what makes heroes

8/18/2019 What Makes Heroes

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to send their children to college. Couples who come to their doctors with orms to be

flled out to qualiy them to become oster parents. Children who put their careers

on hold or even abandon them altogether to care or their sick parents, or to keep

them out o nursing homes.

*nd my patient, who donated a kidney to save his brother. * brother whounortunately died anyway +this was back when most *#7S patients died no matter

what we dida act my patient knew himsel when he gave him his kidney.

%That's how it goes sometimes,% was all he said to me when # asked him about his

brother's death during that frst visit we had all those years ago.

1e'd come to see me, by the way, because his one remaining kidney had started to

ail. # subsequently diagnosed him with sarcoidosis +link is e)ternal and was able to

save it, only to (ounder at sparing him rom urther complications o the disease

later, complications that have since orced him to go on disability and signifcantly

compromised the quality o his lie.

#'m sure he eels bitter about it on some days and rails against his ate on others.

1e never complains to me about it, though.

1e's one o my heroes. 3ho are some o yours5

If you enjoyed this post, please feel free to explore Dr. Lickerman's home page,

Happiness in this World (link is external.

3hat is a hero5 3ho are the people we make heroes5 3hy do we need heroes5

3hat happens when a hero alls5 3hy do we need heroes5

* hero is someone who %we% determine to have demonstrated behaviors and

decisions that are ethically and emotionally worthy o our awe. 3e see in them

something we think is not in us. 8iven similar conditions, we %think% we might not

make the same moves and decisions they do, so we place them in an elevated

place in society or in our minds. 3hat is a hero5 Someone who inspires us by their

e)ample. Someone who moves us emotionally to connect with them at some level

in order or us develop a connection with them. 3e may want to idoli9e them or

place them in high personal regard. 3e may want to connect with them in a

personal way by ocusing on them to garner their strength or will:power. 3e may

also desire to possess them in order to gain hero status by way o a kindred

association.

So, what is it specifcally that a hero does that creates awe in us5 3hat makes us

pick one over another5 3hat is it about our hero that makes us stand:up and take

note and then admire, adore or try to emulate them5 #n many cases, it is their

accomplishments. 3e have been granted access to their triumphant

consummations o acts and deeds which, we believe, are beyond our own

capacities. $or e)ample, a great ootball player achieves astounding record breaking

https://www.psychologytoday.com/basics/parentinghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarcoidosishttp://happinessinthisworld.com/https://www.psychologytoday.com/basics/parentinghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarcoidosishttp://happinessinthisworld.com/


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eats, and we immediately determine that they possess a greatness, that we

bestowed upon them. They are a god. They are superior in all ways due to the act

that they threw the ball urther or ran aster than all beore them. 3e develop awe

and a orm o respect or their accomplishments. Their achievements become the

new %super hero% standard to measure against. 3hat about ;rincess 7iane, the

people's princess5 The world adored her in her rise rom a rather simple country girlto a world recogni9ed and cherished symbol o goodness. 3e connected with her,

no matter who we were, because she connected with us in an awe inspiring way.

4ike a airy tale, her ourney to marry ;rince Charles and become a ;rincess

disclosed to us that it was indeed possible to live a airy tale lie. 3hat did we

garner rom this e)ample5 That we connect with a hero because a hero connects

with us.


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survived. 3hat choices did he make at that moment that resulted in such a oyul

end to what could have been a disaster5 1e decided and made the personal choice

to place every single person's lie on that plane at the highest regard. 1e elected to

also protect the tens o thousands o lives that may have perished i the (ight had

crashed into midtown !anhattan. 1e did what needed to be done when it needed to

be done without even an inch o doubt. # am sure Sully did not think about the pressconerence later that aternoon.

Still yet another type o hero as emerged. The passengers on $light -A in ;* on 0--

decided to take action in the ace o an inevitable ending, and take over the terrorist

who were evil:bend upon death and destruction. 3here did these men and women

gather their strength to do this remarkably brave thing5 # would suggest, that they

gathered unity courage. They looked into each other's eyes and %connected% with

each other. They saw in themselves an uncommon valor through a banded bravery.

