Ambition, I have come to believe, is the most primal and sacred and fundament of our being. To feel ambition and to act upon it is to embrace the unique calling of our souls. Not to act upon that ambition is to turn our backs on ourselves and on the reason for our existence.
Interpretation
Ambition is essential to our existence and should be pursued actively.
This quote emphasizes the profound importance of ambition as a core aspect of human nature. It suggests that recognizing and pursuing one's ambitions is essential for fulfillment and aligns with our true purpose, while neglecting them leads to self-betrayal and disengagement from our reason for living.
In practice
In a motivational seminar, to inspire attendees to pursue their goals.
Late at night have you experienced a vision of the person you might become, the work you could accomplish, the realized being you were meant to be? Are you a writer who doesn't write, a painter who doesn't paint, an entrepreneur who never starts a venture? Then you know what Resistance is.
It is one thing to study war and another to live the warrior's life.
The amateur believes he must first overcome his fear; then he can do his work. The professional knows that fear can never be overcome. He knows there is no such thing as a fearless warrior or a dread-free artist.
When we sit down day after day and keep grinding, something mysterious starts to happen... Unseen forces enlist in our cause; serendipity reinforces our purpose.
You know, Hitler wanted to be an artist. At eighteen he took his inheritance, seven hundred kronen, and moved to Vienna to live and study... Ever see one of his paintings? Neither have I. Resistance beat him. Call it overstatement but I'll say it anyway: it was easier for Hitler to start World War II than it was for him to face a blank square of canvas.
It’s better to be in the arena, getting stomped by the bull, than to be up in the stands or out in the parking lot.
Don't get bogged down by the notion of limits. There aren't any.
Now, everything I do, I do because I want to. And I believe the best is yet to come.
If there's a job to be done, I always ask the busiest man in my parish to take it on and it gets done.
I think when you compete every week, when you play under pressure daily, you find your rituals to be 100 percent focused on what you're doing.
It is my firm belief that I have a link with the past and a responsibility to the future. I cannot give up. I cannot despair. There's a whole future, generations to come. I have to keep trying.
Make glorious, amazing mistakes. Make mistakes nobody's ever made before. Whatever you're scared of doing, Do it.
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