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.

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.

You are rewarding a teacher poorly if you remain always a pupil.

You are rewarding a teacher poorly if you remain always a pupil.

At the age of six I wanted to be a cook. At seven I wanted to be Napoleon. And my read more

At the age of six I wanted to be a cook. At seven I wanted to be Napoleon. And my ambition has been growing steadily ever since.

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.

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

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

Live neither in the past nor in the future, but let each day's work absorb your entire energies, and satisfy read more

Live neither in the past nor in the future, but let each day's work absorb your entire energies, and satisfy your widest ambition.

I strike the stars with by sublime head.
[Lat., Sublimi feriam sidera vertice.]

I strike the stars with by sublime head.
[Lat., Sublimi feriam sidera vertice.]

The men who succeed are the efficient few. They are the few who have the ambition and will power to read more

The men who succeed are the efficient few. They are the few who have the ambition and will power to develop themselves.