#n the end %we% saw them as modern day heroes ...

3hat have we learned so ar5 There are di&erent types o heroes. 1eroes that, bye)ample show us that anything is possible. 1eroes that by their decisions,

demonstrate a courage that is not common in the average populace and we see a

hero that fnds strength to overcome adversity and thrive. 3e have seen heroes

that connect and uniy when their unifcation is needed to stop or to mitigate the

amount o death and destruction that is blatantly obvious to occur.

# have witnessed in recent months a little girl named *ngelina who has and still to

this very minute, demonstrate's such courage and heroic strength while she fghts a

vicious cancer. She is only ten years old and her will to %push through% and, to be an

e)ample o strength and the %right stu&% has personally connected with me. *s #

fght my battle to live, # connect with her. So, being a hero is about connecting withpeople. #t is about being connected with and connecting with others, most o whom,

we never meet. #t is about placing the saety, health, welare and protection o

others frst and oremost in your decision, or better yet, a hero is one that does not

make the decision but rather ust acts in protection o people.

1eroes come in many ages shapes and si9es. !any o our heroes are everyday olks

like you and me. #t is the mother who chooses to stand up and protect her children

with courage and inner strength when the cards are stack against her. She works

around the clock to provide or their health growth and protection. 3hen her pain is

so agoni9ing that she can't walk another step, she gathers yet more strength in

order that the children are well.

There is the hero child who stands up or a disabled child in a play ground and does

not permit the challenged wee one to be hurt. There is the school bus driver who

protects their children passengers against any invader. There is the ather who

aces an invader into a home and places his lie beore all. There is parent who

adopts a child who has been abused and patiently holds their hand as they navigate


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childhood. There is the mother or ather o a veteran who's taken his or her own lie

who fnds the strength to help other parents who ace similar tragedies.


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admired, adored and revered by the entire human race. 6es, we all have read about

heroes like those in the 8reek or @orse mythologies and all their deeds are

engraved in our minds as the paragon o heroism. 1owever, it is also true that the

world has witnessed many heroes who like all o us were crated in blood and (esh

yet by virtue o their qualities attained godhood. *lbert ead this article to

learn what essential characteristics or qualities a hero invariably possesses.

Characteristics Of A Hero

Courage

The frst and the oremost quality o a hero is his courage. * hero always overcomeshis ears and conronts any challenge head on.


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Compassion

* true hero is always empathetic, benevolent and shows a great deal o compassion

and tenderness to those ailing or in distress. 1e or she keeps aside thoughts those

are oriented to the sel and embraces an attitude that serves others.

Perseverance This quality is what that makes the hero special.


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astute person can do so. 3hatever a hero maybea warrior, a preacherwisdom is

always an attribute that all o them possess.

* hero is not born, he is sel:made. *bove mentioned are some o the most

undamental qualities, which a hero invariably possesses. 3e all do possess some o

the virtues, which have been e)plained above. 1owever, what sets a hero apartrom the hoi polloi is that he can be said to be the highest or the perect

embodiment o all o these virtues.

Heroes

$rom 3ikiquote

"ump toH navigation, search

=h, we can be heroes ust or one day. I 7avid 2owie and 2rian


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?nhappy the land that is in need o heroes. I 2ertolt 2recht

• 'rue heroism is remar(a"ly so"er) very undramatic* t is not the urge

to surpass all others at +hatever cost) "ut the urge to serve others

at +hatever cost*

o *rthur *she, s quoted in Worth epeating ) *ore +han ,--- #lassic

and #ontemporary &uotes +MOOA by 2ob Pelly, p. -Q0.

• The hero is the world:man, in whose heart

=ne passion stands or all, the most indulged.

o ;hilip "ames 2ailey, estus +-NA0, ;roem, line --/.

