fa23f50
|
We are like a bunch of dogs squirting on fire hydrants. We poison the groundwater with our toxic piss, marking everything MINE in a ridiculous attempt to survive our deaths. I can't stop pissing on fire hydrants...I am an animal like any other. Hazel is different. she walks lightly, old man. She walks lightly upon the earth. She knows the truth: We're as likely to hurt the universe as we are to help it, and we're not likely to do either. People will say it's sad that she leaves a lesser scar, that fewer remember her, that she was loved deeply but not widely. But it's not sad. It's triumphant. It's heroic. Isn't that the real heroism? The real heroes anyway aren't the people doing things; the real heroes are the people NOTICING things, paying attention.
|
|
heroism
the-fault-in-our-stars
depth
hero
intimacy
|
John Green |
10e690b
|
If you are not the hero of your own story, then you're missing the whole point of your humanity.
|
|
story
humanity
motivational
success
happiness
life
inspirational
hero
|
Steve Maraboli |
c90f516
|
To be heroic is to be courageous enough to die for something; to be inspirational is to be crazy enough to live a little.
|
|
heroes
heroic
stand-out
heroism
clever
courage
living
death
motivational
success
life
inspirational
stand
courageous
winning
definition
living-life-to-the-fullest
soldier
warrior
hero
crazy
|
Criss Jami |
5a9819a
|
A hero can go anywhere, challenge anyone, as long as he has the nerve.
|
|
hero
chiron
ultimate-guide
percy-jackson-and-the-olympians
rick-riordan
|
Rick Riordan |
bff04b3
|
I've always tried to make a home for myself, but I have not felt at home myself. I've worked hard at being the hero of my own life. But every time I checked the register of displaced persons, I was still on it. I didn't know how to belong. Longing? Yes. Belonging? No.
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|
displaced
hero
longing
|
Jeanette Winterson |
a4fdc5a
|
"Very good, Jason Grace," Notus said. "You are a son of Jupiter, yet you have chosen your own path- as all the greatest demigods have done before you. You cannot control your parentage, but you choose your legacy."
|
|
heroism
roman
legacy
self
greek
hero
heroes-of-olympus
percy-jackson
house-of-hades
jason-grace
rick-riordan
|
Rick Riordan |
9036308
|
"I'm gonna be percy Jackson when I grow up," she told Hazel solemnly. Hazel Smiled and ruffled her hair. "That's a good thing to be, Julia." "Although," Frank said. "Frank Zhang would be good too." --
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|
humor
inspirational
frank
hero
percy
hazel
|
Rick Riordan |
68cf5d5
|
Some people when they have taken too much and have been driven beyond the point of endurance, simply crumble and give up. There are others, though they are not many, who will for some reason always be unconquerable. You meet them in time of war and also in time of peace. They have an indomitable spirit and nothing, neither pain nor torture nor threat of death, will cause them to give up.
|
|
spirit
motivational
not-giving-up
endurance
hero
|
Roald Dahl |
f0f28d2
|
No one should know his entire fate. It's too dangerous and too depressing. Just keep going, do your best, and hope it's good enough. That's all any of us can do.
|
|
inspirational
hero
percy-jackson
|
Rick Riordan |
6f7495d
|
History is moving pretty quickly these days and the heroes and villains keep on changing parts.
|
|
heroes
history
villain
uncertainty
hero
villains
|
Ian Fleming |
796d674
|
Drizzt Do'Urden had followed a line of precepts based upon discipline and ultimate optimism. He fought for a better world because he believed that a better world could and would be made. He had never held any illusions that he would change the world, of course, or even a substantial portion of it, but he always held strongly that fighting to better just his own little pocket of the world was a worthwhile cause.
|
|
hero
|
R.A. Salvatore |
7fcae9a
|
He was dirty, his hair unkempt, his clothes stained with blood. Heroes in stories somehow managed to rescue maidens while looking like court dandies. Next time he went adventuring he'd remember to bring a comb.
|
|
heroes
hero
|
J.V. Jones |
e0de7df
|
A cynic by experience, a romantic by inclination and now a hero by necessity.
|
|
romance
hero
|
David Gemmell |
91e1415
|
"Sing to me," she said. "That would be valiant, to raise your voice in this dark, lonely place, and it will be useful as well. Sing to me, sing loudly-drown out my dreams, keep me from remembering whatever wants me to remember it. Sing to me, my lord prince, if it please you. It may not seem a hero's task, but I would be glad of it."
