GENERAL CONCEPT OF AMBITION

2.2 GENERAL CONCEPT OF AMBITION

Ambition is the possession of motivation for power. Ambitious persons seek power either for themselves or for others. People can wield their acquired power in the name of a vague or clear ideal or multiple ideals. When ambition is used to seek a clear ideal, it develops a close relationship to extremism. In the history of human kind many examples can be found of people who were extremely ambitious, for better and for worse. The notorious Greek Herostratus had the ambition to become famous by destroying the Temple of Artemis. We realize that having an ambition is an important thing in human life. Ambition is an eager or strong desire to achieve something such as fame, fortune, or success. To achieve something worth in life, it is necessary to set a high goal. There is a proverb, which says that, a person without ambition has a failure in life. Ambition makes someone becomes apathetic, pessimistic, and easy going. Definition of Ambition according to English Dictionary and Thesaurus:  Ambition is an eager or strong desire to achieve something, such as fame or power.  The possession of motivation for power. Ambitious persons seek power either for themselves or for others.  The act of going about to solicit or obtain an office, or any other object of desire; canvassing.  An eager and sometimes an inordinate, desire for preferment, honor, Universitas Sumatera Utara superiority, and power.  Desire for success: a strong feeling of wanting to be successful in life and achieve great things attainment of something.  Objective or goal: a goal or objective that somebody is trying to achieve. According to Niccolò Machiavelli Ambition is so powerful a passion in the human breast that however high we reach we are never satisfied. According to Thomas Otway Ambition is a lust that is never quenched, but grows more inflamed and madder by enjoyment. According to Oscar Wilde Ambition is the last refuge of failure. According to Henry Wheeler Shaw Ambition is like hunger; it obeys no law but its appetite. According to Joseph Conrad All ambitions are lawful except those that climb upward on the miseries or credulities of humankind. According to Philip Sidney To be ambitious of true honor and of the real glory and perfection of our nature is the very principle and incentive of virtue; but to be ambitious of titles, place, ceremonial respects, and civil pageantry, is as vain and little as the things are which we court. Universitas Sumatera Utara According to William Shakespeare The very substance of the ambitious is merely the shadow of a dream. According to Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Most people would succeed in small things if they were not troubled with great ambition. According to Charles Caleb Colton Ambition makes the same mistake concerning power that avarice makes concerning wealth. She begins by accumulating power as a means to happiness, and she finishes by continuing to accumulate it as an end. According to Sir Henry Taylor Wisdom is corrupted by ambition, even when the quality of the ambition is intellectual. For ambition even of this quality, is but a form of self-love. According to Sallust It is the nature of ambition to make men liars and cheats, to hide the truth in their breasts, and show, like jugglers, another thing in their mouths, to cut all friendships and enmities to the measure of their own interest, and to make a good countenance without the help of good will. According to Ralph Waldo Emerson Without ambition one starts nothing. Without work one finishes nothing. According to Oscar Wilde Ambition is the last refuge of failure. Universitas Sumatera Utara CHAPTER III THE ANALYSIS OF THE WOMEN’S STRUGGLES FOR THEIR AMBITIONS REFLECTED IN SIDNEY SHELDON’S NOVEL, NOTHING LASTS FOREVER The character in any short story or novel initiates the action and develops the plot: as soon as this happens, readers naturally begin to question the motives and personalities of the certain characters, comparing them to other characters. Generally the protagonists are round characters. That is the character changes and changes. Therefore, the characters will not be the same individuals at the end of stories. There are three protagonists in this novel, Nothing Lasts Forever. They are Paige Taylor, Kate Hunter, and Honey Taft. I will show the ambitions and the struggles of main characters and how do they achieve their ambitions in order to reach their goals.

3.1 Paige Taylor’s ambition