• 'hough nothing) nothing +ill (eep us together

#e can "eat them) forever and ever

Oh) +e can "e heroes ,ust for one day*

o 7avid 2owie and 2rian


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Center.% ;ardon me or pointing this out, olks, but stock traders, clerks,

receptionists, cooks, waiters and building maintenance people in the 3orld

Trade Center didn't die or their country. They died because they went to

work. @ot one o them would have shown up or work that day i you had told

them they would die as a result. Try to get your heroes straight.

@ot everyone who died in 0B-- was a hero. 1ero is a very special word, that'swhy we reserve it or certain special people. # everyone's a hero, then the

word doesn't mean much anymore. *nd sooner or later we'll have to give the

real heroes +the heroic ones a new name, to distinguish them rom the rest

o the pack. Too bad %superheroes% is already taken it would have been

perect. 2ut rela), olks, i # know us, %megahero% can't be too ar over the

hori9on. *lthough to be honest, # kind o like the alliteration in %hyperhero.%

4et's shoot or that.

o 8eorge Carlin, When Will 1esus ring the %ork #hops +MOO/, %1eroes

3ho 7ied or Their Country%.

• Someone can conquer kingdoms and countries without being a hero

someone else can prove himsel a hero by controlling his temper. Someone

can display courage by doing the out:o:the:ordinary, another by doing the

ordinary. The question is always:how does he do it5

o Soren Pierkegaard 2ither3$r %art II, 1ong, p. M0N +-N/A.

• *nother defnition o a hero is someone who is concerned about other

people's well:being, and will go out o his or her way to help them :: even i

there is no chance o a reward. That person who helps others simply because

it should or must be done, and because it is the right thing to do, is indeedwithout a doubt, a real superhero.

o Stan 4ee, #y4erspacers

• ;eople would be ama9ed at the behind:the:scenes activity in hero:making

quarrels over which cases are most deserving seeing that all ranks and units

are properly represented dressing up weak cases to make them appear

stronger last minute switches rom one class o decoration to another. The

number o decorations is determined, not by the number o deserving cases,

but by the number and types o medals the admiral totes along.

o 1erbert !erillat, in 0uadalcanal emem4ered +-0NM also in %1erbert

!erillat wrote about what he saw at 8uadalcanal% by *dam 2ernstein

in +he Washington %ost +M !ay MO-O.

• The real hero is the man who fghts even though he is scared. Some men get

over their right in a minute under fre. $or some, it takes an hour. $or some,

it takes days. 2ut a real man will never let his ear o death overpower his

https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/George_Carlinhttps://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Soren_Kierkegaardhttps://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Stan_Leehttp://www.cyberspacers.com/exclusive/08020302.htmlhttp://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/04/29/AR2010042904354.htmlhttp://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/04/29/AR2010042904354.htmlhttp://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/04/29/AR2010042904354.htmlhttp://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/04/29/AR2010042904354.htmlhttp://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/04/29/AR2010042904354.htmlhttps://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/George_Carlinhttps://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Soren_Kierkegaardhttps://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Stan_Leehttp://www.cyberspacers.com/exclusive/08020302.htmlhttp://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/04/29/AR2010042904354.htmlhttp://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/04/29/AR2010042904354.htmlhttp://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/04/29/AR2010042904354.html


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honor, his sense o duty to his country, and his innate manhood. 2attle is the

most magnifcent competition in which a human being can indulge. #t brings

out all that is best and it removes all that is base.

o 8eneral 8eorge S. ;atton, in a speech to the Third *rmy + "une -0//

published in +he 5nkno"n %atton +-0NM by Charles !. ;rovince, p. AM.

• 2ob $orestier had pretended or so many years to be a gentleman that in the

end, orgetting that it was all a ake, he had ound himsel driven to act as in

that stupid, conventional brain o his he thought a gentleman must act. @o

longer knowing the di&erence between sham and real, he had sacrifced his

lie to a spurious heroism.

o 3. Somerset !augham, #ollected short stories 6, %The lion's skin%, p.

