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200 Empowering Hero Quotes To Ignite Your Brave Heart

200 Empowering Hero Quotes To Ignite Your Brave Heart

In a world full of uncertainty and challenges, there is a special kind of strength that resides within us all. 

And just like Mariah Carey says in her iconic song “Hero” — we should rise above adversity and become the heroes of our own stories. 

You’ll find similar inspiring words in this collection of powerful hero quotes which I handpicked from various online sources to awaken the hero that lies within your heart.

Ready? Let’s go!

20 Greatest Hero Quotes

1. “Heroes are made by the paths they choose, not the power they are graced with.” — Brodi Ashton

black wavy water representing the greatest hero quote

2. “A hero is someone who, in spite of weakness, doubt or not always knowing the answers, goes ahead and overcomes anyway.” — Christopher Reeve

3. “Real heroes are men who fall and are flawed, but win out in the end because they’ve stayed true to their ideals and beliefs and commitments.” — Kevin Costner

4. “I think a hero is any person really intent on making this a better place for all people.” — Maya Angelou

5. “Heroes are not giant statues framed against a red sky. They are people who say: This is my community, and it’s my responsibility to make it better.” — Tom McCall

wavy water in black representing a great hero quote

6. “Those who say that we’re in a time when there are no heroes, they just don’t know where to look.” — Ronald Reagan

7. “Being a hero is not necessarily wearing a mask and cape and saving the world, it can be as simple as doing the right thing.” — Steven Magee

8. “The hero, in living her own life, in being true to herself; radiates a light by which others may see their own way.” — Laurence Boldt

9. “What is a hero without love for mankind.” — Doris Lessing

10. “Heroes don’t have the need to be known as heroes, they just do what heroes do because it is right and it must be done.” — Shannon A. Thompson

wavy water surface representing the greatest quote about a hero

11. “Heroes are ordinary people who make themselves extraordinary.” — Gerard Way

12. “Heroes are made because they are moved. Not in their head, but in their heart.” — Eric Ludy

13. “I have lots of heroes: anyone and everyone who does whatever they can to leave the natural world better than they found it.” — Sylvia Earle

14. “A hero is somebody who voluntarily walks into the unknown.” — Tom Hanks

15. “Being a hero doesn’t mean you’re invincible. It just means that you’re brave enough to stand up and do what’s needed.” — Rick Riordan

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16. “My heroes are just everyday people who work hard, are honest, and have integrity.” — Jordin Sparks

17. “The legacy of heroes is the memory of a great name and the inheritance of a great example.” — Benjamin Disraeli

18. “Great heroes need great sorrows and burdens, or half their greatness goes unnoticed.” — Peter S. Beagle

19. “The hero wanders, the hero suffers, the hero returns. You are that hero.” ― Steven Pressfield

20. “The hero journey is inside of you; tear off the veils and open the mystery of yourself.” ― Joseph Campbell

wavy water background representing be your own hero quote

See also: 130 Best Finding Yourself Quotes To Give You A Mind Blow

What It Takes To Be A Real Hero Quotes

1. “A hero is someone who has given his or her life to something bigger than oneself.” — Joseph Campbell

a man standing on the beach representing quote about real hero

2. “I think of a hero as someone who understands the degree of responsibility that comes with his freedom.” — Bob Dylan

3. “A hero is an ordinary individual who finds the strength to persevere and endure in spite of overwhelming obstacles.” — Christoper Reeve

4. “The thing about a hero, is even when it doesn’t look like there’s a light at the end of the tunnel, he’s going to keep digging, he’s going to keep trying to do right and make up for what’s gone before, just because that’s who he is.” — Joss Whedon

5. “A hero may or may not lead other people, but all heroes lead themselves.” — Jonathan Lockwood Huie

a man on the beach representing quote on real hero

6. “It is surmounting difficulties that makes heroes.” — Louis Pasteur

7. “The ordinary man is involved in action, the hero act. An immense difference.” — Henry Miller

