• The warrior’s approach is to say 'yes' to life: say 'yea' to it all. Participate joyfully in the sorrows of the world. We cannot cure the world of sorrows, but we can choose to live in joy. When we talk about settling the world's problems, we're barking up the wrong tree. The world is perfect. It's a mess. It has always been a mess. We are not going to change it. Our job is to straighten out our own lives. Joseph Campbell, Ph.D. (1904-1987) US American mythologist, expert in comparative mythology and comparative religion, author, A Joseph Campbell Companion. Reflections on the Art of Living, Joseph Campbell Foundation, 2nd Kindle edition August 2011

• If you were willing to sacrifice yourself, you would be called a hero. The Greek word for hero was "serow," from which we get our words servant, slave, and protector. All come etymologically out of the word hero. This tells in one word the entire story of masculinity. Interview with Warren Farrell Farrell.com (*1943) US American political scientist, author, spokesman of men's liberation, men's rights activist, former director of the National Organisation for Women, speaker, author, ''An Interview with Warren Farrell, presented by MenWeb.org, J. Steven Svoboda, 1997, reissued 12. June 2008

• Ours is not an age that wants heroes. Ours is an age of envy, in which laziness and self-involvement are the rule. Anyone who tries to shine, who dares to stand above the crowd, is dragged down by his lackluster and self-appointed "peers". Robert Moore, Ph.D. (1942-2016) US American Jungian psychoanalyst, professor of psychology, consultant, theorist, author, Douglas Gilette, US American author, King, Warrior, Magician, Lover. Rediscovering the Archetypes of the Mature Masculine, HarperOne, reprint 16. August 1991

Sophie Scholl (1921-1943) German student, non-violent
resistance fighter of the White Rose in Nazi Germany
20th anniversary of the assassination against Adolf Hitler
20. July 1944; Graphics by Gerd and E. Aretz, 20. Juli 1964

• Times of heroism are generally times of terror, but the day never dawns in which this element is without value. Latent inner power is what we call Character, a reserved force which acts directly by presence, and without means. It is conceived of as a certain indemonstrable force, a Familiar of Genius, by whose impulses the hero is guided, but whose counsels he cannot impart. Character is of a stellar and in-diminishable greatness. Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) US American philosopher, Unitarian, lecturer, poet, essayist, Essays. First Series, "Heroism", PDF, 1841, Charles E. Merrill Company, New York, 1907

• When it comes to the pinch, human beings are heroic. George Orwell [Eric Arthur Blair] (1903-1950) English writer, essayist, journalist, cited in: Quotefancy

• A hero is someone who has given his or her life to something bigger than oneself. Joseph Campbell (1904-1987) US American mythologist, expert in comparative mythology and comparative religion, six part PBS television documentary The Power of Myth, interviewing host Bill Moyers, 21-26 June 1988

• A hero ventures forth from the world of common day into a region of supernatural wonder: fabulous forces are there encountered and a decisive victory is won: the hero comes back from this mysterious adventure with the power to bestow boons on his fellow man. Joseph Campbell, Ph.D. (1904-1987) US American mythologist, expert in comparative mythology and comparative religion. The Hero with a Thousand Faces, Princeton University Press, 1949

• The hero adventures out of the land we know into darkness; there he accomplishes his adventure or again is simply lost to us, imprisoned, or in danger; and his return is described as a coming back out of that yonder. Nevertheless – and here is a great key to the understanding of myth and symbol—the two kingdoms are actually one. The realm of the gods is a forgotten dimension of the world we know. And the exploration of that dimension, either willingly or unwillingly, is the whole sense of the deed of the hero.

, and returns with the jewel. Joseph Campbell, Ph.D. (1904-1987) US American mythologist, expert in comparative mythology and comparative religion, The Hero with a Thousand Faces, Princeton University Press, 1949

• [Paraphrased] Why do ordinary people turn evil?
  Social science researcher Albert Bandura, Ph.D. (*1925) found these reasons:
  1. Dehumanisation,
  2. Diffusion of responsibility,
  3. Obedience to authority,
  4. Unjust systems,
  5. Group pressure,
  6. Power and control,
  7. Moral disengagement
  8. Anonymity.

