The Ambition of Youth and The Joy of Innovation

“What drives nations towards development is not money and wealth but ambitions…
great ambitions. We humans are motivated by ambition and inspiration
more than anything else.”

H.H. Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister
of United Arab Emirates, and Ruler of Dubai.

In thinking about the flow of history and its continuous advance, we can readily discover that it is based on a central pillar—ambition—the aspiration of peoples to progress, their desire to arise and move forward. All historical evidence shows that youth are the heart of any nation and are best placed to realize a nation’s aspirations since progress relies on innovation and innovation is the offspring of ambitious youth.

God has instilled in young people unlimited abilities to innovate, as well as a fertile imagination, boundless enthusiasm, and a tenacity to persevere and realize their ambitions. With young people harboring such huge potential in their hearts, it is essential that we as a society invest richly in them. Theirs are the energies that will propel advances in science, the creative arts, economics, and many other fields. To harness these energies wisely, we need to take the hands of young people, inspire and reward them when they do good, praise them when they make achievements. Dubai has the good fortune to have been bestowed by Allah a wise leadership that recognizes the importance of youth and its infinite ability to innovate because of their ambition, which is a precondition to progress.

His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, has said: “What drives nations towards development is not money and wealth but ambitions…great ambitions. We humans are motivated by ambition and inspiration more than anything else.” Wise words that are borne out by the historical evidence of human development. Without ambition, countries will fall into a quagmire of stagnation and underdevelopment. Without ambition, people lose their enthusiasm for a better and more beautiful life.

Interestingly enough, there are individuals who think that it is enough for countries to have money to achieve their desired development. In fact, they are not correct. Money alone does not propel progress. The most important ingredients for making progress are aspiration and great ambition, as His Highness has noted. History teaches us that when peoples in rich countries lose their ambition and their sense of joy in development and progress, peoples of other countries jump ahead of them.

We know that Mark Zuckerberg invented Facebook when he was just 19 years old, that Jan-Koum invented WhatsApp when he was only 27 years old. Graham Bell invented the phone before he was 40, Karl Benz invented the car in his forties. Indeed, the list of inventors is long and mingled with the names of geniuses who gifted humanity their amazing innovations that have made life easier for us all, that have made us happier and more prosperous.

Our youth in the UAE are lucky because the state is there to provide a helping hand to innovate, invent, and discover. Our government works to enhance this by providing modern technology and artificial intelligence. Let our youth grasp this opportunity and do their best to serve the people of the UAE and its wise leadership.