--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The will to be oneself is heroism" description: "\"The will to be oneself is heroism\" — Jose Ortega y Gasset" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6c0/jose-ortega-y-gasset-1688_heroism_the-will-to-be-oneself-is-heroism-184140_1841404.jpg" --- # The will to be oneself is heroism ![“The will to be oneself is heroism” quote by Jose Ortega y Gasset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6c0/jose-ortega-y-gasset-1688_heroism_the-will-to-be-oneself-is-heroism-184140_1841404.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6c0/jose-ortega-y-gasset-1688_heroism_the-will-to-be-oneself-is-heroism-184140_1841404.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6c0/jose-ortega-y-gasset-1688_heroism_the-will-to-be-oneself-is-heroism-184140_1841404.jpg) > “The will to be oneself is heroism” [Jose Ortega y Gasset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jose-ortega-y-gasset/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. True heroism is staying authentic to yourself despite external pressures. **In simple terms:** Being yourself is heroic. Key Takeaway Embrace authenticity. Themes identity authenticity heroism Mood reflective determined Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - personal relationships - career choices - creative work - social activism Key Concepts existentialism self-actualization Questions to Reflect On - How does being true to yourself affect your relationships? - What risks do you face when you reject conformity? A Different Perspective Authenticity can be socially costly or misunderstood. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Hero](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hero/) [Heroism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/heroism/) ## Related quotes > [The hero's will is not that of his ancestors nor of his society, but his own. This will to be oneself is heroism.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jose-ortega-y-gasset/the-hero-s-will-is-not-that-of-his-ancestors-nor-of-his-society-but/) [Jose Ortega y Gasset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jose-ortega-y-gasset/) > [Better not be a hero than work oneself up into heroism by shouting lies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-santayana/better-not-be-a-hero-than-work-oneself-up-into-heroism-by-shouting/) [George Santayana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-santayana/) > [And this is the simple truth - that to live is to feel oneself lost. He who accepts it has already begun to find…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jose-ortega-y-gasset/and-this-is-the-simple-truth-that-to-live-is-to-feel-oneself-lost-he/) [Jose Ortega y Gasset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jose-ortega-y-gasset/) > [In the film world, we can all be heroes. In the real world, where heroism can cost you your life or the life of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-rhys-davies/in-the-film-world-we-can-all-be-heroes-in-the-real-world-where/) [John Rhys-Davies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-rhys-davies/) > [Those persons who are burning to display heroism may rest assured that the course of social evolution will offer them every opportunity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/havelock-ellis/those-persons-who-are-burning-to-display-heroism-may-rest-assured/) [Havelock Ellis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/havelock-ellis/) > [Heroism is endurance for one moment more.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-f-kennan/heroism-is-endurance-for-one-moment-more/) [George F. Kennan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-f-kennan/) > [“A hero is a person who, without a second thought, simply does the right thing because his conscience cannot live with any other choice.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richelle-e-goodrich/a-hero-is-a-person-who-without-a-second-thought-simply-does-the-right/) [Richelle E. Goodrich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richelle-e-goodrich/) > [Heroism feels and never reasons, and therefore is always right.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/heroism-feels-and-never-reasons-and-therefore-is-always-right/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [“The major problem of the world is, most of the people are unjustifiably angry and very few are loving.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amit-kalantri/the-major-problem-of-the-world-is-most-of-the-people-are/) [Amit Kalantri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amit-kalantri/) > [“To assess the quality of thoughts of people, don't listen to their words, but watch their actions.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amit-kalantri/to-assess-the-quality-of-thoughts-of-people-don-t-listen-to-their/) [Amit Kalantri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amit-kalantri/) > [“Hero' is not an official status or designation, but if the world recognize you as a hero, it is the highest honor you will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amit-kalantri/hero-is-not-an-official-status-or-designation-but-if-the-world/) [Amit Kalantri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amit-kalantri/) > [True heroism is remarkably sober, very undramatic. It is not the urge to surpass all others at whatever cost, but the urge to serve…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-ashe/true-heroism-is-remarkably-sober-very-undramatic-it-is-not-the-urge/) [Arthur Ashe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-ashe/) > [“But surely even heroes weary lugging around the burdens of their heroism.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-h-trumble/but-surely-even-heroes-weary-lugging-around-the-burdens-of-their/) [J.H. Trumble](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-h-trumble/) > [“Forgotten hero was never the real hero, real hero can not be forgotten.