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

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, Photographic Essay (American Photographer Master Series, 1989).

You came to climb,
And you endure --
So turn your face to the rock of Time,
Make one more foothold sure!
~ William Rose Benét, Because You Came to Climb

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

I came upstairs into the world; for I was born in a cellar.
~ William Congreve, Love for Love (1695). Act 2, scene 12

[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

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

It seemed the best thing to be up and go.
~ William Empson, from The Gathering Storm (1940). Aubade (1937)

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).

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

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.)

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, Essays on Men and Manners (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). Doing Our Best at All Times

[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).

[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, 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).

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).

[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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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 Willis

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).

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