ambition vs motivation

ambition

noun
  • A personal quality similar to motivation, not necessarily tied to a single goal. 

  • Eager or inordinate desire for some object that confers distinction, as preferment, honor, superiority, political power, or fame; desire to distinguish one's self from other people. 

  • An object of an ardent desire. 

  • A desire, as in (sense 1), for another person to achieve these things. 

verb
  • To seek after ambitiously or eagerly; to covet. 

motivation

noun
  • Something which motivates. 

  • A research rating that measures how the rational and emotional elements of a commercial affect consumer intention to consider, visit, or buy something. 

  • The action of motivating. 

  • Willingness of action especially in behavior. 

  • An incentive or reason for doing something. 

How often have the words ambition and motivation occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )