The dictionary definition of pusillanimity is lack of courage, timidity or cowardliness. But what pusillanimity really means is smallness of soul. It means shying away from using your gifts, not out of genuine humility, but out of weakness. It means rejecting what is arduous but what is noble and right. It means seeking the easy […]

It often seems like there must be a conflict between ambition and happiness. For many people there often is. But it doesn’t have to be. There is such a thing as healthy ambition where it is possible to learn how to be ambitious and happy. The key is understanding that there will never be a

Magnanimity is a virtue that means “greatness of soul.” It means aspiring to greatness but doing so with humility, with a willingness to suffer and with a willingness to serve. Our culture celebrates both prideful vain ambition and the acceptance of mediocrity. Both of these are flawed. Ambition for the sake of recognition is hollow.

Ambition is often touted as a good thing, so it’s hard to think that too much ambition would be a problem. But can you ever be too ambitious? The answer is yes. Ambition in excess is not a healthy state. In fact, the great philosopher and theologian Thomas Aquinas goes so far as to call