Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius once said, “A man’s worth is no greater than the worth of his ambitions” (Burton). All people want to be successful and be recognized for their hard work and achievement, whether it is in their career, in school, or in sports. In order to accomplish this success, people must have a drive and determination to do so; they must be ambitious. Every person has some sort of personal desire, something they want to attain, or a goal they yearn to reach. Many people find this term hard to grasp, often confusing it with other words, and only look at the positive connotations of the term and forget the negative aspects that it brings about. Ambition can be analyzed through the word origin, behaviors of ambitious people, examples that support it, and contrasting it with its negative connotation.
First, the word ambition was originally derived from the Latin term ambitiōn-em meaning “of action.” Ambitiōn-em comes from the word ambī-re which means “to go around or about.” The term then was introduced into the French language as ambition which originated in the 14th century. Other meanings of the word include “eager desire or honour, etc.,” “ostentation, pomp,” or “earnest desire generally.” The meaning that has been adopted by modern language is “eager desire or honour, etc.” This definition directly correlates to the current meaning of the word of “a strong or ardent desire of anything considered advantageous, honouring, or creditable. Const. of (rarely for)