Great minds have purposes; others have wishes. — Washington Irving
Achievement results from work realizing ambition. — Adam Ant
When performance exceeds ambition, the overlap is called success. — Cullen Hightower
As he was valiant, I honour him. But as he was ambitious, I slew him. — William Shakespeare
Death is nothing, but to live defeated and inglorious is to die daily. — Napoleon Bonaparte
Men are more often bribed by their loyalties and ambitions than by money. — Robert H. Jackson
Ambition is the path to success. Persistence is the vehicle you arrive in. — Bill Bradley
You must always strive to be the best, but you must never believe that you are. — Juan Manuel Fangio
I know nothing more worthy of a man’s ambition than that his son be the best of men. — Plato
Ambition may be defined as the willingness to receive any number of hits on the nose. — Wilfred Owen
I have a much greater ambition to be the best racket player than the best prose writer. — William Hazlitt
Man is the only creature that strives to surpass himself, and yearns for the impossible. — Eric Hoffer
Without ambition no conquests are made, and no business created. Ambition is the root of all achievement. — James A. Champy
Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Never allow anyone to take YOUR spirit away from you. — Khloe Kardashian
Ambition drove many men to become false; to have one thought locked in the breast, another ready on the tongue. — Sallust
The common faults of American language are an ambition of effect, a want of simplicity, and a turgid abuse of terms. — James F. Cooper
Mountains are not stadiums where I satisfy my ambition to achieve, they are the cathedrals where I practice my religion. — Anatoli Boukreev
There is a loftier ambition than merely to stand high in the world. It is to stoop down and lift mankind a little higher. — Henry Van Dyke
Nature that framed us of four elements, warring within our breasts for regiment, doth teach us all to have aspiring minds. — Niccolo Machiavelli
God made man to go by motives, and he will not go without them, any more than a boat without steam or a balloon without gas. — Henry Ward Beecher
A piercing satire, a poignant family drama and an investigation of the competing claims of honesty, loyalty, ambition and love. — A. O. Scott
Live neither in the past nor in the future, but let each day’s work absorb your entire energies, and satisfy your widest ambition. — William Osler
What argufies pride and ambition? Soon or late death will take us in tow: Each bullet has got its commission, And when our time’s come we must go. — Porfirio Diaz
If a man does not work passionately – even furiously – at being the best in the world at what he does, he fails his talent, his destiny, and his God. — George Lois
In any organization men would move up form the bottom to the top. That develops loyalty, ambition and talent, because there is a chance for promotion. — Alfred P. Sloan
Beware the viper in your closet. Isn’t that another thing you’re always saying, Father? Ambition and jealousy are at the heart of all betrayals. (Ryssa) — Sherrilyn Kenyon
You have to leave the city of your comfort and go into the wilderness of your intuition. What you’ll discover will be wonderful. What you’ll discover is yourself. — Alan Alda
Every actor’s greatest ambition is to create his own, definite and original role, a character with which he will always be identified. In my case, that role was Dracula. — Bela Lugosi
To be the best in your field is a great ambition, and requires discipline and a huge amount of effort. The athletes who possess this drive are the ones I am attracted to. — Giorgio Armani
Wisdom alone is true ambition’s aim, wisdom is the source of virtue and of fame; obtained with labour, for mankind employed, and then, when most you share it, best enjoyed. — Alfred North Whitehead
One of my ambitions has been to go back to what those great authors were doing then … to bridge that sensibility of old Victorian Gothic tales and reconstruct them in a modern way. — Carlos Ruiz Zafon
If you have a great ambition, take as big a step as possible in the direction of fulfilling it. The step may only be a tiny one, but trust that it may be the largest one possible for now. — Mildred H. McAfee
There’s a starting place. And that starting place for everyone is ambition. We’re all scared of that word today because they made it bad in the late ’80s. As if desire is not a good thing. — Brendon Burchard
Desiring to excel is not a sin. It is motivation that determines ambition’s character. Our Lord never taught against the urge to high achievement, but He did expose and condemn unworthy motivation. — J. Oswald Sanders
