"The lion who breaks the enemy's ranks is a minor hero compared to the lion who overcomes himself."
Read quote
14 likes
Hero quotes
Hero
3.2K quotes on this topic — from poets, philosophers, and thinkers across history.
Explore further
Topics related to Hero
Browse quotes that often appear alongside hero — connected by shared ideas and recurring themes.
Quote collection
Hero quotes (page 10 of 160)
Follow a thought to its author, or read the full quote page.
"Show me a hero and I'll write you a tragedy."
Read quote
14 likes
"In this possibly terminal phase of human existence, democracy and freedom are more than just ideals to be valued - they may be essential to survival."
Read quote
14 likes
"If a man wishes to become a hero, then the serpent must first become a dragon: otherwise he lacks his proper enemy."
Read quote
14 likes
"If we restructure things to see that the hero's journey is a degree in astrophysics rather than a journey to star in a reality show, that's a better world."
Read quote
14 likes
"Only while they are conforming their actions to the model of some archetypal hero do the Arunta feel that they are truly alive, for in those roles they are immortal. The occasions on which they slip from such molds are quite meaningless, for time immediately devours those occasions and reduces them to nothingness."
Read quote
14 likes
"My dad was my hero, my best friend."
Read quote
13 likes
"The absurd hero's refusal to hope becomes his singular ability to live in the present with passion."
Read quote
13 likes
"Sometimes I wonder if suicides aren't in fact sad guardians of the meaning of life."
Read quote
13 likes
"There is a determined though unseen bravery that defends itself foot by foot in the darkness against the fatal invasions of necessity and dishonesty. Noble and mysterious triumphs that no eye sees, and no fame rewards, and no flourish of triumph salutes. Life, misfortunes, isolation, abandonment, poverty, are battlefields that have their heroes; obscure heroes, sometimes greater than the illustrious heroes."
Read quote
13 likes
"I don't believe in "original sin." I don't believe in "guilt." I don't believe in villains or heroes - only right or wrong ways that individuals have taken, not by choice but by necessity or by certain still-uncomprehended influences in themselves, their circumstances, and their antecedents. This is so simple I'm ashamed to say it, but I'm sure it's true. In fact, I would bet my life on it! And that's why I don't understand why our propaganda machines are always trying to teach us, to persuade us, to hate and fear other people on the same little world that we live in."
Read quote
13 likes
"Ordinary people who are just kind of just going about their lives are transformed into heroes because they have the courage to put their voices out there. And I think that's a powerful message in this time of political strife."
Read quote
13 likes
"Villains are undone by what is worst in them, heroes by what is best."
Read quote
13 likes
"In my later years I have sought to become simpler, straighter and purer in my handling of the language. I've had many writing heroes, writers who have influenced me. Of the ones still alive, I can think of E.B. White. I certainly admire the pure, crystal stream of his prose. When I was very young as a sportswriter I knowingly and unashamedly imitated others. I had a series of heroes who would delight me for a while and I'd imitate them--Damon Runyon, Westbrook Pegler, Joe Williams."
Read quote
13 likes
"Heroes are heroes because they are heroic in behavior, not because they won or lost."
Read quote
13 likes
"Once the state has been founded, there can no longer be any heroes. They come on the scene only in uncivilized conditions."
Read quote
13 likes
"Lula da Silva was my hero when he was president. I Googled him so many times. The fact that he got 20 million people out of poverty... that happened by encouraging entrepreneurship, by supporting small business."
Read quote
13 likes
"When you follow your bliss...doors will open where you would not have thought there would be doors, and where there wouldn't be a door for anyone else."
Read quote
13 likes
"Dr. Martin Luther King is not a black hero. He is an American hero."
Read quote
13 likes
"And each man stands with his face in the light. Of his own drawn sword, ready to do what a hero can."
Read quote
12 likes