“Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions.
Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too,
can become great”
-- Mark Twain
Using an example from history, science, literature, film or
your own experience respond to the following questions. Analyze the above quote; what does Twain mean
in your opinion? Also, write about the
concept of ambition. Are ambitions a
positive or a negative influence in life?
Explain!!!
250 Word due by Thursday the 26th
Student reply due by Sunday the 29th
Ambition is a good thing, it gives you dreams to work towards and the drive to acomplish them. To follow through with your dreams takes determination and perserverance. Not everyone has the potential to and end up giving up. They end up settling for something else and start to regret not continuing with their ambitions. They feel bad so they start to make others give up and feel the same way. Just hope you can meet someone who followed thier ambition and made it where they want to be. After all their living proof that with the right work ethic you can acomplish your dreams. Like Mark Twain said in one of his quotes "Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but really great make you feel that you, too, can become great". Mark Zuckerberg inventor of Facebook had the ambition to unit people with the college experiance online. He began to unite the world with a few clicks on a keyboard and became a multimillionaire. People said he stole it and weither or not it's true he had the ability to keep it going and not run it into the ground. His best friend sued him along with a pair of blond twins who didn't have the resources to make the website on their own. They tried to belittle him because he did what they tried to do first. He is a great example of how sucesful you can be after all he did become the worlds youngest billionaire so lets see if we can beat his record.
ReplyDelete"Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but really great make you feel that you, too, can become great." by Mark Twain.
ReplyDeleteThis quote tells me that if you stay with the people that make you feel smaller with them then you wont get anywhere. If you fill your life with people that make you unhappy you will become depressed, or feel like you cant be the best you are. Don't be belittled by people who think they have the power over you when you are the power of your self.
I have had experienced a lot if people belittling me I felt like stupid compared to them. I have had lots of struggles with learning I the number one reason I'm in special classes. I learn much slower then other people and its hard for me to learn something like spelling, reading, and remembering each day. I was born this way I had to excepted it. But the hardest this was each day I got bullied by the kids that where in "regular classes" it made me feel small unnormal. It made me push my self even harder to get to higher classes when I found out that I moved up in most of my classes it made my mom so proud I accomplished so much I showed all the people that said I wasn't going to ever move out of basic skills that I can do what I want. I showed the people that made fun of me belittled me that I was the same as them no matter what yeah I have some problems but doesn't everyone.
What I think mark twain is saying in this quote is if you fill your life with negatively then you will not get far. The word ambitions means the things you want to do with your life. in the quote it mean when people put down you ambitions and belittle them then your going to start thinking that. Don't let anyone tell you that your ambitions are stupid or you'll never accomplish them because I showed them I could over come my learning problems so can anyone. Anyone can tell you its stupid show them its not.
When Mark Twain says that you should keep away from people who belittle your ambitions and that small people always do that, he basically means that those who have some sort of problem or insecurity with their own life try to put the focus on those who aren't in a position like them. It can basically mean that they are jealous or believe they are more entitled to better things than you. However, if you surround yourself with wiser and more open-minded people, or those who are great, Twain says great things will happen.
ReplyDeleteIn high school, basically you see this type of thing happen all the time. Like in the movie Grease, the nerd kid Eugene was picked on by Danny and the T-Birds a lot. But at the end, when they're at the school fair, Eugene hits the gym teacher with the pie while the "cool" kids can't, and the teacher gets interested in trying him out for baseball. So basically, you shouldn't be so quick to belittle the nerd kids, because they might end up bigger than you and you might want to be on their good side.
Alex, I agree with you completly. YOu make many good points, and have a very good writing strategy. (:
DeleteAmbitions are a very positive thing to have in life. They give your life direction and are always a light at the end of the tunnel. If you don't have ambitions, you wont get anywhere in life. Your ambition could be as small as getting a good grade on your test, or as large as having your own medical practice. These goals will help you to plan your life, and make something of your time. Think about it, if you don't have any ambitions where would you be? What if your mom didn't have the ambition to raise you? Would you be here? Would you exist? The answer is more then likely in your head. The ambitions you have will give you the correct direction. Everyday you set goals without realizing it, and mainly you accomplish them. A good example of people who set their ambitions high would be the colonists that came over here from England in the very beginning.
