“All actual heroes are essential men,And all men possible heroes.”

“The critics say that epics have died out with Agamemnon and the goat-nursed gods; I'll not believe it. I could never deem as Payne Knight did, that Homer's heroes measured twelve feet high. They were but men: -his Helen's hair turned grey like any plain Miss Smith's who wears a front; And Hector's infant whimpered at a plume as yours last Friday at a turkey-cock. All heroes are essential men, and all men possible heroes: every age, heroic in proportions, double faced, looks backward and before, expects a morn and claims an epos.”

“Are you a hero, actually?”“Um, no. Not as such. Not at all, really. Even less than that, in fact.”

“Aren't most romance heros, or heros in fiction of any kind, generally superior to real men? Same goes for heroines and real women.”

“He was taking advantage of the brief lull in the battle to take a little nap, for do not all men, even heroes, need a refreshing little nap now and then?”

“I don't think there's any heroism anymore. The heroism has to be created out of the medium itself. Going back to the idea of television, all the current heros are sports heros because the medium creates the heros. There's nothing essentially heroic about being a good pitcher.”