“The greatest obstacle to being heroic is the doubt whether one may not be going to prove one's self a fool; the truest heroism is, to resist the doubt; and the profoundest wisdom, to know when it ought to be resisted, and when to be obeyed.”

The Blithedale Romance (1852), chapter 2

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update June 12, 2021. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "The greatest obstacle to being heroic is the doubt whether one may not be going to prove one's self a fool; the truest …" by Nathaniel Hawthorne?
Nathaniel Hawthorne photo
Nathaniel Hawthorne 128
American novelist and short story writer (1804 – 1879) 1804–1864

Related quotes

George Gordon Byron photo

“If I am fool, it is, at least, a doubting one; and I envy no one the certainty of his self-approved wisdom.”

George Gordon Byron (1788–1824) English poet and a leading figure in the Romantic movement

Journal for Saturday, 27th November 1813; Quoted in Letters and Journals of Lord Byron by Thomas Moore (1830), Vol III, Chap. XVII, p. 208 http://books.google.com/books?id=nloLAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA208

Emil M. Cioran photo

“What anxiety when one is not sure of one's doubts or wonders: are these actually doubts?”

Emil M. Cioran (1911–1995) Romanian philosopher and essayist

All Gall Is Divided (1952)

Johann Gottfried Herder photo

“Whate'er of us lives in the hearts of others
Is our truest and profoundest self.”

Johann Gottfried Herder (1744–1803) German philosopher, theologian, poet, and literary critic

Was in dem Herzen andrer von Uns lebt,
Ist unser wahrestes und tiefstes Selbst.
"Das Selbst, ein Fragment", cited from Bernhard Suphan (ed.) Herders sämmtliche Werke (Berlin: Weidmann, 1877-1913) vol. 29, p. 142; Translation from Hans Urs von Balthasar (trans. Graham Harrison) Theo-Drama: Theological Dramatic Theory (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1988) vol. 1, p. 504.

Jacques Maritain photo
Arthur Schopenhauer photo
Steven Gerrard photo

“For me, and I have always said this, he will be regarded as one of the greatest midfielders ever when he finishes his career. No doubt.”

Steven Gerrard (1980) English footballer

Kaka Quoted in Kaka:Steven Gerrard has The Heart Of a Lion http://www.goal.com/en-us/news/85/england/2009/11/12/1620429/kaka-steven-gerrard-has-the-heart-of-a-lion Goal, 12 November 2009

Walt Whitman photo

“Resist much, obey little.”

Source: Leaves of Grass

Napoleon Hill photo
Sinclair Lewis photo
William Shakespeare photo

Related topics