--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: But when I call for a hero, out comes my…" description: "\"But when I call for a hero, out comes my lazy old self; so I never know who I am, nor how many I am or will be. I'd love to be able to touch a bell and..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ccb/pablo-neruda-435_able_but-when-i-call-for-a-hero-out-comes-my_502823.jpg" --- # But when I call for a hero, out comes my lazy old self; so… ![“But when I call for a hero, out comes my lazy old self; so I never know who I am, nor how many I am or will be. I'd love to be able to touch a bell and summon the real me, because if I really need myself, I mustn't disappear.” quote by Pablo Neruda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ccb/pablo-neruda-435_able_but-when-i-call-for-a-hero-out-comes-my_502823.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ccb/pablo-neruda-435_able_but-when-i-call-for-a-hero-out-comes-my_502823.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ccb/pablo-neruda-435_able_but-when-i-call-for-a-hero-out-comes-my_502823.jpg) > “But when I call for a hero, out comes my lazy old self; so I never know who I am, nor how many I am or will be. I'd love to be able to touch a bell and summon the real me, because if I really need myself, I mustn't disappear.” [Pablo Neruda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-neruda/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The speaker laments that calling for a hero only summons their own lazy self, leaving identity unclear and potential unfulfilled. **In simple terms:** Calling for a hero reveals inner laziness and identity confusion. Key Takeaway Recognize and act on your true self. Themes identity self-discovery heroism self-awareness Mood reflective melancholic Type philosophical introspective When to use this quote - self-reflection - goal setting - overcoming inertia - personal development Key Concepts existentialism psychology personal growth Questions to Reflect On - What inner strengths are you ignoring? - How can you summon your authentic self? A Different Perspective The hero may be external, not just internal. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Bells](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bells/) [Conformity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/conformity/) [Hero](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hero/) [Identity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/identity/) [Non conformity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/non-conformity/) [Old self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/old-self/) [Real me](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/real-me/) [Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/self/) [Who i am](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/who-i-am/) ## Related quotes > [Who do I belong to? How come I mortgaged my being till I don't belong to myself? How come I sold my blood? 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It's a strange kind of hybrid of the real me…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brent-spiner/the-one-on-fresh-hell-is-a-little-easier-because-we-make-it-up-it-s-a/) [Brent Spiner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brent-spiner/) > [Somebody said, "Well, you're going to write your definitive book about your life, biography." No, I'm not. I haven't done that. I wrote a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-h-w-bush/somebody-said-well-you-re-going-to-write-your-definitive-book-about/) [George H. W. Bush](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-h-w-bush/) > [Fear less, hope more; whine less, breathe more; talk less, say more; hate less, love more; and all glory things are yours.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wenymagen/fear-less-hope-more-whine-less-breathe-more-talk-less-say-more-hate/) Wenymagen > [YOU WANT ME TO BE SOMEONE THAT MADE ME A STRANGER IN MY OWN EYES. THIS IS ME, AND I WILL LIVE OF WHO…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/no-voice/you-want-me-to-be-someone-that-made-me-a-stranger-in-my-own-eyes-this/) NO VOICE > [When people watch me on TV they see part of my life. I wanted to let them know the real me behind the scenes.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gretchen-carlson/when-people-watch-me-on-tv-they-see-part-of-my-life-i-wanted-to-let/) [Gretchen Carlson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gretchen-carlson/) > [After looking at Salomaybe, I don't know who the hell the real me is. I think it's closest now to the real me because…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/al-pacino/after-looking-at-salomaybe-i-don-t-know-who-the-hell-the-real-me-is-i/) [Al Pacino](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/al-pacino/) > [I think Psycho Sam is closer to the real me in some ways which is frightening to admit, but I guess... 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When I do interviews,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-shearer/there-is-another-side-to-me-which-people-don-t-often-see-but-it-s/) [Alan Shearer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-shearer/) > [I don't hate people,i just hate their bad doings.