8. “When I was very young, most of my childhood heroes wore capes, flew through the air, or picked up buildings with one arm. They were spectacular and got a lot of attention. But as I grew, my heroes changed, so that now I can honestly say that anyone who does anything to help a child is a hero to me.” — Fred Rogers

9. “I am of certain convinced that the greatest heroes are those who do their duty in the daily grind of domestic affairs whilst the world whirls as a maddening dreidel.” — Florence Nightingale

10. “It doesn’t take a hero to order men into battle. It takes a hero to be one of those men who goes into battle.” — Norman Schwarzkopf

a guy on beach sunset representing quote on what it takes to be a hero

11. “The hero is commonly the simplest and obscurest of men.” — Henry David Thoreau

12. “Heroes are those who can somehow resist the power of the situation and act out of noble motives, or behave in ways that do not demean others when they easily can.” — Philip G. Zimbardo

13. “A hero is someone right who doesn’t change.” — George Foreman

14. “My heroes have always been the hardworking and unflappable. Those who light a candle rather than curse the darkness.” ― Matthew Gray Gubler

15. “But one major thing a hero is to me is someone who helps, listens, and heals.” — Storm Lake St. Mary’s

a guy observing the sunset at the beach representing quote about being a real hero

16. “My heroes are those who risk their lives every day to protect our world and make it a better place — police, firefighters, and members of our armed forces.” — Sidney Sheldon

17. “A hero is a man who is afraid to run away.” — English Proverb

18. “A hero is somebody who is selfless, who is generous in spirit, who just tries to give back as much as possible and help people. A hero to me is someone who saves people and who really deeply cares.” — Debit Mazar

19. “Your heroes will help you find good in yourself.” — Randy Travis

20. “My heroes are the ones who survived doing it wrong, who made mistakes, but recovered from them.” — Bono

a guy at the beach representing quote on who is the real hero

21. “Nothing is given to man on earth — the struggle is built into the nature of life, and conflict is possible — the hero is the man who lets no obstacle prevent him from pursuing the values he has chosen.” — Andrew Bernstein

22. “A hero is one who knows how to hang on one minute longer.” — Novalis

23. “A hero is a man who does what he can.” — Romain Rolland

24. “The only difference between a hero and the villain is that the villain chooses to use that power in a way that is selfish and hurts other people.” — Chadwick Boseman

25. “Being a hero doesn’t mean you succeed in saving the day. It just means you tried.” — James Marsters

a guy watching the sunset representing quote on what it means to be a hero

26. “Heroes put to the test, keeping a promise, doing their best.” — Waylon Jennings

27. “A hero is someone you look up to and have respect for. They seem to always know all the right things to say.” — Mark J. Britzman

28. “Real heroes are others, those who have suffered in their soul, in their heart, in their spirit, in their mind, for their loved ones. Those are the real heroes. I’m just a cyclist.” — Gino Bartali

29. “You can tell a lot about a person by who his or her heroes are.” ― Steve Jobs

30. “Everyone has an inner hero that they have glimpsed from time to time, just waiting to break free. Now is the time to tap into your true hero potential.” — Steve Rizzo

a man observing the sunset at the beach representing quote about an inner hero

Inspirational Quotes About Heroes

1. “To be heroic is to be courageous enough to die for something; to be inspirational is to be crazy enough to live a little.” — Criss Jami

a man on the top representing inspirational quote about heroes

2. “After all, the ordinary hero hiding in each of us is often the most powerful catalyst for change.” — Tate Taylor

3. “Don’t forget, you are the hero of your own story.” — Greg Boyle

4. “Aspire rather to be a hero than merely appear one.” — Baltasar Gracian

5. “You were created a hero and born to prove it. Stand on challenges and make a difference.” — Israelmore Ayivor

a guy standing on the cliff representing inspiring quote on heroes

6. “All of us start from zero. We take the right decision and become a hero.” — Govinda

7. “The simple act of caring is heroic.” — Edward Albert

8. “If you look inside yourself, and you believe, you can be your own hero.” — Mariah Carey