One of the things I realized early in my career is that you do what you believe, in knowing that if you don’t, you will never like yourself. When you compromise out of fear or ambition, it eats inside you. — Samuel Dash
There has to be this pioneer, the individual who has the courage, the ambition to overcome the obstacles that always develop when one tries to do something worthwhile, especially when it is new and different. — Alfred P. Sloan
On why I don’t trust democracy without extremely powerful systems of accountability and recall What seems to be generosity is often only disguised ambition – which despises small interests to gain great ones. — Francois de La Rochefoucauld
A belief in hell and the knowledge that every ambition is doomed to frustration at the hands of a skeleton have never prevented the majority of human beings from behaving as though death were no more than an unfounded rumor. — Aldous Huxley
If it awakens in us as a whole how important that is – the theme of how conquest and ambition are meaningless without contribution – I think then as a society we’re in better shape. I hope people are inspired to be the best. — Rob Morrow
An ambition which has conscience in it will always be a laborious and faithful engineer, and will build the road, and bridge the chasms between itself and eminent success by the most faithful and minute performances of duty. — Henry Ward Beecher
Religion united its influence with those of loyalty and love, and the order of knighthood, endowed with all the sanctity and religious awe that attended the priesthood, became an object of ambition to the greatest sovereigns. — Thomas Bulfinch
By Gryffindor, the bravest were Prized far beyond the rest; For Ravenclaw, the cleverest Would always be the best; For Hufflepuff, hard workers were Most worthy of admission; And power-hungry Slytherin Loved those of great ambition. — J. K. Rowling
Eleanor Roosevelt is a political force of enormous ambitions. I believe she is a menace, unscrupulous as to truth, vain and cynical – all with a pretense of exaggerated kindness and human feeling which deceives millions of gullible persons. — Westbrook Pegler
Some documentaries are made by people who are driven more by one particular story, or have different backgrounds or ambitions, but I’m always looking for projects that let me be the best filmmaker I can be, and to be stretched and grow further. — Lucy Walker
The desire to create continually is vulgar and betrays jealousy, envy, ambition. If one is something one really does not need to make anything –and one nonetheless does very much. There exists above the ”productive” man a yet higher species. — Friedrich Nietzsche
Hard, withering toil only can achieve a name; and long days and months and years must be passed in the chase of that bubble, reputation, which, when once grasped, breaks in your eager clutch into a hundred lesser bubbles, that soar above you still. — Donald Grant Mitchell
And out of that hopeless attempt has come nearly all that we call human history—money, poverty, ambition, war, prostitution, classes, empires, slavery—the long terrible story of man trying to find something other than God which will make him happy. — C. S. Lewis
What is wrong with the Iranians in addition to the nuclear bomb? This is the only country on Earth in the 21st century that has renewed imperialistic ambitions. They really want to become the hegemon of the Middle East in an age that gave up imperialism. — Shimon Peres
I had no ambitions to become an actor, whatsoever. I was just waiting for my films to get made and some friends of mine, out of the kindness of their hearts, because I was sitting around doing nothing, started casting me in small roles and the roles got bigger. — Danny Huston
To suggest that Quebecers willingly give up the chance to exercise fully their influence within the federal government would be to betray the historical role Quebec has always played in Confederation, and to undermine the legitimacy of their pride and ambitions. — Kim Campbell
Mr. Washington apologizes for injustice, he belittles the emasculating effects of caste distinctions, and opposes the higher training and ambitions of our brighter minds. The way for people to gain their reasonable rights is not by voluntarily throwing them away. — W. E. B. Du Bois
Moscow, breathing fire like a human volcano with its smoldering lava of passion, ambition and politics, its hurly-burly of meetings and entertainment, Moscow is less than twenty miles away. It’s always thirsting for something new, the newest events, the latest sensation. — Svetlana Alliluyeva
