A Quote by Gertrude Himmelfarb

Without will, without individuals, there are no heroes. But neither are there villains. And the absence of villains is as prostrating, as soul-destroying, as the absence of heroes.

Gertrude Himmelfarb

Quote Topics

Absence Destroying Heroes Individuals Neither Soul Villains Will Without

Quote Author

Gertrude Himmelfarb
American - Historian
Born: August 8, 1922

So much in TV today, you don't get to feel empathetic for the villain. The villains are the villains and the heroes are the heroes. It's very black and white.

Stella Maeve

It is much more fun to write about villains then heroes. The villains are the ones that think out the scheme, and the heroes just kind of come along for the ride.

D. J. MacHale

It's a movie, OK? I went to see GONE WITH THE WIND, but did I really believe there was a guy named Rhett Butler who said, "Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn"? No. Movies need heroes and villains, and real life doesn't usually have heroes and villains. Real life has a lot of shades of gray, and moves have black and white even when they're in color.

Don Hewitt

All the true heroes of history will be forgotten and all the villains will be remembered as heroes.

Leo Tolstoy

I admire the military. I guess in a world of villains and heroes, they're my heroes. Their dedication, their commitment, their discipline, their code of ethics.

John Cena

I feel like I learned very early on that your heroes are only as powerful as your villains. And I'm attracted to intelligent villains.

Renny Harlin

Darkness is the absence of light. Happiness is the absence of pain. Anger is the absence of joy. Jealousy is the absence of confidence. Love is the absence of doubt. Hate is the absence of peace. Fear is the absence of faith. Life is the absence of death.

Jess Bowen

I don't believe in villains or heroes, only in right or wrong ways that individuals are taken, not by choice, but by necessity or by certain still uncomprehended influences in themselves, their circumstances and their antecedents.

Tennessee Williams

Mythology needs heroes and it needs villains, it needs heroes to fail, it needs heroes to struggle.

William Shatner

I don't have individuals that are heroes per say but I will suggest that teachers are heroes for me, our firefighters are heroes for me, our police departments are heroes for me and our leaders are heroes for me.

John Assaraf

I've found that the people who play villains are the nicest people in the world, and people who play heroes are jerks. It's like people who play villains work out all their problems on screen, and then they're just really wonderful people.

Tim Burton

Heroes aren't supposed to do bad things. That's what villains are for. So either the good supersedes the bad, or the bad makes it impossible to remember the good. We don't like it when such duality exists in one person. We don't want to know our heroes are human.

LZ Granderson

I don't choose my villains and heroes for political reasons.

Ruth Rendell

Woe to the people that fails to honor its heroes! It will cease producing them, cease knowing them. Heroes spring from the essence of their people. A people without heroes is a people without leaders, for only a heroic leader is a true leader able to withstand the challenge of difficult times.