Ambition Monster Quotes

“How much do we need to endure early in order to justify feeling messed up later?”
― Jennifer Romolini, Ambition Monster: A Memoir

“Above all else, overwork was a distraction that blotted out the dull, but ambient emotional discomfort that was always there, a feeling of unworthiness that I’ve been running from my entire life. Work made me feel like I was somebody other than the unlovable monster I was quite sure I was inside. It allowed me to feel that if I cosplayed long enough as a cool and confident professional, I could obliterate that monster for good.”
― Jennifer Romolini, Ambition Monster: A Memoir

“And whether I like him or not, I like the way the relationship looks for me, how people think I’m something just because he’s decided I am.”
― Jennifer Romolini, Ambition Monster: A Memoir

“The truth about New York City is it won’t clean you up, but it will never judge your mess.”
― Jennifer Romolini, Ambition Monster: A Memoir

“With more success, there’s more depth to bury internal wounds. Wounds that, no matter how hard we push, no external accomplishment—or geographic change—can possibly heal.”
― Jennifer Romolini, Ambition Monster: A Memoir

“It took me years to discover there’s no dream job to chase, no have-it-all fairy tale, no happy ending in which to escape. The story is never so pretty or so neat. The best is often what’s right in front of you; the hardest, most ambitious goal is to stop running from yourself.”
― Jennifer Romolini, Ambition Monster: A Memoir

“My many learned trauma responses - my time as a female on a planet that secretly and not so secretly reviles females; my endless validation seeking; my all-consuming need to be a good girl who succeeded at work, who never let a ball drop, who exceeded any and all expectations; the violent shame spirals I’d experience at even a hint that I’d let someone down or done something wrong - all of it set me up to keep working at an unnatural pace for longer than one naturally could or should.”
― Jennifer Romolini, Ambition Monster: A Memoir

“Most of us are quick to judge “bad” parents and “bad” parenting. We feel we inherently know what is right and what is wrong when it comes to raising a child. The truth is, parenting is an emotional cataclysm in the best of circumstances. Add in a few extra extraordinarily common wrenches – generational trauma, socioeconomic hardship, neurodivergence – and there’s almost no way to not fuck up your kids.”
― Jennifer Romolini, Ambition Monster: A Memoir

“Work was an eager lover I never said no to. A constant I could count on. I was good at working and I liked the way it made me feel: important, self-reliant, stable, strong. I worked as a safeguard against failure and financial ruin, to maintain a life station and status I’d hustled so hard to achieve, to keep up professional appearances, to hoard a bit of clout.”
― Jennifer Romolini, Ambition Monster: A Memoir