Heroism - Swami Vivekananda

Be a man first, my friend, and you will see how all those things and
the rest will follow of themselves after you. Give up that hateful
malice, that dog-like bickering and barking at one another, and take
your stand on good purpose, right means, righteous courage, and be
brave. When you are born a man, leave some indelible mark behind you.
"When you first came to this world, O Tulsi, the world rejoiced and
you cried; now live your life in doing such acts that when you will
leave this world, the world will cry for you and you will leave it
laughing." If you can do that, then you are a man; otherwise what good
are you?

Let the world say what it chooses, I shall tread the path of duty--
know this to be the line of action for a hero. Otherwise, if one has
to attend day and night to what this man says or that man writes, no
great work is achieved in this world. Do you know this Sanskrit
Shloka:"Let those who are versed in the ethical codes praise or blame,
let Lakshmi, the goddess of Fortune, come or go wherever she wisheth,
let death overtake him today or after a century, the wise man never
swerves from the path of rectitude." Let people praise you or blame
you, let fortune smile or frown upon you, let your body fall today or
after a Yuga, see that you do not deviate from the path of Truth. How
much of tempest and waves one has to weather, before one reaches the
haven of Peace! The greater a man has become, the fiercer ordeal he
has had to pass through.Their lives have been tested true by the
touchstone of practical life, and only then have they been
acknowledged great by the world.Those who are faint-hearted and
cowardly sink their barks near the shore, frightened by the raging of
waves on the sea. He who is a hero never casts a glance at these. Come
what may, I must attain my ideal first--this is Purushakara, manly
endeavour; without such manly endeavour no amount of Divine help will
be of any avail to banish your inertia.

Those who are always down-hearted and dispirited in this life can do
no work; from life to life they come and go wailing and moaning. "The
earth is enjoyed by heroes"--this is the unfailing truth. Be a hero.
Always say,"I have no fear". Fear is death, fear is sin, fear is hell,
fear is unrighteousness, fear is wrong life. All the negative thoughts
and ideas that are in this world have proceeded from this evil spirit
of fear. This fear alone has kept the sun, air and death in their
respective places and functions, allowing none to escape from their
bounds...

In this embodied existence, you will be tossed again and again on the
waves of happiness and misery, prosperity and adversity--but know them
all to be of momentary duration. Never care for them.