I think many people are seeking success for success' sake - at least it's a significant part of why they do what they do. The fact that they want to make a diff

I think many people are seeking success for success' sake - at least it's a significant part of why they do what they do. The fact that they want to make a difference in the world may be true, but I think it's often a mix, and that people fool themselves to believe that their need to feed their ego is smaller than it actually is. The risk from this, is that although people are fighting for a good cause, their ego may interfere in bad ways in certain situations, leading to decisions and actions which hurts the good cause in short or long term (for example by pushing away other people who may do a better job than themselves). (This, of course, doesn't go for everybody.) Edit: Note that becoming rich and famous isn't the only way to feed your ego.