On Heroes

"Why'd you come-the first time?"
She rubbed her cigarette into the dirt. "Because I hate to see a hero fail. There are so few of them."
She said it seriously and he felt she meant it.
"Without heroes we're all plain people and don't know how far we can go."
"You mean the big guys set the records and the little buggers try and bust them?"
"Yes, it's their function to be the best and for the rest of us to understand what they represent and guide ourselves accordingly."
He hadn't thought of it that way but it sounded all right.
"There are so many young boys you influence."
"That's right," said Roy.
"You've got to give them your best."
"I try to do that."
"I mean as a man too."
He nodded.

-pg. 148 of The Natural by Bernard Malamud