MNA

• .ever run against a +ar hero*

o *dlai Stevenson, who amously campaigned twice or ?S president

against 7wight emembers*dlai Stevenson%

by !aureen Uebian in +he 2poch +imes +/ @ovember MOO/.

• Could it be that the hero is one who is willing to set out, take the frst step,

shoulder something5 ;erhaps the hero is one who puts his oot upon a path

not knowing what he may e)pect rom lie but in some way eeling in his

bones that lie e)pects something o him.

o ;. 4. Travers, in %The 3orld o the 1ero% +-0RQ.

• # need a hero, #'m holding out or at hero 'till the end o the night

1e's gotta be strong and he's gotta be ast

*nd he's gotta be resh rom the fght

# need a hero, #'m holding out or a hero 'till the morning light

1e's gotta be sure and it's gotta be soon

*nd he's gotta be larger than lie, larger than lie

o 2onnie Tyler, song %1olding =ut or a 1ero% +-0N/.

•

7o you know what the defnition o a hero is5 Someone who gets other peoplekilled. 6ou can look it up later.

o Uoe 3ashburne, in Serenity +MOO, by "oss 3hedon

Hoyt's New Cyclopedia Of Practical Quotations%edit&

Luotes reported in Hoyt's !e" #yclopedia $f %ractical &uotations +-0MM, p. AQ:QQ.

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• !y valet:de:chambre sings me no such song.

o *ntigonus #. See ;lutarch, 7pothegms. *lso Concerning #sis and =siris,

Chapter VV#G.

• +el ma8tre, tel 9alet.

o *s the master so the valet.

4ike master, like man.

o *ttributed to Chevalier 2ayard by !. Ciniber.

• $erryman ho #n the night so black

1ark to the clank o iron

'Tis heroes o the 6ser,

'Tis sweethearts o glory.

'Tis lads who are unaraid

$erryman, ho

o 4ucien 2oyer, La *aison du %asseur .

• # want a heroH an uncommon want,

3hen every year and month sends orth a new one.

o 4ord 2yron, Don 1uan +-N-N:M/, Canto #, Stan9a -.

• 3orship o a hero is transcendent admiration o a great man.

o Thomas Carlyle, Heroes and Hero:Worship, 4ecture #.

• # 1ero mean sincere man, why may not every one o us be a 1ero5

o Thomas Carlyle, Heroes and Hero:Worship, 4ecture #G.

• 1ero:worship e)ists, has e)isted, and will orever e)ist, universally among

!ankind.

o Thomas Carlyle, ;artor esartus, $rganic ilaments.

• Il faut


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• #l n'y a pas de grand homme pour son valet:de:chambre.

o @o man is a hero to his valet.

o !me. de Cornuel. See !lle. *issW4etters. -Q-. +;aris, -NA.

• The hero is not ed on sweets,7aily his own heart he eats

Chambers o the great are ails,

*nd head:winds right or royal sails.

o >alph 3aldo alph 3aldo ichard 1ansard, Description of Hungary , *nno -00. 4ansdowne

!anuscript, RR, Golume -/0. 2ritish !useum.

• The boy stood on the burning deck

3hence all but he had (ed

The (ame that lit the battle's wreck,

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Shone round him o'er the dead.

Y Y Y Y Y

The (ames roll'd onhe would not go

3ithout his $ather's word

That $ather, aint in death below,

1is voice no longer heard.

o $elicia 1emans, #asa4ianca.

• 1eroes as great have died, and yet shall all.

o 1omer, +he Iliad, 2ook VG, line -R. ;ope's translation.

• 1ail, Columbia happy land

1ail, ye heroes heaven:born band

3ho ought and bled in $reedom's cause.

o "oseph 1opkinson1ail, Columbia

• Gi)ere ortes ante *gamemnona

!ultiH sed omnes illacrimabiles

?rgentur, ignotique longa

@octe, carent quia vate sacro.

o !any heroes lived beore *gamemnon, but they are all unmourned,

and consigned to oblivion, because they had no bard to sing their

praises.

o 1orace, #armina, #G. 0. M.

