High-Sounding Words: And Actions That Correspond to Them (Heroic +1 #1,395)

Hey hero, if you're enjoying these daily plus ones, make sure you head to Heroic us to check out all of the other goodness we have to help you activate your best every day. And now, today's plus one.

Hi, this is Brian. Welcome back to another Heroic plus one. In our last plus one we talked about the historically significant challenges we are facing and the fact that, as Tom Morris puts it in the Everyday Patriot, this is our time and this is our moment to make a difference. When I read that, I immediately thought of a founding mother and a founding father of our great democracy, Abigail Adams and Alexander Hamilton. As we've discussed in a letter she wrote to her son while he was in France with his dad, enlisting their support in our Revolutionary War. Thanks again for the support, France. The wise Abigail Adams told us, and I quote, these are times in which a genius would wish to live. It is not in the still calm of life or the repose of a pacific station that great characters are formed. The habits of a vigorous mind are formed in contending with difficulties. All history will convince you of this and that wisdom and penetration are the fruits of experience, not the lessons of retirement and leisure. She tells us, great necessities call out great virtues. When a mind is raised and animated by scenes that engage the heart, then those qualities which would otherwise lay dormant wake into life and form the character of the hero and the statesman. Note, if you haven't read the full letter yet, check it out. I've got it linked in this plus one. It's amazing. Then there's Alexander Hamilton. Well, more specifically, there's Lin Manuel Miranda's brilliant take on Hamilton via the inspiring lyrics of my shot. Check out a link to that video in the plus one as well. And if you haven't watched Hamilton yet, I highly recommend it. Check that out on Disney. I link to that to make it easy for you as well. Now, while we're on the subject of what it means to be a good citizen, did you know the word politics comes from the Greek word for city and basically meant citizen? Yep. Which makes me think of Teddy Roosevelt. Did you know his daring greatly, man in the arena? Wisdom is from a speech he gave called Citizenship in a Republic. Yep. Again, the full thing is worth reading as well. Check out the link. And that wisdom also makes me think of this wisdom from Massimo PI Lucci's great book, how to Be a Stoic. He tells us, and I quote, this led the Stoics to coin and use a word that is still crucial to our modern vocabulary, cosmopolitanism, which literally means being a citizen of the world. Or as Socrates, arguably the most important influence on all Hellenistic schools of philosophy, put it, never apply to one who asks your country I am Athenian or I am a Corinthian but I am a citizen of the universe. With that, let's bring two of my favorite American heroes back to the party to send us off as good moral citizens for the day. Eleanor Roosevelt tells us freedom makes a huge requirement of every human being. With freedom comes responsibility and Abigail Adams tells us we have too many high sounding words and too few actions that correspond to them. Here's to moving from high sounding words to actions that correspond to them all day, every day, especially today.

We hope you enjoyed today's heroic plus one. For more ancient wisdom, modern science and practical tools to help you flourish in energy, work and love, head to Heroic US where you can get started on your heroic journey for free.