ReplyDeleteThey came here expecting to create a great new country and wonderful homes; they found lots of problems and faced many challenges while trying to accomplish their goal. They lost many friends and family members, but had they not had the ambitions to set up home here in America, we wouldn’t live here today. The world would be an entirely different place. They met their ambitions which gave their lives meaning. The ambition to settle in America became their life dream. They succeed. Now it’s our turn to set our ambitions, accomplish them and truthfully live our lives.
ReplyDelete"Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do this, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great." In my opinion this quote means that you cant let people stop you from what you want to do. This is your life and you need to live it to the fullest. When they say "small people always do this" they mean the people with low self a steam, make you feel as small and useless as them. They just want you to be as upset or angry as they are. They just try to bring you down. What it means by "but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great" , I think it means that people that are doing better then you will give you the courage to excel into better things in life. I think ambitions are good to have. I think they're good to have because they make you excel. They make you reach for the stars and do they best, and be the best you can be. An example of this I think would be, bullying. Someone I knew was getting bullied and they came to me for help. I told them that the people who were making fun of her just thought they were better when they really weren't. They were the "smaller" people who were just belittling her. I told her to stay away from them because she didn't need that because she was a great person, they just wouldn't take the time to relies that. I told her to surround herself with friends because, like in the quote, they are "the really great that make you feel that you, too, can become great."
I love the way you explained this quote. I too have experienced many people I know being bullied including myself. Small people truly don't matter. Everyone needs true friends that will back them up. I'm glad your friend could take your advice and move on with her life. I hate bullies!
Delete“Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great” –Mark Twain
ReplyDeleteTo me, this quote can mean only one thing, stay away from hurtful people. Everyone has always had that one friend that would almost always put him or her down in front of his or her other friends. To me, this happened to be my very best friend for 13 years. I grew up with a girl I considered to be my best friend. As I grew older, I realized this girl really wasn’t my friend but more of a bully. In front of all different people, she would try to make me look like an idiot to make herself feel better. When I had enough I realized she wasn’t truly a friend to me. I personally believe if you surround yourself with people who try to belittle you, your ambitions, or even your life, you’re going nowhere. A dream is something so special; no one can take that away. I believe Mark Twain is trying to tell the reader of this quote to stay away from insecure people. Those are the ones that generally want to bring others around them down. You’ll never get anywhere in life if you let the small people control you. Whether the “small people” talk down to you on your ambitions, blatantly embarrasses you in front of anyone and everyone, or down right bullies you, they are not worth being in your life in the end. Ambitions are such a positive thing to have in life. If you know what you want to do with your life at an early age, generally, your life will have a set path you will follow.
“Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great”
ReplyDelete-- Mark Twain
I am going to explain this piece by piece. The first part of the sentence, "Keep away from people who try and belittle your ambition", it means stay away or go away from people who try and tear you down from your achievements. Next part is, "Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great", now the "small people" part is referring to the people who try and tear you from your achievement because they couldn’t achieve it themselves and when someone who is great gives you advice, it makes you want to believe that you can be better at what you are and move further in your achievements. When I was in middle school, I joined the wrestling team. On the heavier side, 190 pounds, I tried out. These kids that came up to me and said "why are you trying out? your fat, you wont make it past two weeks," so I was afraid to join because I didn’t think I was good enough because of my weight. So my brother comes up to me and says "were they picking on you?" I nodded my head and he says these inspiring words "who ever says you’re bad at something, you prove them wrong. Not just for them to see but to for you to see that inside you can do it." So I tried out and made the team. About a month went by and I saw those same kids in the stands, not with the team. I asked why and they said it was way too hard for them, I laughed at them and walked away ending up in with a personal record of 6-8. I learned that not believing those kids was my fuel to get up and achieve a great achievement. Ambition is to try really hard in achieving something and to be noticed. Ambition can really be a positive and negative thing. Like you can have a lot of ambition to achieve a goal, but too much ambition like kissing up to your boss to get a raise isn’t that good.
i deffinetly agree with you about that the "small people" are the ones that try and tear you from your achievements!
