I had ambition not only to go farther than any man had ever been before, but as far as it read more

I had ambition not only to go farther than any man had ever been before, but as far as it was possible for a man to go.

Ambition is pitiless. Any merit that it cannot use it finds despicable.

Ambition is pitiless. Any merit that it cannot use it finds despicable.

Aim at the sun and you may not reach it; but your arrow will fly far higher than if you read more

Aim at the sun and you may not reach it; but your arrow will fly far higher than if you had aimed at an object on a level with yourself.

Though ambition in itself is a vice, it often is also the parent of virtue.

Though ambition in itself is a vice, it often is also the parent of virtue.

A noble man compares and estimates himself by an idea which is higher than himself; and a mean man, by read more

A noble man compares and estimates himself by an idea which is higher than himself; and a mean man, by one lower than himself. The one produces aspiration; the other ambition, which is the way in which a vulgar man aspires.

The man who seeks one thing in life, and but one,
May hope to achieve it before life be read more

The man who seeks one thing in life, and but one,
May hope to achieve it before life be done;
But he who seeks all things, wherever he goes,
Only reaps from the hopes which around him he sows
A harvest of barren regrets.

Most people would succeed in small things if they were not
troubled with great ambitions.

Most people would succeed in small things if they were not
troubled with great ambitions.

Oh, sons of earth! attempt ye still to rise.
By mountains pil'd on mountains to the skies?
read more

Oh, sons of earth! attempt ye still to rise.
By mountains pil'd on mountains to the skies?
Heav'n still with laughter the vain toil surveys,
And buries madmen in the heaps they raise.

Ambition should be made of sterner stuff.rn

Ambition should be made of sterner stuff.rn