9. “A hero is — as though one should say — a man of high achievement, who performs famous exploits; who does things that are heroical, and in all his actions and demeanor is a hero indeed.” — Henry Brooke

10. “If you have the courage and you have the heart, that hero just might be you.” — Waylon Jennings

a man standing on the top with raised hands representing a hero is in you quote

11. “Day after day, ordinary people become heroes through extraordinary and selfless actions to help their neighbors.” — Sylvia Mathews Burwell

12. “Everyone is necessarily the hero of his own life story.” — John Barth

13. “Real heroes don’t wear capes. Real superheroes wear uniforms and badges and stethoscopes! Real superheroes are members of our military, law enforcement, and first responders. Pretend superheroes wear capes!” — Dean Cain

14. “Everyone who does the best he can is a hero.” ― Josh Billings

15. “Heroes have always served as a reflection of their times, a template of who we are and what we want to be.” — David Grann

a guy on the mountaintop

16. “It’s not easy to be a hero. You do it because of what you believe, not because of what other people deserve.” — Patty Jenkins

17. “When your time comes to die, be not like those whose hearts are filled with fear of death, so that when their time comes they weep and pray for a little more time to live their lives over again in a different way. Sing your death song, and die like a hero going home.” — Tecumseh

18. “When I was a boy, I always saw myself as a hero in comic books and in movies. I grew up believing this dream.” — Elvis Presley

19. “It is the surmounting of difficulties that makes heroes.” ― Lajos Kossuth

20. “There are always these moments in life when the limits of suffering are reached and we become heroes and heroines.” ― Katherine Mansfield

a man reaching the mountaintop representing quote about becoming a hero

21. “We all want heroes and we all want somebody to look up to.” — Stacie Orrico

22. “Growing up, my parents were my heroes, in the way they conducted their lives.” ― Chris Hemsworth

23. “I long to accomplish a great and noble task, but it is my chief duty to accomplish small tasks as if they were great and noble. The world is moved along, not only by the mighty shoves of its heroes but also by the aggregate of the tiny pushes of each honest worker.” — Helen Keller

24. “Don’t forget who your heroes are, what they mean to you, and why they mean that to you.” — Gale Harold

25. “The hero is one who kindles a great light in the world, who sets up blazing torches in the dark streets of life for men to see by.” — Felix Adler

a guy with raised hands on the top representing an inspiring heroic quote

26. “Through adversity we find our heroes.” ― Steve Gleason

27. “A hero has faced it all: he need not be undefeated, but he must be undaunted.” — Andrew Bernstein

28. “My heroes are and were my parents. I can’t see having anyone else as my heroes.” — Michael Jordan

29. “There are so many heroes just walking around in everyday life. It blows me away.” ― Charisma Carpenter

30. “Friends are the real superheroes. They battle our worst enemies — loneliness, grief, anxiety, depression, fear, and doubt — every time they come around.” — Richelle E. Goodrich

a guy on mountain representing inspirational super hero quote

See also: Hard Times Reveal True Friends: 80 True Friendship Quotes

Hero Quotes To Help You Conquer Your Fears

1. “There’s a hero if you look inside your heart. You don’t have to be afraid of what you are.” ― Mariah Carey

a woman hiking representing there's a hero in you quote

2. “A true hero isn’t measured by the size of his strength, but by the strength of his heart.” — Hercules

3. “The prudent see only the difficulties, the bold only the advantages, of a great enterprise; the hero sees both; diminishes the former and makes the latter preponderate, and so conquers.” — Johann Kaspar Lavater 

4. “True heroes are not defined by their lack of fear, but by their unwavering determination to conquer it.” — Unknown

5. “Heroes act in spite of their fear, while the rest of us act because of our fear.” — Jonathan Lockwood Huie

a hiking girl representing quote on courageous heros

6. “How do I define a hero?  A hero is a person who courageously contributes under even the most trying circumstances; a hero is an individual who acts unselfishly and who demands more from himself or herself than others would expect; a hero is a man or woman who defies adversity by doing what he or she believes is right in spite of fear.” — Tony Robbins

