HeroismLet him take both reputation and life in his hand, and, with perfect urbanity, dare the mob by the absolute truth of his speech, and the rectitude of his behavior. To this military attitude of the soul we give the name of Heroism. Its rudest form is the contempt for safety and ease, which makes the attractiveness of war. It is a self-trust which slights the restraints of prudence, in the plenitude of its energy and power to repair the harms it may suffer. The hero is a mind of such balance that no disturbances can shake his will, but pleasantly, and, as it were, merrily, he advances to his own music. There is something not philosophical in heroism; there is something not holy in it; it seems not to know that other souls are of one texture with it; it has pride; it is the extreme of individual nature. Nevertheless, we must profoundly revere it. Heroism feels and never reasons, and therefore is always right; and although a different breeding, different religion, and greater intellectual activity would have modified or even reversed the particular action. Yet for the hero that thing he does is the highest deed, and is not open to the censure of philosophers or divines.
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