Who is a hero according to Thomas Carlyle?

A hero is a man who willingly devotes his life to the divine and inner truth and shares his vision with the rest of the world. For Carlyle, this is the definition of a true man: one who is a deep and spiritual being, living his life by divine truths. May 18, 2004

Masculinity in Thomas Carlyle's "On Heroes, Hero-Worship and the

Carlyle values this quality of appropriate silence, not just when talking about one's sincerity but in all things. He makes a clear distinction between a man who goes out and tries to prove his strength by doing brash things and a man who has inner strength and wisdom. For him, the latter is much manlier; rather than brawn and brute force, Carlyle values a much more serene strength, a spiritual strength.

A fundamental mistake to call vehemence and rigidity strength! A man is not strong who takes convulsion-fits; though six men cannot hold him then. He that can walk under the heaviest weight without staggering, he is the strong man . . . A man who cannot hold his peace, till the time come for speaking and acting, is no right man. [Carlyle, p. 185]

Speaking without anything to say reveals the opposite of manhood, for according to Carlyle, a man who can know where, when, and what to say is a true man.

Courage and the elimination of fear play a role in manhood for Carlyle, even if the Hero needs not to prove his courage in combat. "Valour is still value. The first duty for a man is still that of subduing Fear. We must get rid of Fear; we cannot act at all till then" (Carlyle, p. 32). The difference between Carlyle's theory of what makes a man a great man and the standard definition is that the man only needs to express his thoughts in a good way; he does not have to act, to demonstrate his lack of fear.

남이 위험에 처해 있을 때 순간적으로 자기 몸을 돌보지 않고 

뛰어 들어 남을 구하는 행동을 하는 사람을 우리는 종종 본다. 

보통 사람이 하기 힘든 행위 이다. 이성이라기 보다는 본능

이라고 생각 한다. 아마 spiritual 에 가까운 것인지도 모른다. 

말하자면 진정한 용기는 자기도모르게 저절로 나오는 것이다.