Heroes are people who rise to the occasion and slip quietly away.
Interpretation
Heroes excel under pressure and often do so without seeking recognition.
This quote by Tom Brokaw suggests that true heroes are those individuals who step up in times of need, demonstrating bravery and selflessness. Importantly, these heroes do not seek fame or reward for their actions; instead, they perform their heroic deeds quietly and modestly, exemplifying the true essence of heroism.
In practice
During a speech on community service, I might say, 'As Tom Brokaw said, heroes are those who rise to the occasion and slip quietly away.'
The WWII generation shares so many common values: duty, honor, country, personal responsibility and the marriage vow " For better or for worse--it was the last generation in which, broadly speaking, marriage was a commitment and divorce was not an option
Your grandparents came of age in the Great Depression, when everyday life was about deprivation and sacrifice, when the economic conditions of the time were so grave and so unrelenting it would have been easy enough for the American dream to fade away.
While Pickstown may not be what it once was, it still is framed by the natural beauty of the ancient river, the sweep of the Great Plains, and the long, unbroken shoreline of the lake behind the dam. It gave me a 19th-century childhood in a modern mid-20th-century town, and for that I will always be grateful.
I am simply the most conspicuous part of a large, thoroughly dedicated and professional staff that extends from just behind these cameras, across this country and around the world, in too many instances, in places of grave danger and personal hardship. They're family to me.
I had good care going. I had Meredith and the family. And I didn't want to become the object of some kind of pity, most of all. I didn't want to show up on the Internet, 'Tom Brokaw has cancer.'
It is, I believe, the greatest generation any society has ever produced.
Heroism' often consists in keeping your head in an emergency and doing the best you can with what you have instead of panicking and being shot in the tail. People who fight this way win more battles than do intentional heroes; a glory hound often throws away the lives of his mates as well as his own.
The period of debate is closed. Arms, as a last resource, must decide the contest.
I realized now that militancy in the best sense of the word was the only answer where the black man was concerned, that any black man who wasn't a militant in 1970 was either blind or a coward.
Fear can make you do more wrong than hate or jealousy... fear makes you always, always hold something back.
I don't think I'm fearless at all. I think anybody who says they're fearless doesn't last very long. I think I'm pretty cautious, actually.
What I find powerful is a person with the confidence to be her own self.
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