• The egocentric ME has to become sociocentric WE. Heroism is about one thing, it's about a concern for other people in need, defending a moral cause knowing there is a personal cost of risk. You do it without expectation of reward. Altruism is heroism light. Video presentation by Philip G. Zimbardo, Ph.D. (*1933) US American professor emeritus of social psychology, Stanford University, author, What Makes a Hero?, commencement address, University of Puget Sound, 19. May 2013, YouTube film, minute 2:25, 9:14 minutes duration, 12. January 2011

• Heroes are most effective not alone, not the soldier in battle who takes a bullet for his buddy but forming a network. Video presentation by Philip G. Zimbardo, Ph.D. (*1933) US American professor emeritus of social psychology, Stanford University, What Makes a Hero?, commencement address, University of Puget Sound, 19. May 2013, YouTube film, minute 5:41, 9:14 minutes duration, 12. January 2011

• The reason that most people do nothing is that they respect every mother in the world who tells their child: "Mind your own business. Don't get involved." People get programmed not to look at evil, to mind their own business, not to get involved, not to take the heroic action. And essentially what it is we're also being programmed to be egocentric. Philip G. Zimbardo, Ph.D. (*1933) US American professor emeritus of social psychology, Stanford University, author, commenting as expert in the documentary I Am Fishhead – Are Corporate Leaders Psychopaths?, produced by FHmovie.com, Misha Votruba Vaclav Dejcmar, 2011, YouTube film, minute 58:43, 1:18:17 duration, posted 2. January 2017

• True heroism is remarkably sober, very undramatic. It is not the urge to surpass all others 
at whatever cost, but the urge to serve others at whatever cost. Arhur Ashe (1943-1993) US American World No. 1 professional tennis player, born and raised in Richmond, Virginia, Goodreads Quotable Quote

• The goal of the hero is to return (normal) life to the living. Margaret Weis (*1948) US American fantasy novelist, Tracy Hickman (*1955) US American fantasy author, Journey into the Void, 2003

• When the sword is thrown into the lake, it marks the end of the time when we located authority in some one else. And so it also marks the end of our dependency upon those leaders who wielded that sword on our behalf, who played the role of spiritual mentor for us. But more than this, I believe it also marks the transition from leadership being held by one lone patriarch to a time when leadership is held collectively.

Sir Galahad, a hero of Arthurian legend
Detail from painting by George Frederic Watts
(1817-1904) English Victorian painter

• The monomyth or "the hero's journey" has a basic pattern found in many important myths from around the world which have survived for thousands of years. Their fundamental structure contains following stages:
  1. A call to adventure, which the hero has to accept or decline
  2. A road of trials, regarding which the hero succeeds or fails
  3. Achieving the goal or "boon", which often results in important self-knowledge
  4. A return to the ordinary world, again as to which the hero can succeed or fail
  5. Applying the boon, in which what the hero has gained can be used to improve the world.

• The self-reflective US president Barack Obama has struggled for a long time to gain a sense of belonging. In Kenya he had an epiphany when listening to a sermon and was struck by the phrase The Audacity of Hope which inspired him to write a book with the same title published in 2006. In the process of writing Obama was called by distant voices. First he was reluctant to listen to them. They ebbed and returned later to call him again. Finally he answered the call.
  Audio interview with Stanislav Grof, M.D., Ph.D. (*1931) Czech US American psychiatrist, consciousness researcher, co-developer of transpersonal psychology, Barack Obama and Our 21st Century Collective Heroes' Journey, part 2 of 2, episode 84, the US American free web audio channel Personal Life Media, program Living Dialogues, 33:02 minutes duration, aired March 2009

• The hero's journey is a journey that involves:
  1. Making a choice – either knowingly or inadvertently;
  2. Being confronted with a critical problem that must be resolved;
  3. A demand to clean and reorganize the house;
  4. Going through a sorting process;
  5. Having to align oneself with one’s true nature;
  6. Carrying some form of light, whether candle or glowing coals, to a destination; and
  7. Holding oneself in the place of a humble but grateful, even joyous, witness as the problem resolves itself.