Even as a kid in drawing class, I had real ambition. I wanted to be the best in the class, but there was always some other feller who was better; so I thought, It cant be about being the best, it has to be about the drawing itself, what you do with it. Thats kind of stuck with me. — Damien Hirst
If you really want to become an actor, but only providing that acting doesn’t interfere with your golf game, political ambitions and your life, you don’t want to become an actor. Not only is acting more than a part time job, it’s more than a full time job. It’s a full time obsession. — Michael Caine
Christianity persecuted, tortured, and burned. Like a hound it tracked the very scent of heresy. It kindled wars, and nursed furious hatreds and ambitions… Man, far from being freed from his natural passions, was plunged into artificial ones quite as violent and much more disappointing. — George Santayana
How could I have been the valedictorian, the smartest, and never known Harlem existed? As a result, I began a lifelong learning experience, because I could not accept what the party line was with education – that these people want to live like this, these people don’t have ambition, they don’t want to work. You know, all the usual bullshit. — Lynne Stewart
I dread our own power, and our own ambition; I dread our being too much dreaded… We may say that we shall not abuse this astonishing, and hitherto unheard-of-power. But every other nation will think we shall abuse it. It is impossible but that, sooner or later, this state of things must produce a combination against us which may end in our ruin. — Edmund Burke
We’ve introduced the New Apollo Energy Act, which is, I think, safe to say the most comprehensive and aggressive bill that has been introduced in Congress because it does have the scale, scope, and ambition of the original Apollo Project, and it attacks the problem in every way you can imagine. There’s no silver bullet here, but there are lots of opportunities. — Jay Inslee
But the best, in my opinion, was the home life in the little flat–the ardent, voluble chats after the day’s study; the cozy dinners and fresh, light breakfasts; the interchange of ambitions–ambitions interwoven each with the other’s or else inconsiderable–the mutual help and inspiration; and–overlook my artlessness–stuffed olives and cheese sandwiches at 11 p.m. — O. Henry
The International Criminal Court, like most international institutions, is a wonderful idea. A noble idea. All it needs to work is planetary government, worldwide democracy and the triumph of reason over tribal loyalties, political doctrines and individual ambition. In other words, it requires that we all live in the world described by the “Star Trek” television shows. — James Lileks
O.J. Simpson existed in a bubble. So when Harry Edwards approached him about being involved in the Olympic Project for Human Rights, O.J.’s response was, famously, “I’m not black – I’m O.J.” O.J. had ambitions to be famous, rich and liked by everyone, and I think he understood that being political and militant as a black athlete was not a way to engender universal love. — Ezra Edelman
It is a true observation of ancient writers, that as men are apt to be cast down by adversity, so they, are easily satiated with prosperity, and that joy and grief produce the same effects. For whenever men are not obliged by necessity to fight they fight from ambition, which is so powerful a passion in the human breast that however high we reach we are never satisfied. — Niccolo Machiavelli
Ambition! We must be careful what we mean by it. If it means the desire to get ahead of other people – which is what I think it does mean – then it is bad. If it means simply wanting to do a thing well, then it is good. It isn’t wrong for an actor to want to act his part as well as it can possibly be acted, but the wish to have his name in bigger type than the other actors is a bad one. — C. S. Lewis
Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that but the really great make you feel that you too can become great. When you are seeking to bring big plans to fruition it is important with whom you regularly associate. Hang out with friends who are like-minded and who are also designing purpose-filled lives. Similarly be that kind of a friend for your friends. — Mark Twain
I’ve been very lucky at what’s happened in my career to date, but playing something as far from me as possible is an ambition of mine – anything from a mutated baddy in a comic book action thriller, to a detective. If anything, I’d like Gary Oldman’s career: he’s the perfect example of it. I’ve love to have a really broad sweep of characters – to be able to do something edgy, surprising and unfashionable. — Benedict Cumberbatch