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amit-kalantri/forgotten-hero-was-never-the-real-hero-real-hero-can-not-be-forgotten/) [Amit Kalantri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amit-kalantri/) > [The last act in the biography of the hero is that of the death or departure.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-campbell/the-last-act-in-the-biography-of-the-hero-is-that-of-the-death-or/) [Joseph Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-campbell/) ## More by Jose Ortega y Gasset > [It would be a piece of ingenuousness to accuse the man of today of his lack of moral code. The accusation would leave him…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jose-ortega-y-gasset/it-would-be-a-piece-of-ingenuousness-to-accuse-the-man-of-today-of/) [Jose Ortega y Gasset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jose-ortega-y-gasset/) > [In these years we are witnessing the gigantic spectacle of innumerable human lives wandering about lost in their own labyrinths, through not having anything…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jose-ortega-y-gasset/in-these-years-we-are-witnessing-the-gigantic-spectacle-of/) [Jose Ortega y Gasset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jose-ortega-y-gasset/) > [In order to master the unruly torrent of life the learned man meditates, the poet quivers, and the political hero erects the fortress of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jose-ortega-y-gasset/in-order-to-master-the-unruly-torrent-of-life-the-learned-man/) [Jose Ortega y Gasset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jose-ortega-y-gasset/) > [The common man, finding himself in a world so excellent, technically and socially, believes it has been produced by nature, and never thinks of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jose-ortega-y-gasset/the-common-man-finding-himself-in-a-world-so-excellent-technically/) [Jose Ortega y Gasset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jose-ortega-y-gasset/) > [Barbarism is the absence of standards to which appeal can be made.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jose-ortega-y-gasset/barbarism-is-the-absence-of-standards-to-which-appeal-can-be-made/) [Jose Ortega y Gasset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jose-ortega-y-gasset/) > [The form most contradictory to human life that can appear among the human species is the "self-sat-isfied man.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jose-ortega-y-gasset/the-form-most-contradictory-to-human-life-that-can-appear-among-the/) [Jose Ortega y Gasset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jose-ortega-y-gasset/) > [“For there is no doubt that the most radical division that is possible to make of humanity is that which splits into two classes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jose-ortega-y-gasset/for-there-is-no-doubt-that-the-most-radical-division-that-is-possible/) [José Ortega y Gasset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jose-ortega-y-gasset/) > [What makes a nation great is not primarily its great men, but the stature of its innumerable mediocre ones.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jose-ortega-y-gasset/what-makes-a-nation-great-is-not-primarily-its-great-men-but-the/) [Jose Ortega y Gasset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jose-ortega-y-gasset/) > [To be surprised, to wonder, is to begin to understand. This is the sport, the luxury, special to the intellectual man.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jose-ortega-y-gasset/to-be-surprised-to-wonder-is-to-begin-to-understand-this-is-the-sport/) [Jose Ortega y Gasset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jose-ortega-y-gasset/) > [Romantic poses aside, let us recognize that "falling in love"...is an inferior state of mind, a form of transitory imbecility.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jose-ortega-y-gasset/romantic-poses-aside-let-us-recognize-that-falling-in-love-is-an/) [Jose Ortega y Gasset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jose-ortega-y-gasset/) > [Law is born from despair of human nature.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jose-ortega-y-gasset/law-is-born-from-despair-of-human-nature/) [Jose Ortega y Gasset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jose-ortega-y-gasset/) > [The masses think that is is easy to flee from reality, when it is the most difficult thing in the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jose-ortega-y-gasset/the-masses-think-that-is-is-easy-to-flee-from-reality-when-it-is-the/) [Jose Ortega y Gasset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jose-ortega-y-gasset/) > [The librarian's mission should be, not like up to now, a mere handling of the book as an object, but rather a know how…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jose-ortega-y-gasset/the-librarian-s-mission-should-be-not-like-up-to-now-a-mere-handling/) [Jose Ortega y Gasset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jose-ortega-y-gasset/) > [Whether he be an original or a plagiarist, man is the novelist of himself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jose-ortega-y-gasset/whether-he-be-an-original-or-a-plagiarist-man-is-the-novelist-of/) [Jose Ortega y Gasset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jose-ortega-y-gasset/) > [Here, then, is the point at which I see the new mission of the librarian rise up incomparably higher than all those preceding. Up…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jose-ortega-y-gasset/here-then-is-the-point-at-which-i-see-the-new-mission-of-the/) [Jose Ortega y Gasset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jose-ortega-y-gasset/) [Explore all 204 Jose Ortega y Gasset quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jose-ortega-y-gasset/) ## More Hero quotes > [I've always been fascinated by the idea that there's no such thing as evil; it's all in your point of view. To one group…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eli-roth/i-ve-always-been-fascinated-by-the-idea-that-there-s-no-such-thing-as/) [Eli