Alexander may be taken as almost a type of Ambition in its usual form,
though carried to an extreme.
His desire was to conquer, not to inherit or to rule. When news was
brought that his father Philip had taken some town, or won some battle,
instead of appearing delighted with it, he used to say to his companions,
"My father will go on conquering, till there be nothing extraordinary left
for you and me to do." [5] He is said even to have been mortified at the
number of the stars, considering that he had not been able to conquer one
world. Such ambition is justly foredoomed to disappointment.
The remarks of Philosophers on the vanity of ambition refer generally to
that unworthy form of which Alexander may be taken as the type--the idea
of self-exaltation, not only without any reference to the happiness, but
even regardless of the sufferings, of others.
"A continual and restless search after fortune," says Bacon, "takes up too
much of their time who have nobler things to observe." Indeed he elsewhere
extends this, and adds, "No man's private fortune can be an end any way
worthy of his existence.
Pages:
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177