Thomas Carlyle

"Hero-worship is the deepest root of all; the tap-root, from which in a great degree all the rest were nourished and grown . . . Worship of a Hero is transcendent admiration of a Great Man. I say great men are still admirable; I say there is, at bottom, nothing else admirable! No nobler feeling than this of admiration for one higher than himself dwells in the breast of men."

3 likes

Source: Thomas Carlyle (1840). “On Heroes, Hero-worship and the Heroic in History”, p.14, CUP Archive

About the author

Thomas Carlyle

Thomas Carlyle

Essayist, Historian, Novelist

Thomas Carlyle was a Scottish philosopher and historian known for his influential works on history and heroism, particularly 'On Heroes and Hero Worship.'

All quotes by Thomas Carlyle →

Same author

More quotes by Thomas Carlyle

See all →
Thomas Carlyle Essayist, Historian, Novelist

"Long stormy spring-time, wet contentious April, winter chilling the lap of very May; but at length the season of summer does come."

Read quote
Thomas Carlyle Essayist, Historian, Novelist

"No man lives without jostling and being jostled; in all ways he has to elbow himself through the world, giving and receiving offence."

Read quote