Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius once said, “A man’s worth is no greater than the worth of his ambitions” (Burton). All people want to be successful and have recognition for their hard work and achievement, whether it is in their career, in school, or in sports. To accomplish this success, people must have drive and determination; they must be ambitious. Every person has some sort of personal desire, something they want to attain, or a goal they yearn to reach. Many people find this term hard to grasp, often confusing it with other words, and only look at the positive connotations of the term and forget the negative aspects that it brings about. Ambition can be analyzed through the word’s origin, behaviors of ambitious people, examples that support …show more content…
One of the greatest leaders of all time was Martin Luther King Jr. He worked to establish equal rights of African Americans through peaceful protests and movements and used ambition as a driving force to carry out his actions to reach his goal. Although he did not know what the outcome would be, King was persistent, never dismayed, and took defeat as motivation to continue. All of King’s hard work and determination soon paid off after the ending of legal segregation of African Americans and the passing of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (Biography.com Eds.). By this, King pressed to do something that would give African Americans equality and would make renown history because he wanted to see a change in the world. Another example of an ambitious person is businessman Bill Gates. As a child growing up in the Great Depression, his parents encouraged competition, teaching him to take nothing for granted and work hard. Gates was a great student, but his introduction and fascination with computers led him to pursue what he was passionate about and dropped out of college. At the age of 21, Gates founded Microsoft, which gave way to his success as an entrepreneur. His company then attained the title of the world’s largest software business and continues to dominate. His ambition, intelligence, drive, and competitiveness led him to …show more content…
Ambition is sometimes thought of as the acceptable form of greed which is the “inordinate or insatiate longing, esp. for wealth; avaricious or covetous desire” (“greed, n.”). People often disapprove some of the manifestations of ambition, saying that it is often excessive, and makes one believe that he needs something he simply just wants. Greed is not for the greater good, but for selfish interest and reduces our focus to the pursuit of the object (Burton). Also, too much ambition can create a problem because it negatively affects the mind and makes one become obsessive. This is excessive ambition to the point where one’s focus is shifted to where they lose practicality and balance between their lives and their goal. Over-ambition leads people to make illogical decisions that cause them to fall into tunnel vision with the belief that their goal is of utmost importance. For instance, in The Tragedy of Macbeth, ambition is the key motif of the downfall of Macbeth. After Macbeth becomes king, the power overtakes him and he becomes more worried about his own desires than the good of his people. Macbeth chose to ultimately make the wrong moral choice and waved off his negative ambitious intentions, saying, “I have no spur / To prick the side of my intent, but only / Vaulting ambition, which o’erleaps itself / And falls on the other” (1.7.27-30). He
Any goal in life is achieved through ambition, fueled by determination, desire and hard work. Ambition maybe a driving force to success or to a pit of failure, the path chosen by an individual determines the end. Remember that any goal to be fulfilled needs desire, desire that strives to do good or greedy desire that is selfish. Also the actions that contribute to our ‘hard work’ need to be morally and ethically right to enjoy the sweet success. However, when the desire and determination is stronger than conscience, many tend to fail often reach or don’t reach what they strived for, leaving them emotionally or even physically dead. The inner lying consequence of ambition is clearly stated by Napoleon, he quotes “Great ambition is the passion of a great character. Those endowed with it may perform very good or very bad acts. All depends on the principals which direct them”. The undesirable consequence of ambition can be observed in the lives of the protagonists of ‘The Great Gatsby and Macbeth. This describes the direction in which ambition is driven could change the end result, it is simply based on the individual itself rather than the dream they seek to achieve. Therefore, the strong drive of ambition helps the seeker attain their goal but greedy desires and wrong paths taken eventually lead to downfall.
Ambition is a force that helps drive societies forward. When the power of a nation falls in the hands of a single person ambition takes many spectacular and ugly forms. It can be both the making and destruction of that person but regardless of the net effect, ambition will have deep socio-economic, political, and cultural roots. Three dictators were taken by ambition and it pushed them into a costly, long, battle to obtain and maintain power. Those leaders are Macbeth, Idi Amin, and, Napoleon Bonaparte.
Having just enough ambition is what will drive people to be great and do great. Ambition is what makes us accomplish things without backing down until we get to where we want to be. Beowulf not once ever doubted himself, he did consider that things could happen but he had the upmost confidence that he would
Ambition seems to be in all men, and all men strive to fill their need for it.
