Quotes About Ambition

For a man of the type of Pompeius, who for want of faith in himself and in his star timidly clung in public life to formal right, and with whom the pretext was nearly of as much importance as the motive, this circumstance was of serious weight.

With pockets, women could conquer the world!

Like a double-edge sword, success cuts two ways.

I have had the following conversation on innumerable occasions with young men of about 20 who have been unemployed since leaving school, and whose general educational level is outlined above: 'Have you thought of improving your education?' 'No.' 'Why not?' 'There's no point. There are no jobs.' 'Could there be any other reason to get educated?' 'No.

An American Tragedy.

And then he sank back and tried, as usual, not to think. He must succeed. That's what the world was made for. That's what he was made for. That was what he would have to do.

Life is made for the strong. There is no mercy in it for the weak– none...Such is the tragedy of desire.

I have decided that I will test my ability … in the fires of the primaries and not just in the smoke-filled rooms of Miami Beach.

All men who run for presidency of the United States are amateurs; there is no way of becoming a professional at it, and all of them, win or lose, are forever altered in spirit of character by the ordeal.

The first and most essential quality of a presidential candidate, as Averell Harriman once pointed out, is that he should lust for the job - he should want it more than all things, with a passion surpassing all emotion and probably even all principle.

What we need are more people who specialize in the impossible.

Far better is it to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure... than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy nor suffer much, because they live in a gray twilight that knows not victory nor defeat.

I wish to preach, not the doctrine of ignoble ease, but the doctrine of the strenuous life.

Some men can live up to their loftiest ideals without ever going higher than a basement.

Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs even though checkered by failure, than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy nor suffer much because they live in the gray twilight that knows neither victory nor defeat.

The things that will destroy America are prosperity-at-any-price, safety-first instead of duty-first, the love of soft living, and the get-rich-quick theory of life.

It is not often that a man can make opportunities for himself. But he can put himself in such shape that when or if the opportunities come he is ready.

I am only an average man, but by George, I work harder at it than the average man.

It is true of the Nation, as of the individual, that the greatest doer must also be a great dreamer.

The greatest gift life has to offer is the opportunity to work hard at work worth doing.

Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though chequered by failure, than to take rank with those poor souls who neither enjoy much nor suffer much, because they live in the grey twilight that knows neither victory nor defeat.

It is only through labor and painful effort, by grim energy and resolute courage, that we move on to better things.

I wish to preach, not the doctrine of ignoble ease, but the doctrine of the strenuous life, the life of toil and effort, of labor and strife; to preach that highest form of success which comes, not to the man who desires mere easy peace, but to the man who does not shrink from danger, from hardship, or from bitter toil, and who out of these wins the splendid ultimate triumph.

We want men who will fix their eyes on the stars, but who will not forget that their feet must walk on the ground.