Ambition can lead a person to strive to progress.
The dictionary of the Royal Spanish Academy (RAE) defines ambition as the desire to obtain power , wealth or fame . The term comes from the Latin ambitĭo and can be used in a positive or negative way.
Ambition is considered healthy when it promotes action and the development of projects . The person who is ambitious aims to achieve something that he currently does not have. The ambitious subject, therefore, wants to improve, grow or progress. Ambition works in these cases as an engine that invites us to abandon conformism and mediocrity.
For example: “I always had the ambition to play soccer professionally and luckily I was able to fulfill my dream when I was hired by my town's team for an interprovincial tour,” “Filling stadiums with my rock band is my greatest ambition.” , “That night I had won a lot of money at roulette and I could have retired happily: however, ambition got the better of me and I continued betting until I left with nothing in my pockets.”
The dangers of ambition
There must be a limit, however, so that this ambition does not become something harmful or dangerous. When the desire is so strong that the person is willing to violate ethical or legal norms to achieve it, the ambition becomes risky since it can harm the person themselves or third parties.
It is usually considered that the healthiest state for a person is one where ambition acts as a trigger for actions, but within the framework of coherence and respect.
Ambition can cause an individual to violate ethical standards and laws, as the “Simpsons” character known as Mr. Burns often does.
The case of Napoleon Bonaparte
There are many cases throughout History that show how ambition taken to its maximum extreme brings with it all kinds of disasters and calamities. Thus, for example, we could highlight Napoleon Bonaparte, the former emperor of France who had such ambition to become the master of Europe that he carried out all kinds of offensives in order to colonize other nations.
The result of his actions was that there came a time when he had more enemies than allies, thus creating a situation in which his country was severely attacked and in which he found it necessary to abdicate. But there is even more, in the end he ended his days exiled to the island of Saint Helena, where he died.
Erostratus' ambition
In the same way, we cannot ignore the figure of the Greek shepherd Erostratus. His ambition led him to want to become one of the key personalities of the moment, a man recognized and famous throughout the world. The way he did it was by burning, in the year 356 BC, the well-known Temple of Artemis, which was listed as one of the Seven Wonders of the World.
This desire for notoriety and doing something that would mean that the entire planet knew him, meant that said pastor was tortured until he confessed his action. As a result of this, the term erostratism exists today, which is used to refer to those people who have the habit of committing acts of vandalism to achieve fame.