Ambition: Good or Evil? When broken down and defined, ambition, according to Merriam-Webster, means: “a strong desire to do or to achieve something, typically requiring determination and hard work.” If someone was to read over that definition and analyze it for a moment its connotation would be along the lines of a positive result or feeling. However, can someone have too much ambition and consider it a negative connotation? Examples of ambition are: taking three hours out of your day to study to get a passing grade on a test. Another example is an athlete training for months before a big tournament. Both are working hard and in advance to reach their specified goals, whether it be mental or physical training. What is driving them to their goal is ambition or determination. It is that pull or willingness …show more content…
Ambition gets a bad reputation if harnessed incorrectly. Some effects from being too ambitious can be derived from Shakespeare's play “Macbeth.” Macbeth, the protagonist in the play, was dangerously ambitious due to the three witches prophesizing that he would be the king of Scotland. He went to great lengths to make this prophecy come true such as: murdering King Duncan and his friend, Banquo. Throughout the play, he became greedy, ruthless, and power-hungry. Although most theorists believe it was the witches that drove him to become a insane, homicidal person it was actually ambition that drove him off the ledge. Ambition is not winking out embers, but is the fuel that enlightens the fire within a person. Ambition is not giving up when things get hard, but finding new ways to figure it out. It is an ingredient to a solution, not a poison if used correctly. Without ambition we lose the sense of purpose; we have nothing to live for, nothing to strive for. Ambition is not apathy; it's the passion inside human beings that convinces and inspires them to conquer the