Ambition should be made of sterner stuff: And so are ambitious people. It is ambition which makes life meaningful and significant. What is a man without a purpose and a goal? It is purpose alone which imparts importance to life and lends dynamism to activities.
It has been wisely said that “better to have a bad purpose than no purpose at all “. A man without aim and object is like a rudderless ship, a traveler without a destination. It is ambition and purpose which urges poodle to struggle, strive and achieve against all odds.
All great men and women were possessed by ambition. They had a mission and a goal for which they strove hard till the end, and ultimately were crowned with success and glory. Ambition is the only bright star which heroes of history hitched their wagons to. And they always commanded success and glory. The true success is to be ambitious and to labor. The first requisite of success has always been ambition in life.
Life is a mere existence without ambition and purpose, and determination to achieve it. It is this ambition which makes them shout the slogan, “better to rule in hell than to be ruled in heaven.” Again in the words of Julius Caesar they would say, “I would be the first man here than the second in Rome.” Such men and women never admit defeat. They will break than bend, or serve others on knees in slavery. While there is ambition, there is life and hope. It is the purpose which makes life a struggle, achievement and pilgrimage. There can be neither adventure nor experience without ambition. It is never evil to have ambition. What is bad and evil is excess of it. Balance and proportion should never be lost sight of. One should see that one’s ambition is not pitched too high. In that case, it will overleap itself, inspired by pride and sin. Over-ambition is really a sin by which even angels have fallen. Hitler, Mussolini etc., are living examples in human history, of disastrous ends because of over-ambition. Such an ambition can never be justified. We should always be moderate, modest, and reasonable in our ambitions.
Different men may have different ambitions according to their skills, abilities, talents, resources and circumstances. Discretion is always the better part of valour. In whatever position a man might be, however modest, ambition and matching efforts are bound to take him to new heights and horizons.
Ambition is the virtue by which man has progressed and achieved great heights in the fields of science, art, business and religion. Whatever world culture and civilization is today, it is because of great and ambitious men and women of yesteryears. Ambition should not be mistaken with greed, tyranny^ madness and thirst for power for its own sake. Ambition stands for purpose, meaningfulness, a definite destination and struggle to reach it. It is this virtue which distinguishes man from animals, and a great man from other men of average talents and achievements.