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Heroism is no extempore work of transient impulse,—a rocket rushing fretfully up to disturb the darkness by which, after a moment's insulting radiance, it is ruthlessly swallowed up,—but a steady fire, which darts forth tongues of flame. It is no sparkling epigram of action, but a luminous epic of character.

— Edwin Percy Whipple Character and Characteristic Men (1866)

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More quotes by Edwin Percy Whipple

A Thought embodied and embrained in fit words, walks the earth a living being.

Essays and Reviews (1848)

Irony is an insult conveyed in the form of a compliment.

The wise men of old have sent most of their morality down the stream of time in the light skiff of apothegm or epigram.

Even in social life, it is persistency which attracts confidence more than talents and accomplishments.

Character and Characteristic Men (1866)

Cheerfulness, in most cheerful people, is the rich and satisfying result of strenuous discipline.

Success and Its Conditions (1871)

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Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Edwin Percy Whipple (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.