Gallup Poll

George Reeves, TV's Superman, had committed suicide. A hero—how could a hero do that? I couldn’t believe it. A hero!

Kids 13 - 18 - 51 %

“I don’t know

any adult that I’d

like to model my life after.”

The Hero, American Style

Book by William Fishwick

“People are ineffective without leaders. The search for paragons is inherent in human nature."

MolesSocial Critic Marya Mannes goes a little further. She says, "Unless we have some image of human greatness, of human excellence, to build on, we shall find it difficult to be animated by great dreams. We will be only moles burrowing in the darkness."

• Shape our lives

• Define our

character

• Clarify our values

• Point to what life

is all about

Diary of HistoryHeroes are the personification of our ideals. They are the embodiment of our highest values. They are the stars that guide us upward. A society writes its diary by naming its heroes. As individuals we do the same.

• Interview Question, • “Tell me who your heroes are.”• Best clue to your values & character

• Like to ask you the same question

• Tell me your heroes & I’ll tell where you are headed in life

• If you haven’t thought about it, don’t know what is important in your life

Just driftingDon’t know what to live for

Haven’t personified it

• Modern psycholgy obsessed with studying mental disease.

• Archetypal heroes• "In these healthy people we find duty and pleasure to be the same thing, as is also work and play, self-interest and altruism."

Maslow

“Toward a Psycholgy of Being”

“If we want to know the possibilities for spiritual growth, or moral development in human beings, then I maintain that we can learn most by studying our most moral, ethical, or saintly people…They spontaneously tend to do right because that is what they want to do, what they need to do, what they enjoy, and what they will continue to enjoy.”

The “H” Word

• Misused & Abused

• World Almanac asked 2,000 8th graders - Entertainer or Athlete

Celebrities vs. Heroes

• Celebrities make a splash

• Heroes make a difference

• Celebrities about image & Fame

• Heroes about Service & Sacrifice

• Celebrities want others to serve them

• Easy to become a celebrity, Survivor

“When small

men cast long

shadows (at the

end of the day),

you can know

the sun is

setting on a

culture.”

DecoratioDecorations for a ns for a Dead BodyDead Body

Too Many Stars

• Too many celebrities & not enough heroes• Anybody can be a hero• Being a hero is all about choice

(To be attracted by material nature or resist. Goswami)

Puranjana, the hero, became attracted by the eyebrows and smiling face of the very beautiful girl and was immediately pierced by the arrows of her lusty desires. When she smiled shyly, she looked very beautiful to Puranjana, who, although a hero, could not refrain from addressing her.

O my dear hero, who in this world will not accept a husband like you? You are so famous, so magnanimous, so beautiful and so easily gotten. SB 4/25/41

Old & Dear Friend

The End

Part One