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.

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.

Who know but He, whose hand the lightning forms,
Who heaves old ocean, and who wings the storms,
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Who know but He, whose hand the lightning forms,
Who heaves old ocean, and who wings the storms,
Pours fierce ambition in a Caesar's mind.

Here may we reign secure, and in my choice
To reign is worth ambition, though in Hell.
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Here may we reign secure, and in my choice
To reign is worth ambition, though in Hell.
Better to reign in hell than serve in heaven.

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.

It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where read more

It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; because there is not effort without error and shortcomings; but who does actually strive to do the deed; who knows the great enthusiasm, the great devotion, who spends himself in a worthy cause, who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement and who at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly. So that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.

Very few people are ambitious in the sense of having a specific image of what they want to achieve. Most read more

Very few people are ambitious in the sense of having a specific image of what they want to achieve. Most people's sights are only toward the next run, the next increment of money.

What I aspired to be and was not, comforts me.

What I aspired to be and was not, comforts me.

When you go in search of honey you must expect to be stung by bees.

When you go in search of honey you must expect to be stung by bees.