewish modernist novelist, playwright, memoirist, and non-fiction writer
Ehrgeiz ist der Tod des Denkens.
J. Agee, trans. (1989), p. 41
Das Geheimherz der Uhr [The Secret Heart of the Clock] (1987)
Joseph Addison (1672–1719) politician, writer and playwright
No. 256 (24 December 1711)
The Spectator (1711–1714)
“We trouble our life by thoughts about death, and our death by thoughts about life.”
Michel De Montaigne (1533–1592) (1533-1592) French-Occitan author, humanistic philosopher, statesman
Source: The Essays: A Selection
“Death is repose, but the thought of death disturbs all repose.”
Cesare Pavese (1908–1950) Italian poet, novelist, literary critic, and translator
This Business of Living (1935-1950)
“How much more suffering is caused by the thought of death than by death itself.”
Will Durant (1885–1981) American historian, philosopher and writer
Source: The Story of Philosophy: The Lives and Opinions of the World's Greatest Philosophers
Louis-ferdinand Céline (1894–1961) French writer
16
Mea culpa; suivi de la vie et l'oeuvre de Semmelweis (1937)
“Ambition must be made to counteract ambition.”
James Madison (1751–1836) 4th president of the United States (1809 to 1817)
Federalist No. 51 (6 February 1788)
1780s, Federalist Papers (1787–1788)
