Heroes

"Greatness isn't just one step beyond mediocrity; it transcends mediocrity, and it does so by taking one step beyond, then another step beyond, then another step beyond--hundreds of thousands of tiny steps until the distance can neither be measured nor even fathomed. The only way to get there is to go farther, harder, longer than almost everyone else, to push well past the point of logic or reason. If it looked easy or even attainable to most, then many more would get there.

In consumer culture, we are constantly conditioned to gratify our impulses immediately: buy, eat, watch, click --now. High achievers transcend these impulses.

Like the Buddha who waits patiently at the gates of heaven until all others have entered before him, young Kenyans are content to run for many years before they can even dream of competing in a major international contest. The tiny violinist screeches out earsplitting sounds not because he thinks a dazzling concerto is right around the corner, but because there is something satisfying in the struggle and in the tiny improvements made along the way. The big prize is envisioned and appreciated as a far-off goal--it is not lusted after. Small accomplishments along the way provide more than enough satisfaction to continue.

Heroes inspire, not just by their great work but also by their humble beginnings. Einstein worked as a patent clerk. Thomas Edison was expelled from the first grade because his teacher thought him retarded. Charles Darwin had so little to show for himself as a teenager that his father said to him, "You care for nothing but shooting, dogs, and rat-catching and you will be a disgrace to yourself and all your family." (Just a few years later, young Darwin set out on the HMS Beagle and eventually revolutionized humanity's view of itself.)

To know the particulars of a favorite artist or athlete's ordeal is to be continually reminded of uncharted paths and oddball ideas that only later become recognized as genius."

--David Shenk
The Genius in All of Us

I've read this book and found it profound and interesting. - Sakura

(Photo from Microsoft Free Images)