Success, as told by Emerson, and real heroes...

Success:
"To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty, to find the best in others; to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch, or a redeemed social condition; to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived... This is to have succeeded."  ~~Ralph Waldo Emerson

This question is particularly relevant today, in our time of fear...what DOES make a person a hero?  I've always felt a hero was someone who rose above fear, who had the courage to "feel the fear, and do it anyway".  I personally know TONS of heroes...those who are good parents, regardless of what it costs them personally (including my own mother); those who are truthful, even when it's scary, but because it's necessary, because there should be more honesty in a world of violated trust; those who have painful and difficult physical or mental conditions, who still manage to be functional somehow, to manage to get up and go to work to support their families or just to take on the day, because they know they are needed; those who love SO deeply, you wonder how they can possibly deal with the disappointment when they don't always (or even usually) receive it in return; those who "march to their own drummer", while everyone else around them seems to be content to be mediocre, to not want to reach their full potential, because they'd rather "be like everyone else", other than dealing with the rejection from society they would certainly receive for their trouble; those who decide they want to make their lives better, so they can improve the lives of those around them, as well--some by beating addictions so insidious, you think there's no possible way you personally could have had the courage to change it; and of course, there's always the more obvious examples of those who have beat something like cancer, with a better attitude than perfectly healthy individuals; or who have died or had their lives up-ended for their beliefs, or just because of being who & what they are, in the "wrong time & place".  So, fill in the answer for yourself...what's a hero in your book?