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|
hero
sing
|
Peter S. Beagle |
272baad
|
So it's happened, I kept thinking, you're in the middle of a story exactly as you've always wanted, and it's horrible. Fear tastes quite different when you're not just reading about it, Meggie, and playing hero wasn't half as much fun as I'd expected.
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|
story
hero
|
Cornelia Funke |
38bee92
|
"Are you telling me in your own gentle way to stop whining?" "Yes." "I don't feel like a hero. I feel like an idiot." "I think heroes generally do, but those men believe in you." "I did wait until I was outside before I threw up."
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|
whining
hero
|
Megan Whalen Turner |
e9f7e3f
|
"Griffin, please," she whispered. "Do you want me?" he asked. "Yes!" She tossed her head restlessly. She'd explode if he didn't give her release soon. "Do you need me?" He kissed her nipple too gently. "Please, please, please." "Do you love me?" And somehow, despite her extremis, she saw the gaping hole of the trap. She peered up at him blindly in the dark. She couldn't see his face, his expression. "Griffin," she sighed hopelessly. "You can't say it, can you?" he whispered. "Can't admit it either."
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|
griffinlordsexy
notorious-pleasures
hero
|
Elizabeth Hoyt |
f38e139
|
Every man is a hero if he strives more for others than for himself alone.
|
|
heroism
selflessness
hero
|
Lloyd Alexander |
c94d7e3
|
The public loves to create a hero....Sometimes I think they do it for the sheer joy of knocking him down from the highest peak. Like a child who builds a house of blocks and then destroys it with one vicious kick.
|
|
life
hero
|
Grace Metalious |
a67928c
|
I recognized the handwriting, and my heart gave a skip; when I opened it I got a turn, for it began, 'To my beloved Hector,' and I thought, by God she's cheating on me, and has sent me the wrong letter by mistake. But in the second line was a reference to Achilles, and another to Ajax, so I understood she was just addressing me in terms which she accounted fitting for a martial paladin; she knew no better. It was a common custom at that time, in the more romantic females, to see their soldier husbands and sweethearts as Greek heroes, instead of the whore-mongering, drunken clowns most of them were. However, the Greek heroes were probably no better, so it was not far off the mark.
|
|
ajax
ancient-greece
greek-heroes
martiality
hero
|
George MacDonald Fraser |
51e40a0
|
"But what's left on earth that I haven't tried?" Prince Lir demanded. "I have swum four rivers, each in full flood and none less than a mile wide. I have climbed seven mountains never before climbed, slept three nights in the Marsh of the Hanged Men, and walked alive out of that forest where the flowers burn your eyes and the nightingales sing poison. I have ended my betrothal to the princess I had agreed to marry -- and if you don't think that was a heroic deed, you don't know her mother. I have vanquished exactly fifteen black knights waiting by fifteen fords in their black pavilions, challenging all who come to cross. And I've long since lost count of the witches in the thorny woods, the giants, the demons disguised as damsels; the glass hills, fatal riddles, and terrible tasks; the magic apples, rings, lamps, potions, swords, cloaks, boots, neckties, and nightcaps. Not to mention the winged horses, the basilisks and sea serpents, and all the rest of the livestock." He raised his head, and the dark blue eyes were confused and sad. "And all for nothing," he said. "I cannot touch her, whatever I do. For her sake, I have become a hero -- I, sleepy Lir, my father's sport and shame -- but I might as well have remained the dull fool I was. My great deeds mean nothing to her."
|
|
quest
hero
fool
|
Peter S. Beagle |
ed35e93
|
I need to give you one last bit of advice in the off chance this rather extraordinary and enviable situation in which you find yourself is actually true- that somehow you've fallen deep down into a Cordova story. I stared back at him. Be the good guy, he said. How do I know I'm the good guy? He pointed at me, nodding. A very wise question. You don't. Most bad guys think they're good. But there are a few signifiers. You'll be miserable. You'll be hated. You'll fumble around in the dark, alone and confused. You'll have little insight as to the true nature of things, not until the very last minute, and only if you have the stamina and the madness to go to the very, very end. But most importantly- and critically- you will act without regard for yourself. You'll be motivated by something that has nothing to do with the ego. You'll do it for justice. For grace. For love. Those large rather heroic qualities only the good have the strength to carry on their shoulders. And you'll listen.
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|
good-guy
hero
|
Marisha Pessl |
4da3a30
|
God does not seem impressed by size or power or wealth. Faith is what he wants, and the heroes who emerge are heroes of faith, not strength or wealth.
