Ambition

Without ambition, there is no true ability. Salvador Dali stated, “Intelligence without ambition is a bird without wings.” Ability to act isn’t enough if you don’t have the drive. You need to want to act and be willing to try hard to achieve. Capacity to accomplish isn’t enough: you must desire to see results. Many people have the ability to achieve their goals, but laziness and lack of ambition can interfere with their ability. Salvador Dali was a 20th century surrealist painter from Spain. He had a lot of ambition when he was younger, allowing him to keep working to become an amazing artist even after tragic events such as his mother’s death when Dali was 16. He was also expelled from the Academy of Fine Arts in Spain because he was accused of fomenting unrest. His ambition allowed him to bounce back and keep working. When Salvador Dali began to paint, he worked patiently and would almost always finish. He never gave up until it was clear he couldn’t accomplish his vision, and this ambition to finish his projects helped him become an amazing and highly successful painter.

The great American President Abraham Lincoln also had something to say about ambition. He said, “Every man is said to have his peculiar ambition. Whether it be true or not, I can say for one that I have no other so great as that of being truly esteemed of my fellow men, by rendering myself worthy of their esteem.” Abraham Lincoln’s ambition was to earn esteem from his fellow men by making himself worthy of their respect. When Abraham Lincoln was elected for president, he had a difficult task ahead of him: to reunite the South and the North. He needed to have others respect him so they could listen to him. In order for others to respect him, Lincoln felt that he had to be able to respect himself as a person before others could respect him as a president.

Lincoln had a very difficult time maintaining this, rendering himself to himself worthy of respect while his fellow countrymen were slaughtering each other. While attempting to end the Civil War, he also had to attend to problems in his family, and to passing the 13th Amendment. He needed to be able to trust himself before others could trust him to be able to reunite his divided country. Lincoln strove to represent the United States as a whole during his time as president. If Lincoln wasn’t worthy of respect, then America wasn’t. When it came down to the survival of America as the United States, Lincoln’s ambition to render himself to his highest standards was vital to crushing the Confederacy. If it weren’t for this ambition, the Civil War would possibly have continued to tear the United States apart.

I have been in the position where I have the capacity to do something, but have lacked the motivation. However, when I work toward a goal diligently, I can accomplish what I set out to do very easily and quickly. In the summer of 2012, I went to the Center for Talented Youth camp. There I studied Discrete Math and had to progress through college-level courses even though I was only 13. To accomplish this I had to have a lot of ambition. On days where I didn’t have motivation to work, I wasn’t able to accomplish as much. If I don’t have the drive to perform an action I am capable of executing, then it’s as if I don’t have the ability to accomplish the action at all. The lack of drive affects you negatively because you lose the ability to become successful. I agree with Abraham Lincoln’s quote because his ambition is to make himself worthy of the esteem of others. Because he had this ambition, he accomplished the task of being a figure of respect, because he had both the desire and the willingness to look in the mirror and re-define his character. I have also been in the position where I had the ability to accomplish something, as a leader. When I play soccer and my team is at the top of the league, I have ambition to play hard and to get my teammates to do what I think is right. Lincoln had to work hard to get his cabinet to collaborate with him. Exercising works the same way. It can be physical torture if one doesn’t have the motivation to push on through, but if one has the desire and he breaks through the pain, one will receive many positive rewards.

Both Abraham Lincoln and Salvador Dali felt that ambition is very important, but Lincoln assumed that every human being has ambition, while Dali said that ambition essential was for success. Ambition is like the gas that fuels the car: without the fuel, you cannot progress toward any goal you have set for yourself. However, there is good ambition and bad ambition. Good ambition betters yourself or others. Bad ambition is motivation or drive to accomplish a goal that will harm another or others. Good ambition and bad ambition are both defined by motives. An example of good ambition is desiring to become a leader of a program that donates money for humanitarian purposes. Good ambition usually creates motivation and drive to accomplish tasks that can improve the welfare of others. Bad ambition can lead to greed and ruthlessness, affecting one’s judgment. It can lead you to putting your own goals in front of others and can lead to ignoring consequences, especially negative ones. In the book, Forest of Secrets by Erin Hunter, the antagonist, Tigerclaw, has ambition to become leader of his clan. When his leader chooses another person as deputy instead, Tigerclaw is enraged and his good ambition to become leader turns into bad ambition to kill his leader and take power by force. One should always strive for good ambition in order to improve one’s life and the lives of others, and one needs to avoid situations that might corrupt  one’s motivation. Certain situations can destroy the ability to realize the full consequences of one’s actions.

For instance, the Swede from Stephen Crane’s “The Blue Hotel” is corrupted by his ambition. The Swede, who “… had the sense of silly suspicion which comes to guilt,” is playing a card game with a few other men in a hotel. After another man accuses the Swede of cheating in the game, the friendly competition erupts into a brawl. After soundly beating the man, the Swede turns ambitiously to another bar nearby, looking for a fight. This becomes his downfall as his opponent is armed with a knife and makes short work of the Swede.

When you are too engrossed in what you are doing, you forget to slow down and recognize the negative and positive effects of your actions.  What’s most important about good ambition is that it produces positive results. It is what motivates wonderful people all around the world to make the world a better place. Ambition is also simply what makes you get out of bed to try and improve your life and the life of others around you.