Sternstunden der Menschheit — what are heroes like in different cultures

Sternstunden der Menschheit, written by Stefan Zweig from Austria, is one of the most well-known biographies in the world. This masterpiece vividly describes ten important moments which have determined the history the whole world. Even if not all the characters mainly mentioned have been greatly honored nowadays, the contribution they had made serves people from generation to generation.

Concerning a great many of oriental biographies, this book, maybe the masterpiece of western biographies, expresses a little different definition of heroes. No matter how dreadful you used to be, no matter what social status you have, no matter whether you will achieve fame and fortune or not, so long as you do something rewarding to the humanity and the futurity, you will be regarded as a hero. What you do outweighs what you are.

Both of the heroes in the sense of eastern and western cultures have a universal view of the life and the world, however, the characters in western cultures might be livelier than those in eastern cultures. The major characters in the eastern biographies are dignitaries that have come to a top of a field, such as emperors, kings, generals and ministers. Nonetheless, while we admit the fact that they differ from ordinary people, who pays attention to the fact that how many ordinary people in the world have sacrificed their own happiness, or even lives, for these eastern heroes’ achievements? Accomplishing such heroes, only one prominent person is far from enough. Countless people are striving for the accomplishment of the hero.

In addition, what spirits and qualities the heroes are going to pass on have been showed among the works. As the western biographies contain a comprehensive description without abbreviation and overstatement, the figure of the hero seems authentic. On the other hand, some of the eastern biographies just intend to let readers know that the characters are heroes and should be highly praised. Therefore, the heroes are extremely perfect without some essential behaviors. From these words, we catch the name of the hero, but nothing more than a name.

Sternstunden der Menschheit actually inspires everybody heroism, which refers to devotion instead of success. To this day, we still benefit a great deal.

第二篇：读书分享-人类群星闪耀时