The real hero is always a hero by mistake; he dreams of being an honest coward like everybody else. – Umberto Eco, Travels in Hyper Reality, 1986

We look for some reward of our endeavours and are disappointed; not success, not happiness, not even peace of conscience, crowns our ineffectual efforts to do well. – Robert Louis Stevenson, “Pulvis et umbra,” 1888

Liberalism… is the noblest cry that has ever resounded in this planet. – José Ortega y Gasset