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|
faith
god
hero
|
Philip Yancey |
9e91ac1
|
"What should we do?", I asked, and I had a pained feeling I thought was the beginning of love. In those early months we clung to each other with a rather silly desperation, because, in spite of everything my mother or Mrs Jordan could say, there was nothing that really prevented us from seeing each other. With imagined tragedy hovering over us, we became inseparable, two halves creating the whole: yin and yang. I was victim to his hero. I was always in danger and he was always rescuing me. I would fall and he would lift me up. It was exhilarating and draining. The emotional effect of saving and being saved was addicting to both of us. And that, as much as anything we ever did in bed, was how we made love to each other: conjoined where my weaknesses needed protection."
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|
relationship
love
victim
hero
|
Amy Tan |
8e7e6f1
|
I know who the real hero is, and it isn't me or brave Lanaya. It's an old man with a white beard and a walking stick and a heart so big it won't let him stop thinking he can change the world by writing down things in a book no one will ever read.
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|
heroes
dreams
old-man
book
hero
|
Rodman Philbrick |
c27d3c4
|
But what a feeling can come over a man just from seeing the things he believes in and hopes for symbolized in the concrete form of a man. In something that gives a focus to all the other things he knows to be real. Something that makes unseen things manifest and allows him to come to his hopes and dreams through his outer eye and through the touch and feel of his natural hand.
|
|
hopes
reality
dreams
truth
symbol
hero
|
Ralph Ellison |
becc919
|
I'm right and wrong, moral and immoral, good and bad, a hero and a villain, and I've been just as capable of truth as I have been lies.
|
|
lies
good
wrong
truth
hero-and-villain
moral-and-immoral
chasing-impossible
katie-mcgarry
pushing-the-limits
immoral
good-and-bad
truth-and-lies
villain
bad
moral
hero
right-and-wrong
right
|
Katie McGarry |
967580b
|
"I see a man," she said softly. "A man with the roar of cannons still ringing in his ears. A man bloodied by life, but not beaten. A man with a scar that draws his mouth into a frown when he might actually long to smile."
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|
romance
scarred
hero
|
Teresa Medeiros |
e25f441
|
"No," he said hoarsely, "the chair will do just fine, thank you." "If I know you are uncomfortable, I shan't be able to sleep." She sounded remarkably like a damsel in distress. Dunford shuddered. He had never been able to resist playing hero. Slowly he got to his feet and walked to the empty side of the bed. How bad could it be?"
|
|
humor
hero
|
Julia Quinn |
bad00ff
|
The sun, the hero of every day, the impersonal old man that beams as brightly on death as on birth, came up every morning and raced across the blue dome and dipped into the sea of fire every evening.
|
|
death
heartbreak
renewal
heartache
sun
hero
|
Zora Neale Hurston |
a4d3d78
|
"That's what it is to be a hero," Riordan says. "It's fighting on even when you're hopelessly outnumbered. It's seeing your friends dying all around you, witnessing the most shocking cruelty you could imagine, and still finding the courage to go on. It's doing the very best you can."
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|
courage
hope
hero
|
Juliet Marillier |
37f45ec
|
He thought of that heroic Colonel Pontmercy . . . who had left upon every field of victory in Europe drops of that same blood which he, Marius, had in his veins, who had grown grey before his time in discipline and in command, who had lived with his sword-belt buckled, his epaulets falling on his breast, his cockade blackened by powder, his forehead wrinkled by the cap, in the barracks, in the camp, in the bivouac, in the ambulance, and who after twenty years had returned from the great wars with his cheek scarred, his face smiling, simple, tranquil, admirable, pure as a child, having done everything for France and nothing against her.
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|
war
heroes
les-misérables
father-and-son
hero
|
Victor Hugo |
e7984f3
|
The world is mostly divided between madmen who remember and madmen who forget. Heroes are rare.
|
|
world
rare
hero
remember
forget
madmen
|
James Baldwin |
9372f4e
|
The devotion of one man had given strength and courage to all.
|
|
madeleine
wagon
hugo
hero
|
Victor Hugo |
8d257a1
|
In fairy tales, the heroes are punished when they run away from a task. The heroes, not their younger brothers...
