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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

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When confronted by a human being who impresses us as truly great, should we not be moved rather than chilled by the knowledge that he might have attained his greatness only through his failures?

—Lou Andreas-Salome

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Courage is more exhilarating than fear, and in the long run it is easier. We do not have to become heroes overnight. 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

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In 1941 Sergeant James Allen Ward was awarded the Victoria Cross for climbing out onto the wing of his Wellington bomber at thirteen thousand feet to extinguish a fire in the starboard engine. Secured only by a rope around his waist, he smothered the fire and returned along the wing to the aircraft's cabin. Winston Churchill, an admirer of swashbuckling exploits, summoned the shy New Zealander to 10 Downing Street. Struck dumb with awe in Churchill's presence, Ward was unable to answer the prime minister's questions. Churchill surveyed the unhappy hero with some compassion. "You must feel very humble and awkward in my presence," he said.
     "Yes, sir," managed Ward.
     "Then you can imagine how humble and awkward I feel in yours," said Churchill.

—The Little, Brown Book of Anecdotes

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We relish news of our heroes, forgetting that we are extraordinary to somebody too.

—Helen Hayes

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Most people aren't appreciated enough, and the bravest things we do in our lives are usually known only to ourselves. No one throws ticker tape on the man who chose to be faithful to his wife, on the lawyer who didn't take the drug money, on the daughter who held her tongue again and again. All this anonymous heroism.

—Peggy Noonan

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To say that there is a case for heroes is not to say that there is a case for hero worship. The surrender of decision, the unquestioning submission to leadership, the prostration of the average man before the Great Man — these are the diseases of heroism, and they are fatal to human dignity. . . . History amply shows that it is possible to have heroes without turning them into gods. And history shows, too, that when a society, in flight from hero worship, decides to do without great men at all, it gets into troubles of its own.

—Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr.

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As you get older, it is harder to have heroes, but it is sort of necessary.

—Ernest Hemingway

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At the boy's level, hero worship gravitates toward the doer of spectacular deeds; on the average adult level, toward the wielder of power; and in the eyes of a more critical judgment, toward idealism and moral qualities.

—Dixon Wecter

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Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some hire public-relations officers.

—Daniel Boorstin

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Heroes are created by popular demand, sometimes out of the scantiest materials, or none at all.

—Gerald W. Johnson

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The real "it is well" is something I say from the ground, having fallen.

—Antonio Porchia

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Alas, I know if I ever became truly humble, I would be proud of it.

—Ben Franklin

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A poor man was so distressed at how small and crowded his house was that he went to see his rabbi for advice. The rabbi told him to go home and move his goat into the house, then to come visit the rabbi again in a week. The man did as he was told and returned to the rabbi a week later.
"How is it now?" asked the rabbi.
"Impossible," said the man.
The rabbi instructed the man to go home and move all his chickens into the house, then to return again in a week. A week later the man was banging on the rabbi's door.
"How is it now?" asked the rabbi.
"Impossible," the man replied. "I cannot go on like this."
The rabbi told the man to go home, take the chickens and the goat out of the house, and return again in a week. Once more the man did as instructed. The next week the man stood at the rabbi's door with a broad grin and a well-rested manner.
"So," the rabbi said, "now how is it?"
"A blessing on you, Rabbi," the man said. "My life is so much better. I don't know how to thank you.

—Hasidic folktale

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Remember that not to be happy is not to be grateful.

—Elizabeth Carter

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