I have no ambition in this world but one, and that is to be a fireman. The position may, in the eyes of some, appear to be a lowly one; but we who know the work which the fireman has to do believe that his is a noble calling. Our proudest moment is to save lives.

Croker contrasts conventional “ambition” (status, money, advancement) with a single-minded vocational ideal: to serve as a fireman. He acknowledges that outsiders may view the job as “lowly,” then overturns that judgment by redefining nobility as courageous, skilled work performed for others at personal risk. The final sentence—“Our proudest moment is to save lives”—locates honor not in spectacle or conquest but in rescue, solidarity, and the preservation of human life. Read as a statement of professional ethics, the quote elevates duty and competence over social hierarchy; read more broadly, it argues that meaningful ambition is rooted in service and the willingness to face danger for the common good.