Ambition

Don't aim to be an earthly saint,
With eyes fixed on a star:
Just try to be the fellow that
Your mother thinks you are.
~ Will S. Adkin, If I Only was the Fellow

Of all the passions which possess the soul,
None so disturbs vain mortals' minds,
As vain Ambition.
~ Sir William Alexander, Earl of Stirling, The Tragedie of Darius (1603).

You've got to push yourself harder. You've got to start looking for pictures nobody else could take. You've got to take the tools you have and probe deeper.
~ William Albert Allard, The Photographic Essay (American Photographer Master Series, 1989).

[Y]ou came to climb,
And you endure --
So turn your face to the rock of Time,
Make one more foothold sure!
~ William Rose Benét, from Starry Harness (1933).

Ambition is the growth of every clime.
~ William Blake, from Poetical Sketches (1783). King Edward the Third

Some men's ambition is art.
Some men's ambition is fame.
Some men's ambition is gold.
My ambition is the souls of men.
~ William Booth, Interview with King Edward VII. Buckingham Palace, London, England (24 June 1904).

A wonderful transformation will take place in this old world when all are animated by a desire to contribute to the public good rather than by an ambition to absorb as much as possible from society.
~ William Jennings Bryan, from In His Image (1922). VIII: His Government And Peace

It is not strange that our highest ideals should be above our own conduct; for unless the ideal is above us, it is not an inspiration, it does not lead us on.
~ William Jennings Bryan, Address at the National Peace Conference, New York (17 April 1907).

While the day lingers, do thy best!
Full soon the night will bring its rest.
~ William Henry Burleigh, in Poems By William Henry Burleigh With A Sketch of His life (1871). The Harvest Call

In greatest storms I sit on shore
And laugh at them that toil in vain
To get what must be lost again.
~ William Byrd, from Psalmes, Sonets and Songs of Sadnes and Pietie, Made Into Musicke Of Fiue Parts (1588).

I came upstairs into the world; for I was born in a cellar.
~ William Congreve, Love for Love (1695). Act II, scene xii

[L]ow ambition and the thirst of praise.
~ William Cowper, from Poems by William Cowper of the Inner Temple, Esq. (1782). Table Talk (written in 1781)

Who hasn't left the boat ramp at dawn and considered the endless possibilities of where to go and what might be accomplished?
~ Bill Dance, Bill Dance's Fishing (January 2002).

I dare you to think bigger, to act bigger, and to be bigger. I dare you to think creatively. I dare you to lead and inspire others. I dare you to build character. I dare you to share. And I promise you a richer and more exciting life if you do!
~ William H. Danforth

Ambition is the mind's immodesty.
~ Sir William Davenant, Gondibert (1651). Book 3, Canto 1

Nor think ambition wise, because 'tis brave.
~ Sir William Davenant, Gondibert (1651). Book 1, Canto 5

To live in the glories of our ancestors and upon the praise of our heroes is the easy compromise of idleness or indifference; but the energetic seeker after good will not be content with admiring their great deeds. He will strive to emulate them in all the courses of a noble ambition, and a life pitched to the same high standard.
~ William Davies, A Fine Old English Gentleman (1875).

[L]et us remember, that no horizon, no sky line, no mountain range limits or bounds our aims.
~ William Croswell (W.C.) Doane, from Addresses To The Graduating Classes Of St. Agnes School (1891). Address to the Eleventh Graduating Class (1882)

In early youth a great bitterness entered my life and kindled a great ambition.
~ William Edward Burghardt (W.E.B.) Du Bois, (1890)

It seemed the best thing to be up and go.
~ William Empson, in Life and Letters Today (Winter 1937). Aubade

No man is sure he does not need to climb.
It is not human to feel safely placed.
"A girl can't go on laughing all the time".
~ William Empson, from Collected Poems (1948). Reflection from Anita Loos

Many people are thwarted by excessive ambition. They want a hundred thousand dollars but are unwilling to save a hundred dollars. They want a big house, but do not accumulate enough money to make the down payment on on a small house. They want to write a book, but will not learn to write a letter. Most men become successful and famous, not through ambition, but through ability and character.
~ William Feather, The Business of Life (1949).