7. “A hero is any person who uses wisdom and courage to meet life head-on.” — Alvin Granowsky

8. “We do not have to become heroes overnight. Just a step at a time, meeting each thing that comes up… discovering we have the strength to stare it down.” — Eleanor Roosevelt

9. “Down these mean streets a man must go who is neither tarnished nor afraid.” — Raymond Chandler

10. “I would describe a hero as a person who has no fear of life, who can face life squarely.” ― Alexander Lowen

a girl with raised hands representing quote about unfearful hero

11. “Real heroes are all around us. They face challenges with fear and grace.” — Robert Carey

12. “Sacrifices will make you a martyr, victories will make you a hero.” — Amit Kalantri

13. “Genuine heroes — no batteries needed — bring lots of open mind and at least a little courage.” — Jonathan Lockwood Huie

14. “Heroism is the dazzling and glorious concentration of courage.” — Henri-Frederic Amiel

15. “A hero overcomes the fear, the pain, the jitters, the whatever and still behaves heroically.” — Jason Sacks

a hiking girl with raised hands representing behaving heroically quote

16. “You have to do bad things in order to become a hero. You have to make sacrifices.” ― John Barrowman

17. “Despite the natural belittling of one’s self, the doubts, the insecurities, we have to wake up to the realization that we all write our own autobiography, we are the authors of our life story. Realizing that, write a good story with your life and make sure to write yourself as the protagonist. Be the hero of your journey.” — Yossi Ghinsberg

18. “He whom prosperity humbles, and adversity strengthens, is the true hero.” ― Josh Billings

19. “The real hero is the man who fights even though he is scared.” ― George S. Patton

20. “Heroes are just people who demonstrate the courage to step through their fears and follow their hearts.” — Ray Madaghiele

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21. “Heroes use the tough times in their lives to learn, to grow, to help others, and get help for themselves.” — Richard Kagan

22. “A hero is no braver than an ordinary man, but he is braver five minutes longer.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson

23.  “Only one who liberates himself from his psychological desires and fears indeed in truth qualify as liberation hero.” ― Velupillai Prabhakaran

24. “A real hero is somebody who will get up when he can’t.” ― Jack Dempsey

25. “Every hero must have the courage to be alone, to take the journey for himself.” ― Joseph Campbell

a hiking woman in nature

26. “Adversity creates heroes.” ― Picabo Street

27. “He who says, “I know no fear,” is no hero. No man knows courage unless he does know fear, and has that in him which is superior to fear, and conquers it.” — Lyman Abbott

28. “A hero’s greatest triumph lies in facing their fears head-on, for it is in those moments of doubt and uncertainty that they discover their inner strength and inspire others to do the same.” — Unknown

29. “The real hero is the man who fights even though he is scared. Some men get over their fright in a minute under fire. For some, it takes an hour. For some, it takes days. But a real man will never let his fear of death overpower his honor, his sense of duty to his country, and his innate manhood. Battle is the most magnificent competition in which a human being can indulge. It brings out all that is best and it removes all that is base.” — George S. Patton 

30. “Heroes and cowards feel the same fear and action creates opportunities.” ― Garrison Wynn

a woman in nature representing a quote about heroes and cowards

True Heroism Quotes

1. “True heroism is remarkably sober, very dramatic. It is not the urge to surpass all others at whatever cost, but the urge to serve others, at whatever cost.” — Arthur Ashe

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2. “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 to be obeyed.” — Nathaniel Hawthorne

3. “True heroes know that the most heroic thing about being a hero is not letting anyone else know that you are one.” — Craig D. Lounsbrough

4. “Heroism is not only in the man but in the occasion.” — Calvin Coolidge

5. “Heroism is that divine relation which in all times unites a great man to other men.” — Thomas Carlyle

a guy pushing s large stone to the top representing heroism quote

6. “Honor to the soldier and sailor everywhere, who bravely bears his country’s cause. Honor, also, to the citizen who cares for his brother in the field and serves; as he best can, the same cause.” — Abraham Lincoln

