"I've always been ambitious to be very good at what I do"
About this Quote
Ambition is often treated like bad manners in women, especially women expected to be “naturally” gifted, pleasantly grateful, and quietly replaceable. Glenda Jackson’s line refuses that script with a brisk, almost unsentimental clarity: she didn’t just want to act, she wanted to be very good at it, and she’s not going to apologize for wanting that.
The phrasing matters. “Always” frames drive as identity, not a phase or a reaction to circumstance. “Ambitious” is the word people use to praise men and police women; Jackson claims it openly, stripping it of shame. Then she narrows the target: not fame, not visibility, not being liked, but competence. “Very good at what I do” lands like a craftsman’s standard. It’s also a quiet rebuke to an industry that routinely mistakes women’s work for charisma and their success for luck.
Context deepens the steeliness. Jackson wasn’t just a celebrated actor; she walked away at the height of her career to enter politics, then returned and won again. That biography turns the quote into more than a tidy pull-line about professionalism. It reads as a philosophy of self-determination: the refusal to be defined by a single lane, the insistence that excellence is earned, and the confidence to measure herself by her own yardstick.
Subtext: respect is not a gift. It’s a result. And she intends to collect it the hard way.
The phrasing matters. “Always” frames drive as identity, not a phase or a reaction to circumstance. “Ambitious” is the word people use to praise men and police women; Jackson claims it openly, stripping it of shame. Then she narrows the target: not fame, not visibility, not being liked, but competence. “Very good at what I do” lands like a craftsman’s standard. It’s also a quiet rebuke to an industry that routinely mistakes women’s work for charisma and their success for luck.
Context deepens the steeliness. Jackson wasn’t just a celebrated actor; she walked away at the height of her career to enter politics, then returned and won again. That biography turns the quote into more than a tidy pull-line about professionalism. It reads as a philosophy of self-determination: the refusal to be defined by a single lane, the insistence that excellence is earned, and the confidence to measure herself by her own yardstick.
Subtext: respect is not a gift. It’s a result. And she intends to collect it the hard way.
Quote Details
| Topic | Work Ethic |
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