The tragedy is that so many have ambition and so few have ability.
~ William Feather

Standing out from the crowd, and aspiring to greatness will encourage others.
~ William Clay Ford, Jr., Ford Update Magazine (2001).

[W]hoever I am or whatever I am doing, provided that I am engaged in socially acceptable activity, some kind of excellence is in my reach.
~ John William Gardner, Excellence: Can We Be Equal and Excellent Too? (1961).

If we weren't still hiring great people and pushing ahead at full speed, it would be easy to fall behind and become a mediocre company.
~ Bill Gates

Ambition is of all the passions of the human mind the most extensive in its ravages.
~ William Godwin, An Enquiry Concerning Political Justice (1793). Book VIII: Of Property. Chapter 2: Benefits Arising From The Genuine System Of Property

A wild desire,
That, in the madness of the thought,
Soars higher in its dignity,
And leaves me weeping in the dust.
~ William Batchelder Greene, from Imogen, And Other Poems (1871). Ambition (Impromptu.)

And I doubt not but every gracious person finds the same; the nearer to heaven he gets in his hopes, the further he goes from earth in his desires.
~ William Gurnall, The Christian In Complete Armour (1665).

Ambition mocks itself, and grasps the wind.
~ William Habington, Castara, Part II (1634). To my Noblest Friend, I.C. Esquire

Say Boss, what'cha riding with the drag fer? Why dont'cha come on here an' ride point with me? Cant'cha see, Boss, cantcha see?
~ William S. "Two Gun Bill" Hart, Tumbleweeds (1939 movie reissue). Prologue

Ambition is in some sort, genius.
~ William Hazlitt, Table-Talk; or, Original Essays (1821-1822). On Thought and Action

The incentive to ambition is the love of power.
~ William Hazlitt, Table-Talk; or, Original Essays (1821-1822). On Thought and Action

The man who is seeking ever to do his best is the man who is keen, active, wide-awake, and aggressive. He is ever watchful of himself in trifles; his standard is not "What will the world say?" but "Is it worthy of me?"
~ William George Jordan, The Majesty of Calmness (1900). VI: Doing Our Best at All Times

The world is full of the possible,
But you've got to reach to get it.
~ William James Lampton, In the Morning of Life

[H]ow many things in life do people labour after, break their rest and peace to get, which yet when gotten, are of as much real use to them, as a staff and shoes to a corpse under ground?
~ William Law, A Practical Treatise upon Christian Perfection (1726).

Perfection does not consist in any singular state or condition of life, or in any particular set of duties, but in holy and religious conduct of ourselves in every state of Life.
~ William Law, A Practical Treatise upon Christian Perfection (1726).

Ambition is the luxury of the happy.
~ William Edward Hartpole (E.H.) Lecky, The Map of Life: Conduct and Character (1899). Chapter III

[A]s fire is to gunpowder, so is ambition to the heart of man, which, if it be but touched with self-love, mounteth aloft, and never bendeth downward till it be turned into ashes.
~ William Lithgow, The Totall Discourse of the Rare Adventures and Painefull Peregrinations of Long Nineteene Years Travayles from Scotland, to the most Famous Kingdomes in Europe, Asia, and Affrica (1632).

Now it is a funny thing about life, if you refuse to accept anything but the best you very often get it: if you utterly decline to make do with what you get, then somehow or other you are very likely to get what you want.
~ W. Somerset Maugham, from The Mixture As Before (1940). The Treasure

Perfection has one grave defect; it is apt to be dull.
~ W. Somerset Maugham, The Summing Up (1938).

