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True heroism is remarkably sober, very undramatic. It is not the urge to surpass all others at whatever cost, but the urge to serve others, at whatever cost. – Arthur Ashe (1943–1993), African American World No. 1 professional tennis player and winner of three Grand Slam titles.

My own heroes are the dreamers, those men and women who tried to make the world a better place than when they found it, whether in small ways or great ones. Some succeeded, some failed, most had mixed results … but it is the effort that’s heroic, as I see it. Win or lose, I admire those who fight the good fight. – George R. R. Martin (b. 1948), American author of the A Song of Fire and Ice series of epic fantasy novels.

Invisible heroes may never make it into our school textbooks, garner their own Wikipedia entries, or have their own YouTube video that goes viral. But they are all indispensable members of our society. These hidden heroes are also our most essential heroes. – Scott T. Allison.

True greatness, true leadership, is achieved not by reducing men to one’s service, but by giving oneself in selfless service to them. – Author unknown.

The longer I live the more I am convinced that each of us has some hero-like qualities. We all face challenges. We all face hardships. We all encounter, during our lifetime, moments when we can rise above our basest of animal instincts and become angels of a higher calling. It is at that time, when we answer that calling, that we become a hero in the truest sense of the word. – William D. Holland.

No one is useless in this world who lightens the burden of it for anyone else. – Charles Dickens (1812–1870), English writer and social critic.

I long to accomplish great and noble tasks, but it is my chief duty to accomplish humble tasks as though they were great and noble. The world is moved along, not only by the mighty shoves of its heroes, but also by the aggregate of the tiny pushes of each honest worker. – Helen Keller (1880–1968), deaf blind American author, political activist, and lecturer.

Man’s greatest actions are performed in minor struggles. Life, misfortune, isolation, abandonment, and poverty are battlefields which have their heroes—obscure heroes who are at times greater than illustrious heroes. – Victor Hugo (1802–1885), French poet, novelist, and dramatist of the Romantic Movement.

Who doesn’t stay humble, loses his greatness. – Saint Francis de Sales (1567-1622).

Do not confuse notoriety and fame with greatness. Many of the titled in today’s world obtained their fame and fortune outside their own merit. On the other hand, I have met great people in the most obscure roles. Greatness is a measure of one’s spirit, not a result of one’s rank in human affairs. Nobody, least of all mere human beings, confers greatness upon another, for it is not a prize but an achievement. Greatness can crown the head of a janitor just as readily as it can come to someone of high rank. – Sherman G. Finesilver (1927–2006), United States federal judge.

Do not think that love in order to be genuine has to be extraordinary. What we need is to love without getting tired. Be faithful in small things because it is in them that your strength lies. – Mother Teresa.

We don’t have to engage in grand, heroic actions to participate in the process of change. Small acts, when multiplied by millions of people, can transform the world. – Howard Zinn.

Service is love made visible. If you love friends, you will serve your friends. If you love community, you will serve your community. If you love money, you will serve your money. And if you love only yourself, you will serve only yourself, and you will have only yourself. … Instead, try to love others, and serve others, and hopefully find those who will love and serve you in return. – Stephen Colbert.

You don’t have to be great to start, but you have to start to be great. – Zig Ziglar.

A particularly overlooked aspect of the art of gratitude is the habit of noticing. When we notice others and show our appreciation, it pays huge dividends. Additionally, by noticing others we become more attuned to life’s vitality, intensity, and diversity. – Michael McKinney.

Let no one ever come to you without leaving better and happier. Be the living expression of God's kindness: kindness in your face, kindness in your eyes, kindness in your smile. – Mother Teresa.

I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for Me. Jesus in Matthäus 25:40.

There was once a man who didn’t believe in God, and he didn’t hesitate to let others know how he felt about religion and religious holidays, like Christmas. His wife, however, did believe, and she raised their children to also have faith in God and Jesus, despite her husband’s disparaging comments.

One snowy Christmas Eve, his wife was taking their children to a Christmas Eve church service in the farm community in which they lived. She asked him to come, but he refused.

“That story is nonsense!” he said. “Why would God lower Himself to come to earth as a man? That’s ridiculous!”

So his wife and children left, and he stayed home.

A while later, the winds grew stronger and the snow turned into a blizzard. As the man looked out the window, all he saw was a blinding snowstorm. He sat down to relax in front of the blaze in the fireplace.

A short while later, he heard a loud thump. Something had hit the window. Then another thump. He looked out but couldn’t see more than a few feet. When the storm let up a little, he ventured outside to see what could have been beating on his window. In the field near his house,he saw a flock of wild geese. Apparently,they had been flying south for the winter when they got caught in the snowstorm and couldn’t go on. They were lost and stranded on his farm, with no food or shelter. They just flapped their wings and flew around the field in low circles, blindly and aimlessly. A couple of them had flown into his window, it seemed.

The man felt sorry for the geese and wanted to help them. The barn would be a great place for them to stay, he thought. It’s warm and safe. They could spend the night there and wait out the storm. So he walked over to the barn and opened the doors wide, then watched and waited, hoping they would notice the open barn and go inside. But the geese just fluttered around aimlessly and didn’t seem to notice the barn or realize what it could mean for them. The man tried to get their attention, but that just scared them farther away.

He went into the house and came out with some bread, broke it up, and made a breadcrumb trail leading to the barn. They still didn’t catch on.

Now he was getting frustrated. He got behind them and tried to shoo them toward the barn, but they only got more scared and scattered in every direction except toward the barn. Nothing he did could get them to go into the barn where they would be warm and safe.

“Why don’t they follow me?!” he exclaimed. “Can’t they see this is the only place where they can survive the storm?”

He thought for a moment and realized that they just wouldn’t follow a human. “If only I were a goose, then I could save them,” he said out loud.

Then he had an idea. He went into the barn, got one of his own geese, and carried it in his arms as he circled around behind the flock of wild geese. When he released it, his goose flew through the flock and straight into the barn. One by one, the wild geese followed it to safety.

The man stood still and silent as the words he had spoken a few minutes earlier replayed in his mind: If only I were a goose, then I could save them! Then he thought about what he had said to his wife earlier. “Why would God want to be like us? That’s ridiculous!” Suddenly it all made sense. That is what God had done. We were like the wild geese—blind, lost, confused, dying. So God had His Son become like us, so He could show us the way and save us. That was the meaning of Christmas, he realized.

As the winds and blinding snow died down, his soul became quiet and pondered this wonderful thought. Suddenly he understood what Christmas was all about, why Christ had come. Years of doubt and disbelief vanished like the passing storm. He fell to his knees in the snow and prayed his first prayer: “Thank You, God, for coming in human form to get me out of the storm!”