• The idol o to:day pushes the hero o yesterday out o our recollection and

will, in turn, be supplanted by his successor o to:morrow.

o 3ashington #rving, +he ;ketch ook , Westminster 744ey .

• Still the race o hero spirits pass the lamp rom hand to hand.

o Charles Pingsley, +he World's 7ge.

• >arement ils sont grands vis:Z:vis de leur valets:de:chambre.

o >arely do they appear great beore their valets.

o "ean de 4a 2ruy[re, #aractAres.

• There are heroes in evil as well as in good.

o $ran\ois de 4a >ocheoucauld, *axims, @o. -0/.

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• Crowds speak in heroes.

o 8erald Stanley 4ee, #ro"ds +-0-A, 2ook #G, Chapter ###.

• There is never any real danger in allowing a pedestal or a hero. 1e never has

time to sit on it. =ne sees him always over and over again kicking his

pedestal out rom under him, and using it to batter a world with.

o 8erald Stanley 4ee, #ro"ds +-0-A, 2ook G, ;art ###, Chapter VG#.

• 7ost thou know what a hero is5 3hy, a hero is as much as one should say,a

hero.

o 1enry 3adsworth 4ongellow, Hyperion +-NA0, 2ook #, Chapter #.

• 'Tis as easy to be heroes as to sit the idle slaves

= a legendary virtue carved upon our ather's graves.

o "ames >ussell 4owell, +he %resent #risis, Stan9a -.

• Tel a estW miraculeu) au monde, auquel sa emme et son valet n'ont rien veu

seulement de remarquable peu d'hommes ont estW admire9 par leur

domestiques.

o Such an one has been, as it were, miraculous in the world, in whom his

wie and valet have seen nothing even remarkable ew men have

been admired by their servants.

o !ichel de !ontaigne, 2ssays, 2ook ###, Chapter ##.

• See the conquering hero comes

Sound the trumpets, beat the drums

o 7r. Thomas !orell3ords used by 1andel in "oshua, and "udas

!accab]us. +#ntroduced in stage version o 4ee's >ival Lueens, *ct ##,

scene -.

• !y personal attendant does not think so much o these things as # do.

o ;lutarch, De Iside, Chapter VV#G. *lso in >egnum et #mperatorum.

*pothegmata, ##. MN. +Tauchnit9


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o *bram ". >yan, #. ;. 7.

• He +ho dreamed of democracy) far "ac( in a +orld of a"solutism)

+as indeed heroic) and +e of today a+a(en to the +onder of his

dream*

o 4ouis Sullivan, in %


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determination o Christian principle, whose oot resteth on the rock, and

whose eye pierceth into heaven.

o 3illiam !orley ;unshon, p. A-A.

• 3ith quaint manners and quaint names these men had the hero's heart and

the conessor's aith. Their aith was, indeed, their strength. Strong in the

supremacy o conscience, in that real earnestness which springs rom

conviction, and which prompts to enterprise ar:sighted in political sagacity,

because seeing 1im that is invisible shrewd enough to know that the truest

policy or the lie that now is, is a reverent recognition o the lie that is to

come, they were brave in endurance and patient under trial and never losing

sight o the principle or which they struggled, and o the purpose o their

voyage aar, they % won the wilderness or 8od.%


• 7on't aim at any impossible heroisms. Strive rather to be quiet in your own

sphere. 7on't live in the cloudland o some transcendental heaven do your

best to bring the glory o a real heaven down, and ray it out upon your ellows

in this work:day world. Seek to make trade bright with a spotless integrity,

and business lustrous with the beauty o holiness.


• The grandest o heroic deeds are those which are perormed within our walls

and in domestic privacy.

o "ean ;aul, p. A-A.

• The calm, tranquil energy o the >edeemer's soul the deep strength o

principle which nothing could shake the serene courage which looked down

upon menaces, clamor, contumely, sacrifce, death, this is the temper

which pours contempt upon the intrepidity o heroes, but which the 1oly

Spirit inuses into the humble Christian.

o >ichard $uller, p. A-/
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