It is my ambition to say in ten sentences what everyone else says in a whole book, -- what everyone else does not say in a whole book.
~ Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche, The Twilight of the Idols (1888). Skirmishes in a War with the Age

Like tourists huffing and puffing to reach the peak we forget the view on the way up.
~ Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche

Whenever I climb I am followed by a dog called "Ego".
~ Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche

They that soar too high, often fall hard; which makes a low and level Dwelling preferrable.
~ William Penn, Some Fruits of Solitude (1693). Part II. Of Ambition

The tallest Trees are most in the Power of the Winds, and Ambitious Men of the Blasts of Fortune.
~ William Penn, Some Fruits of Solitude (1693). Part II. Of Ambition

[T]his must be always remembered and practiced carefully, that we do take nothing in hand, unless we have first ranged our selves within the precincts of our callings.
~ William Perkins, A Treatise of Vocations, or Callings of Men (1603).

I was born with cerebral palsy. My mother told me a doctor's instrument -- forceps -- damaged a section of my brain at birth. My condition will never get any worse, nor will it get any better. What you see is what you get. It's not a big deal. It's part of my past and it doesn't bother me. It doesn't stop me from accomplishing whatever I set my mind to ...
~ William Douglas "Bill" Porter, quoted in Ten Things I Learned from Bill Porter (2002). It Doesn't Matter How You Got Here, Only Where You're Going

Go for the moon. If you don't get it, you'll still be heading for a star.
~ Willis Reed

Strive to improve. ... If we stop striving for excellence, what will happen? Good enough is never good enough, is it? Because when you think it's good enough, that's the end of it.
~ William Rosenberg, in Restaurants and Institutions magazine (1 March 2002). William Rosenberg: On never taking success for granted

Fame and reward are ours when they are prized no more.
~ William Bell Scott, from Poems (1854). Fourteen Sonnets: XI. Assistance Delayed

Ambition is so great a planet, that it must have a whole orbit to move in; and is envious at its equals.
~ William Secker, from The Nonsuch Professor in His Meridian Splendor, or the Singular Actions of Sanctified Christians (1660).

Why seek to scale Mount Everest,
Queen of the Air,
Why strive to crown that cruel crest
And deathward dare?
Said Mallory of dauntless quest
"Because it's there."
~ Robert William Service, Dauntless Quest

Ambition should be made of sterner stuff.
~ William Shakespeare, Julius Caesar. Act III, scene ii

As he was valiant, I honour him: but, as he was ambitious, I slew him.
~ William Shakespeare, Julius Caesar. Act III, scene ii

Bell, book, and candle shall not drive me back,
When gold and silver becks me to come on.
~ William Shakespeare, King John. Act III, scene iii

Farewell the tranquil mind; farewell content!
Farewell the plumed troop and the big wars
That make ambition virtue!
~ William Shakespeare, Othello. Act III, scene iii

Happy thou art not;
For what thou hast not, still thou striv'st to get,
And what thou hast, forget'st.
~ William Shakespeare, Measure for Measure. Act III, scene i

I charge thee, fling away ambition:
By that sin fell the angels.
~ William Shakespeare, King Henry VIII. Act III, scene ii

I have no spur
To prick the sides of my intent, but only
Vaulting ambition, which o'erleaps itself,
And falls on the other.
~ William Shakespeare, Macbeth. Act I, scene vii

Striving to better, oft we mar what's well.
~ William Shakespeare, King Lear. Act I, scene iv

They that stand high have many blasts to shake them;
And if they fall, they dash themselves to pieces.
~ William Shakespeare, King Richard III. Act I, scene iii

Thriftless ambition, that wilt ravin up
Thine own life's means!
~ William Shakespeare, Macbeth. Act II, scene iv

'Tis a common proof,
That lowliness is young ambition's ladder,
Whereto the climber upward turns his face;
But when he once attains the upmost round,
He then unto the ladder turns his back,
Looks in the clouds, scorning the base degrees
By which he did ascend.
~ William Shakespeare, Julius Caesar. Act II, scene i

Who doth ambition shun
And loves to live i' the sun,
Seeking the food he eats,
And pleased with what he gets.
~ William Shakespeare, As You Like It. Act II, scene v

