#heroes

Tragic heroes are failed pragmatists. Their ends are unrealistic and their means are impractical. ↗

— Adam Phillips

#pragmatism #life

We love our superheroes because they refuse to give up on us. We can analyze them out of existence, kill them, ban them, mock them, and still they return, patiently reminding us of who we are and what we wish we could be. ↗

— Grant Morrison

#love

We love WWII because the cause was so obviously just, because you can't be a good person and say you wouldn't fight against an evil like that. It was so black and white on our side, and on our side so few died. (Our side meaning the lantern-jawed John Wayne Greatest Generation constantly canonized soldiers who strode in late to the graveyard that was Europe. Compared to Jewish, Russian, Roma, and other casualties, our losses were minimal.) We felt so strong. In some ways I think we're always trying to recapture that feeling of being a country of superheroes. With every war we invoke that one, we hope it will be that good. -from her blog ↗

— Catherynne M. Valente

#strong #superheroes #war #wwii #love

To quote French author Francois Mauriac, 'Tell me what you read and I'll tell you who your are' is true enough, but I'd know you better if you told me what you reread. ↗

— Sarah Wendell

#heroines #reading #romance #love

What? A great man? I only ever see the ape of his own ideal. ↗

— Friedrich Nietzsche

#heroes #men

It was "Boom Boom" Dupont who had ripped Kit out of the Humvee after the IED went off, the IED that turned the entire undercarriage of his truck into a fiery wall that consumed the five men inside. ↗

— Siobhan Fallon

#loss #ptsd #war #men

The modern hero is a person who does something everyone thinks they could do if they were a little stronger, a little faster, a little smarter, or a little more generous. Heroes in ancient times were the link between men and perfect beings, gods. Heroes in modern times are the link between man as he is and man as he could be. ↗

— John Edwards

#men

Some writers, notably Anton Chekov, argue that all characters must be admirable, because once we've looked at anyone deeply enough and understood their motivation we must identify with them rather than judge them. ↗

— Scarlett Thomas

#heroes #villains #writing #motivational

Bruce has always been so nice to me, which is crazy, because he's one of my heroes. I'll never forget being at a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame ceremony the year Bruce and Paul McCartney were inducted. We were at the bar, and Bruce was talking to Paul, and he turned to me and said, 'I can't believe I'm talking to Paul McCartney!' I thought, 'I can't believe I'm talking to Bruce Springsteen, who's talking to Paul McCartney! ↗

— Melissa Etheridge

#bruce-springsteen #fans #heroes #music #paul-mccartney

War is not a means but an end. It makes violence respectable and makes sadists look like heroes. ↗

— Mary Horlock

#violence #war #respect