Ambition and Success

By Orison Swett Marden

First published in 1919, “Ambition and Success” is a classic self-help book written by Orison Swett Marden (1848–1924) that focuses on helping the reader better themselves through the understanding and utilisation of ambition and motivation. Self-help books aim to help the reader with problems, offering them clear and effective guidance on how obstacles can be passed and solutions found, especially with regard to common issues and day-to-day life. Such books take their name from the 1859 best-selling “Self-Help” by Samuel Smiles, and are often also referred to as "self-improvement" books. Contents include: “What is Ambition?”, “The Satisfied Man”, “The Influence of Environment”, “Unworthy Ambitions”, “Ambition Knows no Age Limit”, “Make Your Life Count”, “Visualise Yourself in a Better Position”, “Thwarted Ambition”, “Why do You Begin?”, etc. Many vintage books such as this are becoming increasingly scarce and expensive. We are republishing this volume now in an affordable, modern, high-quality edition complete with the original text and artwork.

• Language: English
• Publisher: White Press
• Release date: Oct 11, 2019
• ISBN: 9781528788304

Orison Swett Marden

El Dr. Orison Swett Marden (1848-1924) fue un autor inspirador estadounidense que escribió sobre cómo lograr el éxito en la vida. A menudo se le considera como el padre de los discursos y escritos inspiradores de la actualidad, y sus palabras tienen sentido incluso hasta el día de hoy. En sus libros, habló de los principios y virtudes del sentido común que contribuyen a una vida completa y exitosa. A la edad de siete años ya era huérfano. Durante su adolescencia, Marden descubrió un libro titulado Ayúdate del autor escocés Samuel Smiles. El libro marcó un punto de inflexión en su vida, inspirándolo a superarse a sí mismo y a sus circunstancias. A los treinta años, había obtenido sus títulos académicos en ciencias, artes, medicina y derecho. Durante sus años universitarios se mantuvo trabajando en un hotel y luego convirtiéndose en propietario de varios hoteles. Luego, a los 44 años, Marden cambió su carrera a la autoría profesional. Su primer libro, Siempre Adelante (1894), se convirtió instantáneamente en un éxito de ventas en muchos idiomas. Más tarde publicó cincuenta o más libros y folletos, con un promedio de dos títulos por año. Marden creía que nuestros pensamientos influyen en nuestras vidas y nuestras circunstancias de vida. Dijo: "La oportunidad de oro que estás buscando está en ti mismo. No está en tu entorno; no es la suerte o el azar, o la ayuda de otros; está solo en ti mismo".

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AMBITION

and

SUCCESS

By

ORISON SWETT MARDEN

First published in 1919

This edition published by Read Books Ltd.

Copyright © 2019 Read Books Ltd.

This book is copyright and may not be

reproduced or copied in any way without

the express permission of the publisher in writing

British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available

from the British Library

Contents

CHAPTER I. WHAT IS AMBITION?

CHAPTER II. THE SATISFIED MAN

CHAPTER III. THE INFLUENCE OF ENVIRONMENT

CHAPTER IV. UNWORTHY AMBITIONS

CHAPTER V. AMBITION KNOWS NO AGE LIMIT

CHAPTER VI. MAKE YOUR LIFE COUNT

CHAPTER VII. VISUALIZE YOURSELF IN A BETTER POSITION

CHAPTER VIII. THWARTED AMBITION

CHAPTER IX. WHY DON’T YOU BEGIN?

BACKBONE

What sacrifices are you willing to make to attain your ambition? Are you willing to forego the hundred and one little desires that you have been accustomed to gratify? How much criticism, misunderstanding, abuse, can you stand? If you are willing to pay the price for the thing your ambition calls for, no matter how forbidding your enviroment, how discouraging your outlook, or what obstacles bar the way, you will reach your goal.

—

Orison Swett Marden

CHAPTER I

WHAT IS AMBITION?

"Ambition is the spur that makes man struggle with

destiny: it is heaven’s own incentive to make purpose

great, and achievement greater."

In a factory where mariners’ compasses are made, the needles, before they are magnetized, will lie in any position, wherever they are placed, but from the moment they have been touched by the mighty magnet and have been electrified, they are never again the same. They have taken on a mysterious power and are new creatures. Before they are magnetized, they do not answer the call of the North Star, the magnetic pole does not have any effect upon them, but the moment they have been magnetized they swing to the magnetic north, and are ever after loyal and true to their affinity.

Multitudes of people, like an unmagnetized needle, lie motionless, unresponsive to any stimulus until they are touched by that mysterious force we call ambition.

Whence comes this overmastering impulse which pushes human beings on, each to his individual goal? Where is the source of ambition, and how and when does it gain entrance into our lives?

How few of us ever stop to think what ambition really means, its cause, or significance! Yet, if we could explain just what ambition is, we could explain the mystery of the universe. The instinctive impulse to keep pushing on and up is the most curious and the most interesting thing in human life. It exists in every normal human being, and is just as pronounced and as real as the instinct of self-preservation.

I believe this incessant inward prompting, call it ambition or what we will, this something which pushes men to their goal, is the expression in man of the universal force of evolution which is flowing Godward, that it is a part of the great cosmic plan of creation. We do not create this urge, we do not manufacture it. Every normal person feels this imperious must which is back of the flesh, but not of it, this internal urge which is ever pushing us on, even at the cost of our discomfort and sacrifice.

It is a part of every atom, for all atoms are alive, and this upward impulse is in every one of them. It is in the instinct of the bee, the ant, and in all forms of insect and animal life.

The same kind of urge that is in the seed buried out of sight and which is ever pushing it up and out through the soil, prodding it to develop itself to the utmost and to give its beauty and fragrance to the world, is in each one of us. It is ever pushing us, urging us on to fuller and completer expression, to a larger, more beautiful life.

But for this desire to get on and get up, this God-urge, everything, even the