“For a Hero cannot triumph all the time. Sometimes he will be defeated, and how he faces that defeat is a test of his character.”
Source: How to Steal a Dragon's Sword
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Cressida Cowell 20
British writer 1966Related quotes

“He who jokes in the executioners face can be destroyed, but never defeated.”
Source: Wild Ducks Flying Backward

The Other World (1657)
Context: Even if a king defeats his enemy in battle, that still doesn't settle anything. There are other, less numerous armies of philosophers and scientists, and their contests determine the true triumph or defeat of nations.
One scholar is matched with another; one creative mind with another; and one judicious temperament with his counterpart. A victory won on that field counts for three won by force of arms.

Thoughts and Aphorisms (1913), Karma

Source: Battlefield of the Mind: Winning the Battle in Your Mind
Leonard Read Journals, September 18, 1959 https://history.fee.org/leonard-read-journal/1959/leonard-e-read-journal-september-1959
Source: Memoirs of a Geisha

Episode 1, Chapter 12
The Power of Myth (1988)
Context: The achievement of the hero is one that he is ready for and it's really a manifestation of his character. It's amusing the way in which the landscape and conditions of the environment match the readiness of the hero. The adventure that he is ready for is the one that he gets … The adventure evoked a quality of his character that he didn't know he possessed.