Many people have a strong desire and determination to do or achieve something that will make their lives better. This is called ambition. In Macbeth and Frankenstein, William Shakespeare and Mary Shelley depict ambition as a common flaw in the main characters. Although both stories are remarkably different, they depict how ambition can be a major factor to the downfall of a person.
Ambition is frequently seen as desirable - it provides purpose, motivation to work hard, and a goal to strive towards. Yet it also has a dangerous side, when it becomes too great and out of control. Although ambition is often positive, excess of it can have detrimental effects. This unrestrained ambition is predominant in the tragedy of Macbeth. In this play, Shakespeare employs the use of hallucination, blood, and prophecy motifs to emphasize the theme of ambition, which, when goes unchecked by moral constraints, wreaks destruction upon an individual.
Many people have different definitions of the two words, “greed” and “ambition”; some may say they are negative traits and some may say they are positive traits. Ambition is the burning desire and urge to aspire to complete your goals or succeed. Ambition can be a great thing if it is used to better a situation, but sometimes it is used negatively. Another word that can be a positive force or a negative force to acquire something is greed. Greed is something almost everyone has. It is the selfish desire to acquire more than one needs. Greed can also be a positive thing, but normally it is a defective trait, that brings out the worst in people. It results in the need for more and it increases, causing the person to never be satisfied. There
Therefore the ambition and desire is both a want and a need, it brings peace and comfort but also invades our decision making to figure out the fastest way to meet our goal, which in effect can harm family, friends, and one’s self without guilt.
This is a charateristc that holds the focus of many studies, debates, and people; but like Bonaparte said, it can serve it’s master for the better, or become a huge hinderance to everyone around it. Ambition, a force that drive humans and animals alike to achieve more, is addressed in The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho, Jeffery Kluger’s article, “Ambition: Why Some People Are Most Likely to Succeed”, and in W. H. Auden’s poem “Musee des Beaux Arts”, as having both positive effects, such as increased
...rn day society, illusive ambitions can be incredibly detrimental, just as they are demonstrated to be in Macbeth. Ambitions, if they are untamed, can be an impediment to free will; they can overpower your good conscience, possibly leading you into causing death and destruction. They can also corrupt one’s mental health, while practically morphing that person’s perception of reality into something demonstrably wrong and twisted. Finally, they can boost ones ego to a point where that person is engulfed and imprisoned in the vehemence of their own denial, which can ultimately bear fatal consequences. If one’s hopes and desires are innately destructive, then it logically follows that that one’s ambition is also innately destructive; be wary of one with an immense ambition.
People hear and read about people who go against the normal way of thinking; against the machine. People hear and read about people who dare to do what nobody else does. Motivation and hard work is what separates the ones who wanted to be great, and the ones who were. My personal goals are
Ambition is a strong desire or drive to succeed or achieve something. It can help a person to strive at getting something they want. If someone wants something badly enough, their ambition will help them not give up until they achieve at getting what they want. But also, if a person has too much ambition, it could make that person do destructive things to get what they want and they will hurt anyone or anything that gets in their way.
Evver since I was a little boy, I have always been ambitious. But who wasn’t? Before writing this paper, I did a little research to help me better understand the different forms of ambition, and if it differs between younger and older groups of people. I sat and asked my little brother what he ...
An ambition is an eager, and sometimes an inordinate, desire for preferment, honor, superiority, power, or the attainment of something. To obtain object or goal that is immensely desired. It comes from the Middle English word “ambicioun,” meaning and excessive desire for power, money or wealth. Ambition is something that everyone, no matter their age or cultural background, has instinctively. Ambition can be a driving force for success, or in some cases a road to failure. Through ambitious undertakings we can set goals and find ourselves and our God-given talents.
Ambition is defined as a strong desire to do or to achieve something, typically requiring determination and hard work. Some may look at this to as a bad thing or a good thing. Some may say that i moderation it is fine. For example, in Julius Caesar, Brutus kills Caesar for having too much ambition. A tragic fall is considered when the main character lets something less than what they are bring them down. When they let their flaw get to them and drive them towards their own demise. The reason people see this is a bad thing is because it can lead to making the person do bad things that will result in possibly dangerous consequences. The reason why some may think ambition is good is because sometimes it is the only thing motivating someone