Иностранные размышления

Ambition is a great force that drives people to success. I think it is a virtue as a person without ambitions is helpless. However, some people are so ambitious that dreaming of their targets they forget about the people around them. Sometimes they become so cruel, merciless and mean that they ruin other people’s and their own lives.
The history of mankind knows a lot of such people. One of the brightest among them is Napoleon Bonaparte who once said, "Great ambition is the passion of a great character. Those endowed with it may perform very good or very bad acts. All depends on the principals which direct».   But he himself made the wrong choice.
It is indisputable that Napoleon was one of the most outstanding conquerors in modern history. Under his rule the whole continent of Europe was won due to Napoleon’s military ingenuity, ambition and … indifference. France became a powerful country and could remain such but Napoleon’s ambitions led the country to conquer new lands. And these ambitions ruined Napoleon’s army when they attacked on Russia. Being a great leader he was driven by evil aims. He wanted to enslave the world and dominate. But his ambitions dominated over his intellect.
Such stories happen not only among great leaders and dictators. Our world is full of such events. Let’s take Wiliam Shakespeare’s words, for example.
“The very substance of the ambitious is merely the shadow of a dream.” I completely agree with Shakespeare as I think that person who has great ambitions is sure to reach the top. It is not necessary for him to stand out. Once I made a wrong choice in my life. Suddenly I wanted to be the best student and make my friends admire me. But when I started to realise my ambitions I saw that my life became a real nightmare. Nobody wanted to communicate with me and I fell into depression. The words of a great musician Bob Dilon “Basically you have to suppress your own ambitions in order to be who you need to be.” helped me a lot. I realised I should be simply a good student who knows a lot and helps others.
I’m absolutely sure that both ambitions and character change a person a lot. We can either gain or lose everything. It depends only on our choice.  I wish everybody not to give your passion a chance to be your master.