I believe that there is one story in the world, and only one. . . . Humans are caught—in their lives, in their thoughts, in their hungers and ambitions, in their avarice and cruelty, and in their kindness and generosity too—in a net of good and evil. . . . There is no other story. A man, after he has brushed off the dust and chips of his life, will have left only the hard, clean questions: Was it good or was it evil? Have I done well—or ill? — John Steinbeck
Ordinary people do not question the commonly accepted version of reality. They conform to the standard values of subduing enemies and cherishing friends and family. Materialism, ambition and mundane achievements are the worldly hallmarks of success. We experience the phenomenal world and our minds as solid and truly existent. Very few people doubt these assertions and question their solidity. Yet, the process of disbelief is the first step on the spiritual path. — Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche
Ah, the truth, what a thing it is! I sacrifice so much for it, with people: I forego, for truth’s sake, discretion, loyalty, diplomacy, tact, polite manners, elegance, grace, poise, balance, good taste, conformity, image-role, fashionableness, polish, confidences, promises, ambition, consistency, identity, clarity, comprehensibleness, good will, hypocrisy, and lots of other things–amass sacrifice, at truth’s altar. God! is truth worth it? I hope it is. It better be, in fact. — Marvin L. Cohen
If you want to make it as a sportsperson – Become knowledgeable in the sport you want to participate in. Think about the sport and what it can offer in its entirety. You shouldn’t want to become a professional sportsperson because of the money. There’s a lot more to gain from being involved in sport. Work hard to get what you want. If it’s your ambition, go for it. You don’t have to be the best in the world to make it as an elite athlete. You need to be a grafter and be prepared to sacrifice. — Hope Powell
The Commonwealth of Learning is not at this time without Master-Builders, whose mighty Designs, in advancing the Sciences, will leave lasting Monuments to the Admiration of Posterity; But every one must not hope to be a Boyle, or a Sydenham; and in an Age that produces such Masters, as the Great-Huygenius, and the incomparable Mr. Newton, with some other of that Strain; ’tis Ambition enough to be employed as an Under-Labourer in clearing Ground a little, and removing some of the Rubbish, that lies in the way to Knowledge. — John Locke
We pledge our loyalty; we affirm our determination to be of good courage; we declare, sometimes even publicly, that come what may we will do the right thing, that we will stand for the right cause, that we will be true to ourselves and to others. Then the pressures begin to build. Sometimes these are social pressures. Sometimes they are personal appetites. Sometimes they are false ambitions. There is a weakening of the will. There is a softening of discipline. There is capitulation. And then there is remorse, self-accusation, and bitter tears of regret. — Gordon B. Hinckley
As he was valiant, I honour him. But as he was ambitious, I slew him. — William Shakespeare
Ambition may be defined as the willingness to receive any number of hits on the nose. — Wilfred Owen
Most of our pocket wisdom is conceived for the use of mediocre people, to discourage them from ambitious attempts, and generally console them in their mediocrity. — Robert Louis Stevenson
When you are starting out you’re inspired by so many different things, you just want to be the best, man…and you’re just so ambitious; your drive is just at a million! — Ginuwine
Do all the other things, the ambitious things – travel, get rich, get famous, innovate, lead, fall in love, make and lose fortunes…but as you do, to the extent that you can, err in the direction of kindness. — George Saunders
Great nations are simply the operating fronts of behind-the-scenes, vastly ambitious individuals who had become so effectively powerful because of their ability to remain invisible while operating behind the national scenery. — R. Buckminster Fuller
Once the rudiments of loyalty are in place, the ambitious have been inclined to work with them to promote their own political advancement, and they have availed themselves of the symbols of loyalty to mobilize popular support for their own personal ends. — Michael Waller
I’ve overcome a lot – sexual abuse, death of a loved one, bad parents and experienced life. My nature is such I not only survived all this but I have thrived. I’ve always been psychologically ambitious in that I’ve never been willing to settle emotionally for anything less then what’s needed. I’ve wanted more then that from life. — Augusten Burroughs