7. “For one thing, I don’t think that anybody in any war thinks of themselves as a hero.” — Steven Spielberg

8. “For the veteran, thank you for bravely doing what you’re called to do so we can safely do what we’re free to do.” — Unknown

9. “No true hero ever believes that they are one.” ― Neal Shusterman

10. “A hero is someone who puts others first before himself and cares for the welfare of those around him before even thinking about his own self.” — Chrissy Yacoub

a man pushing a big rock up a hill representing a quote on true hero

11. “Children must be impressed with the fact that the greatest heroes are those who fight to help others, not those who fight for power or glory. They must be made to understand that victory does not prove that the thing fought for is right, nor that defeat proves that a cause is wrong.” — Ellen Key

12. “Societies need heroes. So we travel to places where the revisionists cannot dismantle the great.” — David Gemmell

13. “Amongst the qualities a hero should have, I would include determination, loyalty, courage, perseverance, patience, focus, intrepidity, and selflessness.” — Ricky Martin

14. “The hero sees values beyond what’s possible. That’s the nature of a hero. It kills him, of course, ultimately. But it makes the whole struggle of humanity worthwhile.” — John Gardner

15. “The people who carried the burden, who marked in strange field in search of an answer, and ended their journeys an unwilling hero.” — Phil Ochs

a guy pushing a big rock to the mountaintop representing a quote about heroic people

16. “The fame of heroes owes little to the extent of their conquests and all to the success of the tributes paid to them.” — Jean Genet

17. “When the heroes go off the stage, the clowns come on.” ― Heinrich Heine

18. “The heroic soul does not sell its justice and its nobleness. It does not ask to dine nicely and to sleep warm. The essence of greatness is the perception that virtue is enough. Poverty is its ornament. It does not need plenty, and can very well abide its loss.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson

19. “Heroism is endurance for one moment more.” — George Kennan

20. “Great men and heroes are special gifts of God, men who He gives and upholds, who carry on their work and calling, and do great deeds.” — Martin Luther

a man pushing a big sphere to the top

21. “To be a hero, you have to learn to be a deviant because you’re always going against the conformity of the group. Heroes are ordinary people whose social actions are extraordinary. Who act.” — Philip Zimbardo

22. “Hero shows you how to solve the problem — yourself.” — Jet Li

23. “The hero is one who wants what is best for another person.” — Irving A. Fradkin

24. “If we take a small step in extolling peacemakers as much as honoring war heroes, we will be making a giant leap towards peace.” — Newton Lee

25. “Some heroes are made in a moment. Others are defined by a lifetime.” ― John F. MacArthur

a man pushing a huge rock up a mountain

26. “I used to be embarrassed by my mom, but now I know what she is — she’s a hero.” — Carrie Jones

27. “The hero is not fed on sweets. Daily his own heart he eats.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson

28. “Another definition of a hero is someone who is concerned about other people’s well-being, and will go out of his or her way to help them — even if there is no chance of 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 indeed without a doubt, a real superhero.” — Stan Lee

29. “The characteristic of a genuine heroism is its persistency. All men have wandering impulses, fits, and starts of generosity. But when you have chosen your part, abide by it, and do not weakly try to reconcile yourself with the world. The heroic cannot be the common, nor the common the heroic.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson

30. “Great heroes need great sorrows and burdens, or half their greatness goes unnoticed. It is all part of the fairy tale.” — Peter S. Beagle

a guy pushing a boulder to the mountaintop

Heroic Quotes To Push Beyond Your Comfort Zone

1. “If you do this, we just might win. But there’s no time to hesitate, so do it now! You wanna be a hero, don’t you?! Then let’s pass this test.” — Kyoka Jiro

side portrait of a young man

2. “To be heroic may mean nothing more than this then, to stand in the face of the status quo, in the face of an easy collapse into the madness of an increasingly chaotic world and represent another way.” — Mike Alsford