|
|
heroes
family
fairytales
punishment
siblings
hero
ya
|
Cornelia Funke |
c249aa9
|
His lordship preserved his control over himself with a strong effort. After a moment of inward struggle, he said: 'Drawing the bustle with a vengeance, weren't you? No, don't cry! It might have been worse. But what possessed you, you little simpleton, to throw good money after bad? For I know very well you went a second night to that curst hell! Had you no more sense than to allow yourself to be plucked again? Good God! is gaming in your blood?' 'Oh, no, no, I am sure it is not, for I was never more uncomfortable in my life! Indeed, I wish I had not gone back, but I did it for the best, Sherry, and truly I thought you would have told me to if I could but have asked you!' 'Thought I - thought I - ?' gasped his lordship. 'Have you gone mad, Hero?' 'But, Sherry, you told me yourself, when your uncle Prosper had been teasing you, that the only thing to be done was to continue playing, because a run of bad luck could not last for ever, and -' She broke off, alarmed by the expression on his face. 'Oh, what have I said?' she cried. 'It's what I have said!' replied Sherry. 'No, no, don't look like that, Kitten! It's all my curst fault! Only I never dreamed you'd pay the least heed - Lord, I might have known, though! Kitten, don't listen to me when I talk such nonsense!
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|
sherry
hero
|
Georgette Heyer |
311cc4d
|
They had started one of those wish-fulfillment kids' adventure books, where the boy hero has exactly the qualities he needs to triumph, at every moment... She'd been bored and annoyed, and at one point she tried to explain to Sebastian why it wasn't her favor-ite of his books. But Sebastian had loved the book unreservedly. Why hadn't she just read the fucking thing with gusto and relished every moment with her son? Why had she brought her adult judgment and professional story opinions to a book her kid loved? Of course the child hero should always triumph! Who wanted a kids' book to feel like real life? Real life was fucking intolerable.
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|
reading
life
kid
judgment
hero
child
childhood
|
Maile Meloy |
b249c9b
|
"A block from his hotel, Gary cleared his throat. "I thought you said going back to my room might be dangerous." "Life is dangerous, Gary," Gregori said softly. "You are , remember?" Savannah's laughter rang out, rivaling the jazz quartet playing on the corner. Heads turned to listen to her, then to watch her, stealing away the attention of the audience gathered in a loose semi-circle around the quartet. She moved in the human world, completely comfortable in it, a part of it. Gregori had walked unseen, and that was how he preferred it. She was dragging him into her world. He could hardly believe he was walking down a crowded street with a mortal with half the block staring openly at them. "I didn't know you knew who Rambo was," Savannah said, trying not to giggle. She couldn't imagine Gregori in a theater watching a Rambo movie. "You saw a Rambo flick?" Gary was incredulous. Gregori made a sound somewhere between contempt and derision. "I read Gary's memories on the subject. Interesting. Silly, but interesting." He glanced at Gary. "This is your hero?" Gary's grin was as mischievous as Savannah's. "Until I met you, Gregori." Gregori growled, a low rumble of menace. His two companions just laughed disrespectfully, not in the least intimidated. "I'll bet he's a secret Rambo fan," Savannah whispered confidentially. Gary nodded. "He probably sneaks into movie theaters for every old showing."
|
|
old-showing
rambo
gregori-and-savannah
hero
|
Christine Feehan |
df22449
|
"Is it like this everywhere you go?" Gary asked. "Pretty much." Savannah shrugged calmly. "I don't really mind. Peter always--" She broke off abruptly and brought the steaming cup to her mouth. Gregori could feel sorrow beating at her, a crushing stone weighing down her heart. His hand slipped down her arm to lace his fingers through hers. At once he poured warmth and comfort into her mind, the sensation of his arms around her body, holding her close. "Peter Sanders always took care of the details surrounding Savannah's shows. He was very good at shielding her. He was murdered after her last show out in San Francisco." He provided the information quietly to Gary. "I'm sorry," Gary said instantly, meaning it. Her distress was evident in her large blue eyes. They shimmered with sorrow. Gregori brought Savannah's hand to the warmth of his mouth, his breath heating the pulse beating in her wrist. , mon petit amour. There were tears in her voice, in her mind, like an iridescent prism. She needed him, his comfort, his support under her terrible weight of guilt and love and loss. , he answered instantly, without hesitation, his eyes hot mercury. He tipped her chin up so that she met the brilliance of his silver gaze. , mon amour."
|
|
gary
gregori-and-savannah
hero
|
Christine Feehan |
6a2a081
|
But of course, in one sense, Dean never died - his existence is superior to such accidents. One must have heroes, which is to say, one must create them. And they become real through our envy, our devotion. It is we who give them their majesty, their power, which ourselves could never possess. And in turn, they give some back. But they are mortal, these heroes, just as we are. They do not last forever. They fade. They vanish. They are surpassed, forgotten - one hears of them no more.
|
|
time
remeberance
role-model
hero
memory
|
James Salter |