The shades of night were falling fast,
As through an Alpine village passed
A youth, who bore, read more

The shades of night were falling fast,
As through an Alpine village passed
A youth, who bore, 'mid snow and ice
A banner with the strange device,
Excelsior!

Who know but He, whose hand the lightning forms,
Who heaves old ocean, and who wings the storms,
read more

Who know but He, whose hand the lightning forms,
Who heaves old ocean, and who wings the storms,
Pours fierce ambition in a Caesar's mind.

When you are aspiring to the highest place, it is honorable to
the second or even the third rank.
read more

When you are aspiring to the highest place, it is honorable to
the second or even the third rank.
[Lat., Prima enim sequentem, honestumn est in secundis,
tertiisque consistere.]

A slave has but one master. An ambitious man has as many as there are people who helped him get read more

A slave has but one master. An ambitious man has as many as there are people who helped him get his fortune.

The men who succeed are the efficient few. They are the few who have the ambition and will power to read more

The men who succeed are the efficient few. They are the few who have the ambition and will power to develop themselves.

Oh that I were seated as high as my ambition, I'd place my naked foot on the necks of monarchs.

Oh that I were seated as high as my ambition, I'd place my naked foot on the necks of monarchs.

The very substance of the ambitious is merely the shadow of a dream.

The very substance of the ambitious is merely the shadow of a dream.

Ambition is the path to success. Persistence is the vehicle you arrive in.

Ambition is the path to success. Persistence is the vehicle you arrive in.

Ambition never comes to an end.

Ambition never comes to an end.