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/casper-thato-mabotja/i-don-t-hate-people-i-just-hate-their-bad-doings/) Casper Thato Mabotja ## More by Pablo Neruda > [For me writing is like breathing. I could not live without breathing and I could not live without writing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-neruda/for-me-writing-is-like-breathing-i-could-not-live-without-breathing/) [Pablo Neruda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-neruda/) > [You know how this is: if I look at the crystal moon, at the red branch of the slow autumn at my window, if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-neruda/you-know-how-this-is-if-i-look-at-the-crystal-moon-at-the-red-branch/) [Pablo Neruda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-neruda/) > [Our love was born outside the walls, in the wind, in the night, in the earth, and that's why the clay and the flower,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-neruda/our-love-was-born-outside-the-walls-in-the-wind-in-the-night-in-the/) [Pablo Neruda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-neruda/) > [“I remember only a day that was perhaps never intended for me, it was an incessant day, without origins, Thursday. I was a man…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-neruda/i-remember-only-a-day-that-was-perhaps-never-intended-for-me-it-was/) [Pablo Neruda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-neruda/) > [“We had, as men, time So our thirst could slowly be satisfied, the ancestral longing to enumerate things and sum them up, to render…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-neruda/we-had-as-men-time-so-our-thirst-could-slowly-be-satisfied-the/) [Pablo Neruda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-neruda/) > [We bear the sole, relentless tenderness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-neruda/we-bear-the-sole-relentless-tenderness/) [Pablo Neruda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-neruda/) > [I don't know who it is who lives or dies, who rests or wakes, but it is your heart that distributes all the graces…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-neruda/i-don-t-know-who-it-is-who-lives-or-dies-who-rests-or-wakes-but-it-is/) [Pablo Neruda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-neruda/) > [“Body of a woman, white hills, white thighs, you look like a world, lying in surrender. My rough peasant's body digs in you and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-neruda/body-of-a-woman-white-hills-white-thighs-you-look-like-a-world-lying/) [Pablo Neruda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-neruda/) > [We open the halves of a miracle, and a clotting of acids brims into the starry divisions: creation's original juices, irreducible, changeless, alive: so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-neruda/we-open-the-halves-of-a-miracle-and-a-clotting-of-acids-brims-into/) [Pablo Neruda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-neruda/) > [“Take bread away from me, if you wish, take air away, but do not take from me your laughter. Do not take away the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-neruda/take-bread-away-from-me-if-you-wish-take-air-away-but-do-not-take/) [Pablo Neruda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-neruda/) > [Perhaps the earth can teach us As when everything seems dead And later proves to be alive](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-neruda/perhaps-the-earth-can-teach-us-as-when-everything-seems-dead-and/) [Pablo Neruda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-neruda/) > [“I am no longer in love with her, that's certain, but maybe I love her. Love is so short, forgetting is so long.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-neruda/i-am-no-longer-in-love-with-her-that-s-certain-but-maybe-i-love-her/) [Pablo Neruda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-neruda/) > [“Body of a woman, white hills, white thighs, you look like a world, lying in surrender.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-neruda/body-of-a-woman-white-hills-white-thighs-you-look-like-a-world-lying-2/) [Pablo Neruda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-neruda/) > [“ I Like For You To Be Still I like for you to be still It is as though you are absent And you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-neruda/i-like-for-you-to-be-still-i-like-for-you-to-be-still-it-is-as-though/) [Pablo Neruda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-neruda/) > [“Tonight I Can Write”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-neruda/tonight-i-can-write/) [Pablo Neruda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-neruda/) [Explore all 457 Pablo Neruda quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-neruda/) ## More Able quotes > [I am certain that children always know more than they are able to tell, and that makes the big difference between them and adults,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-lusseyran/i-am-certain-that-children-always-know-more-than-they-are-able-to/) [Jacques Lusseyran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-lusseyran/) > [I have observed this in my experience of slavery, - that whenever my condition was improved, instead of its increasing my contentment, it only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-douglass/i-have-observed-this-in-my-experience-of-slavery-that-whenever-my/) [Frederick Douglass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-douglass/) > [There is something about the South that accepts the supernatural. 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I'm still…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nas/i-think-i-ve-had-the-longest-career-of-strength-focus-and-still-being/) [Nas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nas/) > [I have that need in me, I want everyone to love me, but I'm embarrassed by that need, so I wanted to cover it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-jeselnik/i-have-that-need-in-me-i-want-everyone-to-love-me-but-i-m-embarrassed/) [Anthony Jeselnik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-jeselnik/) > [Thinking about the things that happened, I don't know any other ball player would could have done what he (Jackie Robinson) did. 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