Great ambition, the desire of real superiority, of leading and directing, seems to be altogether peculiar to man, and speech is the great instrument of ambition.

I have no aspiration whatsoever to be the next great leading man.

Encumbered forever by desire and ambition, There's a hunger still unsatisfied, Our weary eyes still stray to the horizon, Though down this road we've been so many times

True ambition is not what we thought it was. True ambition is the profound desire to live usefully and walk humbly under the grace of God.

Every man has his secret desire, I suppose, and mine is someday to own a farm.

Such is the delicacy of man alone, that no object is produced to his liking. He finds that in everything there is need for improvement.... The whole industry of human life is employed not in procuring the supply of our three humble necessities, food, clothes and lodging, but in procuring the conveniences of it according to the nicety and delicacy of our tastes.