3. “Courage doesn’t always involve physical heroism in the face of death. It doesn’t always require giant leaps worthy of celebration. Sometimes, courage is the willingness to speak the truth about what you see and to own what you say.” — Seth Godin

4. “A hero’s job is to risk his life to turn his promises into reality!” — Izuku Midoriya

5. “Heroes have a rough time because they stand up when they ought not to, they speak when they ought not to; they always have to go that extra mile.” — George Foreman

side portrait of a man looking up

6. “I believe that you and I — and everyone we’ll ever meet — has the inborn capacity to be heroic, to take daring, courageous, and noble steps to make life better for others, even when in the short term it seems to be at our own expense. The capacity to do the right thing, to dare to take a stand and make a difference, is within you now.” — Tony Robbins

7. “A hero cannot be a hero unless in a heroic world.” — Nathaniel Hawthorne

8. “Every hero doesn’t do this great big hero thing. They do the simple thing over and over… and they stick to it.” ― Matthew McConaughey

9. “I have to work harder than anyone else to make it! I’ll never catch up otherwise. I want to be like you — like you! The strongest hero.” — Izuku Midoriya

10. “One trophy is good, but two are better. That way, when a hero wears his medals on his chest, at least his steps are level as he walks by.” — Johan Cruyff

a young man looking up

11. “Stop talking, I will win. That’s what heroes do!” — Katsuki Bakugou

12. “A hero is not a champion of things become, but of things becoming; the dragon to be slain by him is precisely the monster of the status quo.” — Joseph Campbell

13. “Cowards suffer, heroes enjoy.” — Henry David Thoreau

14. “To joke in the face of danger is the supreme politeness, a delicate refusal to cast oneself as a tragic hero.” — Edmond Rostand

15. “There is real power in seeing yourself as a hero. Because then you believe that you can do anything.” — Jenny Han

side view of a handsome man

16. “In victory, the hero seeks the glory, not the prey.” ― Philip Sidney

17. “Do not let the hero in your soul perish, in lonely frustration for the life you deserved, but have never been able to reach. Check your road and the nature of your battle. The world you desired can be won, it exists, it is real, it is possible, it’s yours.” — Ayn Rand

18. “A hero is a man who stands up manfully against his father and in the end victoriously overcomes him.” ― Sigmund Freud

19. “One must think like a hero to behave like a merely decent human being.” — May Sarton

20. “A hero. You want to be one of those rare human beings who make history, rather than merely watch it flow around them like water around a rock.” — Dan Simmons

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21. “Everything that a truly brave man does is done from principle not impulse, and when no one sees him he is just as heroic as he would be if he was in the eyes of the multitude.” — H. W. Shaw

22. “Being a hero means ignoring how silly you feel.” — Diana Wynne Jones

23. “Could it be … that the hero is one who is willing to set out, take the first step, shoulder something? Perhaps the hero is one who puts his foot upon a path not knowing what he may expect from life but in some way feeling in his bones that life expects something of him.” — P.L. Travers

24. “Heroes aren’t heroes because they worship the light, but because they know the darkness all too well to stand down and live with it.” — Ninya Tippett

25. “Heroes in every exalted walk of life are characterized by a restless, glowing, unappeasable activity.” — Elisha L. Magoon

close portrait of a handsome young man looking up

26. “To be a hero or a heroine, one must give an order to oneself.” — Simone Weil

27. “Self-trust is the essence of heroism. It is the state of the soul at war, and its ultimate objects are the last defiance of falsehood and wrong, and the power to bear all that can be inflicted by evil agents. It speaks the truth, and it is just, generous, hospitable, temperate, scornful of petty calculations, and scornful of being scorned. It persists; it is of an undaunted boldness, and of a fortitude not to be wearied out.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson

28. “Of two heroes, he who esteems his rival the most is the greater.” — Laurent Angliviel de la Beaumelle

29. “A smooth sea, never made a skillful mariner, neither do uninterrupted prosperity and success qualify for usefulness and happiness. The storms of adversity, like those of the ocean, rouse the faculties, and excite the invention, prudence, skill, and fortitude of the voyager.” — Frederick Marryat