Roth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eli-roth/) > [I am convinced that we will never build a democratic state based on rule of law if we do not at the same time…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vaclav-havel/i-am-convinced-that-we-will-never-build-a-democratic-state-based-on/) [Vaclav Havel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vaclav-havel/) > [I am tired of our characters being so incomplete. When do we ever save the day in a film? When does a Latino actor…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/esai-morales/i-am-tired-of-our-characters-being-so-incomplete-when-do-we-ever-save/) [Esai Morales](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/esai-morales/) > [When the first Superman movie came out I was frequently asked "What is a hero?" ...My answer was that a hero is someone who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-reeve/when-the-first-superman-movie-came-out-i-was-frequently-asked-what-is/) [Christopher Reeve](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-reeve/) > ['Melanin Man' was inspired by the words of an Uber driver in L.A. Before I got out of the car he said, 'They're scared…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/masego/melanin-man-was-inspired-by-the-words-of-an-uber-driver-in-l-a-before/) [Masego](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/masego/) > [Once the state has been founded, there can no longer be any heroes. They come on the scene only in uncivilized conditions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georg-wilhelm-friedrich-hegel/once-the-state-has-been-founded-there-can-no-longer-be-any-heroes/) [Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georg-wilhelm-friedrich-hegel/) > [You know, I often thought that the gangster and the artist are the same in the eyes of the masses. They're admired and hero-worshipped…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stanley-kubrick/you-know-i-often-thought-that-the-gangster-and-the-artist-are-the/) [Stanley Kubrick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stanley-kubrick/) > [“A hero is not know by the number of battles he has won, but rather by the kind of battles he chooses to fight.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tonny-k-brown/a-hero-is-not-know-by-the-number-of-battles-he-has-won-but-rather-by/) [Tonny K. Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tonny-k-brown/) > [The last act in the biography of the hero is that of the death or departure.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-campbell/the-last-act-in-the-biography-of-the-hero-is-that-of-the-death-or/) [Joseph Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-campbell/) > [Teachers are heroes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-best/teachers-are-heroes/) [Charles Best](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-best/) > [“Forgotten hero was never the real hero, real hero can not be forgotten.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amit-kalantri/forgotten-hero-was-never-the-real-hero-real-hero-can-not-be-forgotten/) [Amit Kalantri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amit-kalantri/) > ['Sex and The City' was made to correct the myth that if you were single at a certain age, you were a leper. Its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-patrick-king/sex-and-the-city-was-made-to-correct-the-myth-that-if-you-were-single/) [Michael Patrick King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-patrick-king/) > [I believe in a world where there are no heroes, and I've read and know humanity a lot. There are moments that I admire…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orhan-pamuk/i-believe-in-a-world-where-there-are-no-heroes-and-i-ve-read-and-know/) [Orhan Pamuk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orhan-pamuk/) > [O it's Tommy this, and Tommy that, and Tommy 'ow's your soul/But it's thin red line of heroes when the drums begin to roll.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rudyard-kipling/o-it-s-tommy-this-and-tommy-that-and-tommy-ow-s-your-soul-but-it-s/) [Rudyard Kipling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rudyard-kipling/) > [Benny Carter came up to me and said to me, "You know, in the whole history of the alto, I think Phil is the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jon-gordon/benny-carter-came-up-to-me-and-said-to-me-you-know-in-the-whole/) [Jon Gordon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jon-gordon/) [Browse all 5,602 Hero quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hero/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The will to be oneself is heroism", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Jose Ortega y Gasset" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jose-ortega-y-gasset/the-will-to-be-oneself-is-heroism/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Hero" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jose-ortega-y-gasset/the-will-to-be-oneself-is-heroism/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6c0/jose-ortega-y-gasset-1688_heroism_the-will-to-be-oneself-is-heroism-184140_1841404.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6c0/jose-ortega-y-gasset-1688_heroism_the-will-to-be-oneself-is-heroism-184140_1841404.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6c0/jose-ortega-y-gasset-1688_heroism_the-will-to-be-oneself-is-heroism-184140_1841404.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The will to be oneself is heroism” — Jose Ortega y Gasset", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Jose Ortega y Gasset", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jose-ortega-y-gasset/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "The will to be oneself is...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jose-ortega-y-gasset/the-will-to-be-oneself-is-heroism/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jose-ortega-y-gasset/the-will-to-be-oneself-is-heroism/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```