Heroism is latent in every human soul - However humble or unknown, they (the veterans) have renounced what are accounted pleasures and cheerfully undertaken all the self-denials - privations, toils, dangers, sufferings, sicknesses, mutilations, life-long hurts and losses, death itself - for some great good, dimly seen but dearly held.
Interpretation
Heroism exists within everyone, especially in those who make sacrifices for a greater cause.
The quote emphasizes that every individual has the potential for heroism, regardless of their background or status. It highlights the sacrifices made by veterans, who willingly endure hardships and challenges for a cause they believe in, which may be difficult to see but is deeply valued. This calls attention to the internal strength and noble intentions within humanity that often go unrecognized.
In practice
During a Memorial Day speech, one could use this quote to honor veterans and their sacrifices.
There is a way of losing that is finding. When soul overmasters sense. When the noble and divine self overcomes the lower self. When duty and honor and love immortal things bid the mortal perish. It is only when a man supremely gives that he supremely finds
But we had with us, to keep and to care for, more than five hundred bruised bodies of men- men made in the image of God, marred by the hand of man and must we say in the name of God? And where is the reckoning for such things? And who is answerable? One might almost shrink from the sound of his own voice, which had launched into the palpitating air words of order- do we call it? - fraught with such ruin. Was it God's command we heard or His forgiveness we must forever implore?
I am not of Virginia blood; she is of mine.
In great deeds, something abides. On great fields, something stays. Forms change and pass; bodies disappear; but spirits linger, to consecrate ground for the vision-place of souls… generations that know us not and that we know not of, heart-drawn to see where and by whom great things were suffered and done for them, shall come to this deathless field, to ponder and dream; and lo! the shadow of a mighty presence shall wrap them in its bosom, and the power of the vision pass into their souls.
I have been refused entrance on the buses because I would not pay my fare at the front and go around to the rear door to enter. That was the custom if the bus was crowded up to the point where the white passengers would start occupying.
He was in his chair in the corner, resting a second before he came out for the next round -- in a long line of next rounds. The thing he was fighting, you couldn't whip it for good. All you could do was keep on whipping it, till you couldn't come out anymore and somebody else had to take your place.
We must build dikes of courage to hold back the flood of fear.
Wait a while; there will come to you mounts, carrying lions in shining armor, battalions followed by battalions.
In Bosnia, little children shot in the head by a guy who thinks it's okay to aim his gun at a child.
Vulnerability is basically uncertainty, risk, and emotional exposure.
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