There's an excellent account of her life at Rev. Danny Fisher, and what caught my eye is these words at the end of the quoted news report:
"“I don’t want to be considered a hero,” she said in a 1997 online chat with schoolchildren.“Imagine young people would grow up with the feeling that you have to be a hero to do your human duty. I am afraid nobody would ever help other people, because who is a hero? I was not. I was just an ordinary housewife and secretary.”"
She is an inspiration, right?
Postscript: and while searching for the news report that said teens see parents as role models rather than celebs., I came across this winning entry at The Serbian Spectator- written by Alexander Tham, Class 7A- "Gandhi’s relevance in the 21st century", where I found this:
Now, that is original for a boy of fourteen, fifteen..."Gandhi didn’t win all the fights. Some of his ideas went wrong and didn’t work. But he always followed his truth and beliefs. Many people in many countries follow his ideas today."
Good day for you.
This is a post worth preserving.
ReplyDelete"Imagine young people would grow up with the feeling that you have to be a hero to do your human duty"
Sometimes I wish I had heard this, or words to the same effect, much earlier in life, or more attentively if they had blown my way before.
yes, that is the problem with us, we want a superhero to come and clean up everything. Just every one of us doing what we do right would help a lot.
ReplyDeleteRecently I read in a book that streets where the buildings are taller than three floor, have much more crime than streets with ordinary houses. And the author says, it is because there are more eyes on the streets. It is not policing, or any heroic action that deters violence: it is just that ordinary people look out the windows and come out to throw their garbage- this is what prevents crime.
Anyway, like you said, if we had heard it when we were young, may be i would have grown up as a responsible citizen, may be not, but one thing is for sure- growing up would have been easier, more relaxing!