30. “Hard times don’t create heroes. It is during the hard times when the ‘hero’ within us is revealed.” — Bob Riley

thinking young guy looking up

Wise Quotes About Heroism

1. “It is very difficult to be a hero without an audience, although, in a sense, we are each the hero of a peculiar, half-ruined film called our life.” — Sebastian Barry

a boy dressed as a superhero

2. “The real hero is always a hero by mistake; he dreams of being an honest coward like everybody else.” — Umberto Eco

3. “You cannot be a hero without being a coward.” — George Bernard Shaw

4. “Dr. Martin Luther King is not a black hero. He is an American hero.” — Morgan Freeman

5. “What makes Superman a hero is not that he has power, but that he has the wisdom and the maturity to use the power wisely.” — Christopher Reeve

a boy in superhero outfit

6. “Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few.” — Winston E. Churchill

7. “The difference between a hero and a coward is one step sideways.” — Gene Hackman

8. “There’s no hero without a villain.” — Mark Pellegrino

9. “To have no heroes is to have no aspiration, to live on the momentum of the past, to be thrown back upon routine, sensuality, and the narrow self.” — Charles Horton Cooley

10. “Heroes may not be braver than anyone else. They’re just braver five minutes longer.” — Ronald Reagan

a superhero boy with raised hand

11. “No hero is mortal till he dies.” — W.H. Auden

12. “History will decide if I’m a villain or a hero.” — Harlan Ellison

13. “A hero is born among a hundred, a wise man is found among a thousand, but an accomplished one might not be found even among a hundred thousand men.” — Plato

14. “The hero is never the star of the story.” — Marilyn Manson

15. “People are not born heroes or villains; they’re created by the people around them.” — Chris Colfer

a boy with raised hand dressed like a superhero

16. “As you get older it is harder to have heroes, but it is sort of necessary.” — Ernest Hemingway

17. “I prefer a real villain to a false hero.” — Killer Mike

18. “I think that we all do heroic things, but hero is not a noun, it’s a verb.” — Robert Downey, Jr.

19. “This world is your best teacher. There is a lesson in everything. There is a lesson in each experience. Learn it and become wise. Every failure is a stepping stone to success. Every difficulty or disappointment is a trial of your faith. Every unpleasant incident or temptation is a test of your inner strength. Therefore nil desperandum. March forward hero!” — Swami Sivananda

20. “Heroes are not known by the loftiness of their carriage; the greatest braggarts are generally the merest cowards.” — Jean-Jacques Rousseau

side view of a boy in superhero clothes

21. “Fools boast of what they will do. Heroes do it.” ― Joe Abercrombie

22. ”A hero without faults is like an omelet without little bits of eggshell in it.” — Colin Cotterill

23. “Show me a hero and I’ll write you a tragedy.” — F. Scott Fitzgerald

24. “Heroes, whatever high ideas we may have of them, are mortal and not divine. We are all as God made us and many of us much worse.” — John Osborne

25. “The common denominator of our heroes is that each set their own course.” — Jonathan Lockwood Huie

side view of a superhero boy with raised hand

26. “Hero or victim? It’s all in the perspective.” — Noah Blumenthal

27. “It’s better to talk about a dead hero than a living zero.” — Umar Hassan

28. “Without heroes, we are all plain people and don’t know how far we can go.” — Bernard Malamud

29. “I think all of us have a hero and a villain in us.” ― Anson Mount

30. “Heroes are made in the hour of defeat. Success is, therefore, well described as a series of glorious defeats.” — Mahatma Gandhi

a little boy wearing superhero costume

See also: 220 Best Proverbs About Success To Give You Inspiration

Final Thoughts

I hope my collection of hero quotes has served you as a perfect reminder that we all have the power to be a hero in our own unique way. 

So go forth, embrace your inner hero, and let your light shine brightly, illuminating the world around you!

200 Empowering Hero Quotes To Ignite Your Brave Heart