Who soars too near the sun with golden wings,
Melts them; -- to ruin his own fortune brings.
~ William Shakespeare, Life and Death of Thomas Lord Cromwell. Act IV, scene i

Aim for the sky and you'll reach the ceiling. Aim for the ceiling and you'll stay on the floor.
~ Bill Shankly

One may easily guard against ambition till five and twenty. -- It is not ambition's day.
~ William Shenstone, in Works in Verse and Prose, Vol. II (1764). Essays on Men, Manners, and Things. Of Men and Manners

Keep high aspirations, moderate expectations, and small needs.
~ William Howard Stein

Aim for the moon. If you miss, you may hit a star.
~ William (W.) Clement Stone

Tell everyone what you want to do and someone will want to help you do it.
~ William (W.) Clement Stone

Unt I finds der loudest vistles
On der fery smallest poats.
~ Wilhelm Strauss, in Judge's Library: A Monthly Magazine of Fun, No. 26 (1891). The Jolly Tramp. Der Vistles on Der Poats

It did not occur to me that there would be many difficulties to impede my ambition ...
~ William Styron

That's what I wanted to do. I wanted to be in charge, to manage and supervise.
~ Brigadier General (ret.) Wilma L. Vaught, University of Illinois Alumni Association, The Alumni Interview (Nov/Dec 2001). First In Line

No matter how good you get, there's always something further out there.
~ William (Bill) Theodore Walton, III

Every one expects to go further than his father went; every one expects to be better than he was born and every generation has one big impulse in its heart -- to exceed all the other generations of the past in all the things that make life worth living.
~ William Allen White

People say it's not ambitious, but it is actually quite ambitious wanting to help people.
~ Prince William, 21st birthday interview with the Press Association (PA), St James's Palace (21 June 2003).

I wanted to change. I was tired of being at a certain level. When Venus became No. 1, that motivated me. I'm more determined than I was.
~ Serena Williams, The Associated Press (23 August 2002). Serena Williams No. 1 in her family _ and world

I'm a perfectionist. I'm pretty much insatiable. I feel there's so many things I can improve on.
~ Serena Williams, The Associated Press (27 December 2002). Serena Named AP Female Athlete of Year

Of course, I want to be number one. But being happy and healthy is the most important thing.
~ Venus Williams

Climb high
Climb far
Your goal the sky
Your aim the star.
~ Inscription at Williams College, Williamstown, Massachusetts

How like a mounting devil in the heart rules the unreined ambition.
~ Nathaniel Parker (N.P.) Willis, from Melanie, and other Poems (1835). Parrhasius

What is Ambition? 'Tis a glorious cheat!
~ Nathaniel Parker (N.P.) Willis, from The Poetical Works of N.P. Willis (1850). Poem Delivered at Brown University, Sept. 6, 1831

I know you're supposed to set goals for yourself. I see all that motivational stuff on television. "Think about the future, what's next!" But I'm all into the journey. It's fascinating to me. So if I make certain what I want moment to moment, I'm cool at the crossroads.
~ Cassandra Wilson, The Los Angeles Times (25 January 2003). From the heart, not the genre

You are capable of more than you know. Choose a goal that seems right for you and strive to be the best, however hard the path. Aim high. Behave honorably. Prepare to be alone at times, and to endure failure. Persist! The world needs all you can give.
~ Edward Osborne (E.O.) Wilson

Ambition has but one reward for all:
A little power, a little transient fame;
A grave to rest in, and a fading name!
~ William Winter, from The Queen's Domain, and Other Poems (1858).

To spring to excellence at a single bound is impossible; we must exercise a careful indulgence in endeavoring to satisfy the untiring desires of a restless ambition.
~ William Winter, from Poems (1855). Prefactory Note

And that unless above himself he can
Erect himself, how poor a thing is man.
~ William Wordsworth, The Excursion (1814). Book V: The Pastor