DeleteHaving ambition in your life is a very good thing, it pushes you towards the goals you want to accomplish and the dreams you deserve. There are many different people in life. There are people who push you forward, and there are the people who bring you down. I think Mark Twain is trying to get that point through in his quote. Small people in life will drag you down, even if they’re your “best friend”. Some “best friends” don’t really have your back like they claim to, take it from experience. A person can be there for you, but do many other things to hurt you, and at times break your heart. You never know what someones true intentions are. But there are also great people. Great people help you get through the tough times, they help you succeed. I also know great people. Ambition in a persons life is a fantastic thing, but it may not help you get anywhere if you have the wrong people in your life.
ReplyDeletethats so true. We all need people to encourage each other, it helps us want to do better. When we have " friends " that bring us down, they just hold us back and arent even worth our time.
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ReplyDeleteThe quote “Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great” By Mark Twain. This means to me that people who are going nowhere will try to hold you back from your goals. But people who are successful will encourage you to do what you may think is impossible that it’s possible. For example, a boy tried out for the varsity basketball team but was cut. He broke down and cried. His mother, Deloris encouraged him to use what he viewed as failure to motivate himself to get better for the next year. His junior year, he made the team and got tons of scholarships for colleges. Which later lead him into the NBA? Guess who this man is? It’s Michael Jordan. If it wasn’t for his mother encouragement, he wouldn’t have the desire to be where he is today.
ReplyDeleteAmbition can have both a positive and negative effect. It’s good because it sets our goals and leads us to where we want to be. If It helps others and you put them before your personal interests but it can become harmful if it interferes with family and if you hurt people to succeed. It all depends on the person, their achievements can either make them into someone who is conceit or a better person
I agree with what you're saying. It does depend on the person. Also, the Michael Jordan example is great I didn't know that about him.
Delete"Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great"
ReplyDelete- Mark Twain
What Mark Twain is trying to say in this quote is that ambitions are strong desires for the goals you may have. To have those goals is something to live for and want to do better so you can get there. Who wants negative people around them? Cause once you're around them for a long time, you end up sucker up the negative attitude like a sponge. The opposite happens if you're around positive people... My grandmother has a saying " Tell me who you hang out with and I'll tell you who you are." She speaks Spanish so it took me awhile before I understood what she was saying but, now that I understand it makes sense. It may not work in all cases because not everybody's friends are the same but, it does affect you if you're around those friends a lot.
When Mark Twain says "Small people always do that," they do that to make themselves feel better then you or to make you feel the same as them. Does this remind you of something?... Bullying. Most people don't think bullies still exist but they do, weather or not you believe it to be harmless sometimes. It still adds up one way or another. Also, do you ever think sometimes that you mite create a bully one day? Most bullies were bullied once in there lives. Research from Ian Rivers shows that sometimes children create "social attitudes manifesting themselves in a very basic way within the school environment". Its true, think about it. How many times have your friend, people you may know or even if you're just listening on a conversation have said something bad about someone else? It happens everyday, especially because of the High School environment that we're all in.
Then the next part of the quote, "The really great make you feel that you, too, can become great" is true , but I also believe we have those negative people around us to balance are everyday lives cause they help us do better to in a weird way. Cause sometimes we try to prove them wrong and end up doing better. And not everyone is all good or all bad. Good is in everyone and so is bad, some people just show one side more then others. That doesn't make them a horrible person or anything cause there's always going to be that good in them that just needs help coming out.
So I guess you can say that I agree to disagree with this quote..