Heroic
1. Few of us will do the spectacular deeds of heroism that spread themselves across the pages of our newspapers in big black headlines. But we can all be heroic in the little things of everyday life. We can do the helpful things, say the kind words, meet our difficulties with courage and high hearts, stand up for the right when the cost is high, keep our word even though it means sacrifice, be a giver instead of a destroyer. Often this quiet, humble heroism is the greatest heroism of all.
– Wilferd A. Peterson
2. It is surmounting difficulties that makes heroes.
– Louis Pasteur
3. Even though most of these myths were created by people who lived in societies that were much less complex than our own, they address the fundamental questions each thinking person still asks: Who am I? What is the nature of the universe in which I live? How do I relate to that universe? What do I need to do in order to survive? How much control do I have over my own life? How do I balance my own desires with my responsibilities to my family and my community? How can I lead a satisfying life? How can I reconcile myself to the inevitability of death?
– Donna Rosenberg, World Mythology
4. Above all, be the heroine of your life, not the victim.
– Nora Ephron
5. What the world needs now, more than ever before, are every day heroes who are ready, willing and able to make a difference.
– Greg Hickman
6. A boy doesn’t have to go to war to be a hero; he can say he doesn’t like pie when he sees there isn’t enough to go around.
– Edgar Watson Howe
7. That’s what heroic stories do for us. They show us the way. They remind us of the good we are capable of.
– Sam Raimi, Director
8. Real heroes are men who fall and fail and are flawed, but win out in the end because they’ve stayed true to their ideals and beliefs and commitments.
– Kevin Costner
9. Some days it is a heroic act just to refuse the paralysis of fear and straighten up and step into another day.
– Edward Albert
10. To be really great in little things, to be truly noble and heroic in the insipid details of everyday life, is a virtue so rare as to be worthy of canonization.
– Harriet Beecher Stowe
11. When the first Superman movie came out I was frequently asked “What is a hero?”…My answer was that a hero is someone who commits a courageous action without considering the consequences… Now my definition is completely different. I think a hero is an ordinary individual who finds strength to persevere and endure in spite of overwhelming obstacles.
– Christopher Reeve.
12. Heroes are people who rise to the occasion and slip quietly away.
– Tom Brokaw
13. True heroism consists in being superior to the ills of life, in whatever shape they may challenge us to combat.
– Napoleon Bonaparte
14. I think of a hero as someone who understands the degree of responsibility that comes with his freedom.
– Bob Dylan
15. When you feel the world is against you or you give up hope, you look at your heroes and say, “They were able to do it. They had hard times and a lot of opposition, but they got through it.” Then you feel, “I can do it too.”
– John Leguizamo
16. We find a model for learning how to live in stories about heroism. The heroic quest is about saying yes to yourself and, in doing so, becoming more fully alive and more effective in the world. For the hero’s journey is first about taking a journey to find the treasure of your true self, and then about returning home to give your gift to help transform the kingdom – and, in the process, your own life. The quest itself is replete with dangers and pitfalls, but it offers great rewards: the capacity to be successful in the world, knowledge of the mysteries of the human soul, the opportunity to find and express your unique gifts in the world, and to live in loving community with other people.”
– Carol Pearson, Awakening the Heroes Within
17. The quiet guidance of your personal mythology gives meaning to every situation you meet and determines what you will do in it.
– David Feinstein and Stanley Krippner, Personal Mythology
18. The hero is also often the conqueror, the man or woman who goes after what he or she wants – new land, fame fortune, love, liberty – and gets it. But the capacity to get what we want and protect our boundaries does not, in itself, make us heroes. Indeed, we share these qualities with great villains. What makes a hero a hero is a nobility of spirit manifested as concern and compassion for others.
– Carol Pearson, Awakening the Heroes Within
19. True heroism is remarkably sober, very undramatic. It is not the urge to surpass all others at whatever cost, but the urge to serve others at whatever cost.
– Arthur Ashe
20. Explore your mind, discover yourself, then give the best that is in you to your age and to your world. There are heroic possibilities waiting to be discovered in every person.
– Wilferd A. Peterson
21. Nothing is given to man on earth — struggle is built into the nature of life, and conflict is possible — the hero is the man who lets no obstacle prevent him from pursuing the values he has chosen.
– Andrew Bernstein