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've done truth to power all my life. It's got me into trouble, but who cares?
...Since 1775 the United States Marines have upheld a fine tradition of service to their country. They are doing so today. I am confident they will continue to do so.
If you banish fear, nothing terribly bad can happen to you.
Girls are capable of doing everything men are capable of doing. Sometimes they have more imagination than men.
It's always important, when we experience injustice in this nation, that people in power understand that we will not take that injustice quietly.
I'm an athlete, yes, but I'm also a woman. I'm someone who kind of, in a way, lost touch with that part of myself after I lost my legs, because there are certain feminine traits you lose when you have prosthetic legs.
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