I used to keep a paper folder filled with quotes I wrote down from books and articles and the like, quotes I enjoyed or thought were meaningful. Unfortunately, that folder was lost during a move some years ago. But that didn’t stop me. I then created a computer file and started collecting more quotes. I’ve gathered quite a few over the years, and no small number of them are pertaining to the idea of the hero, heroes, or about heroics.
So, considering this site is all about heroes, I thought I’d share some of my quotes with you. In no particular order, here are twelve of them:
“It doesn’t take a hero to order men into battle. It takes a hero to be one of those men who goes into battle.”
Norman Schwarzkopf, General
“I think a hero is an ordinary individual who finds strength to persevere and endure in spite of overwhelming obstacles.”
Christopher Reeve, Actor
“Courage is more exhilarating than fear and in the long run it is easier. We do not have to become heroes over night. Just a step at a time, meeting each thing that comes up, seeing it is not as dreadful as it appeared, discovering we have the strength to stare it down.”
Eleanor Roosevelt, U.S. First Lady
“Being a hero is about the shortest-lived profession on earth.”
Will Rogers, Comedian
“… if you need your heroes to be perfect, you won’t have very many. Even Superman had his Kryptonite.”
Madeleine George, Playwright
“A hero is someone who has given his or her life to something bigger than oneself.”
Joseph Campbell, Professor
“I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.”
Nelson Mandela, President of South Africa
“A hero is no braver than an ordinary man, but he is brave five minutes longer.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson, Poet
“When I was very young, most of my childhood heroes wore capes, flew through the air, or picked up buildings with one arm. They were spectacular and got a lot of attention. But as I grew, my heroes changed, so that now I can honestly say that anyone who does anything to help a child is a hero to me.”
Fred Rogers, Television host
“Those who say that we’re in a time when there are no heroes, they just don’t know where to look.”
Ronald Reagan, U.S. President
“Heroes don’t have the need to be known as heroes, they just do what heroes do because it is right and it must be done.”
Shannon A. Thompson, Author
“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, Actor
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