On Heroism:
The Cost of Courage in a Coward’s World
Quotes on Heroism
Nobody, they say, is a hero to his valet; but that is because one must be a hero to understand a hero. — Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Worship your heroes from afar; contact with them is the quickest way of spoiling your admiration. — Henry Ward Beecher
Heroes in history seem to us poetic because we see them in perspective. They stand out against a distant background, and the simple truth of some of their actions would sound like paradoxes. — George William Curtis
In analyzing and defining heroes, it is possible to separate what they are from what they appear. — Ralph Waldo Emerson
Of two heroes, he is the greatest who is the greatest sufferer. — Edwin Hubbell Chapin
A high courage, or a brave spirit, is the most essential part of a hero. — Joseph Addison
We cannot think a coward—a man without courage—to be the hero of ourselves or others. — Thomas Carlyle
The greatest obstacle to being heroic is the doubt whether one may not be going to prove one’s self a fool. The truest heroism is to resist the doubt; and the profoundest wisdom to know when it ought to be resisted and when obeyed. — Nathaniel Hawthorne
The prudent see only the difficulties, the bold only the advantages; the hero sees both. — Luc de Clapiers, Marquis de Vauvenargues
Unbounded courage and compassion joined proclaim him good and great, and make the hero and the man complete. — Joseph Addison
The man who rules his spirit… is greater than he who takes a city. — Sarah Josepha Hale
Every man is a hero and an oracle to somebody. — Ralph Waldo Emerson
The heroes of mankind are the mountains, the highlands of the moral world. — Arthur Penrhyn Stanley
Self-trust is the essence of heroism. — Ralph Waldo Emerson
When your time comes to die, be not like those whose hearts are filled with fear of death… Sing your death song, and die like a hero going home. — Tecumseh
Though much is taken, much abides; and though we are not now that strength which in old days moved earth and heaven, that which we are, we are—one equal temper of heroic hearts, made weak by time and fate, but strong in will to strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield. — Alfred, Lord Tennyson
There is a certain enthusiasm in liberty that makes human nature rise above itself in acts of bravery and heroism. — Alexander Hamilton
Sources & References
The above quotations are drawn from the published works, speeches, essays, and recorded sayings of the authors listed. Where possible, original or widely accepted source texts are noted.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Maxims and Reflections (posthumous collections of Goethe’s aphorisms and conversations)
Related concept also discussed in Thomas Carlyle’s On Heroes, Hero-Worship, and the Heroic in History (1841)
Henry Ward Beecher
Sermons and Lectures, widely compiled in 19th-century collections such as Life Thoughts (1858)
George William Curtis
Essays and addresses, including those published in Prue and I (1856) and later lecture collections
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Essays: First Series (1841) — includes “Self-Reliance”
Representative Men (1850)
Various journals and collected essays
Edwin Hubbell Chapin
Living Words (1860) and other sermon collections
Joseph Addison
The Spectator (1711–1712), especially essays on virtue, courage, and character
Thomas Carlyle
On Heroes, Hero-Worship, and the Heroic in History (1841)
Nathaniel Hawthorne
Essays and notebooks, later compiled in Passages from the American Note-Books and other posthumous collections
Luc de Clapiers, Marquis de Vauvenargues
Réflexions et Maximes (1746)
Sarah Josepha Hale
Woman’s Record (1853) and various editorial writings in Godey’s Lady’s Book
Arthur Penrhyn Stanley
Lectures on the History of the Eastern Church (1861) and related essays
Tecumseh
Attributed speech (often titled “Tecumseh’s Death Song”), preserved through oral tradition and later 19th-century transcriptions; exact wording varies across sources
Alfred, Lord Tennyson
“Ulysses,” from Poems (1842)
Alexander Hamilton
The Federalist Papers (1787–1788), particularly essays discussing human nature, liberty, and civic virtue
General Note on Attribution
Several quotations in this collection have appeared in multiple historical compilations of aphorisms and may vary slightly in wording depending on the edition or transcription. Every effort has been made to preserve the most widely accepted and authoritative forms.
A good read.