There are a lot of great quotes about writing out there; these are some of the most insightful, thought-provoking, or ‘ah ha!’ ones I’ve come across.

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‘I can’t think of a single other superhero movie right now where the real superpower that saves the day is the protagonist’s ability to convince other people to Do the Right Thing.

Of all the major confrontations in the flick, Peter is either at a disadvantage, or loses. He never wins via punch. He convinces Harry to tell him where Octavius is. He convinces Octavius to sacrifice his life to save the city. He wins over a train car full of New Yorkers. He convinces MJ to attack Octavius at the last minute. He convinces freakin’ J. Jonah Jameson that Spider-Man is a hero.

We need more heroes like that, and fewer heroes who save the day by using billion-dollar tech and magic rocks to vaporize their enemies. Yeah, you heard me. F*** Tony Stark and Spider-Holland. Long live Spider-Tobey.’

–2lines1shape, commenting on ‘Spider-Man 2 Is a Perfect Sequel‘ (emphasis mine)

With superhero movies having saturated cinemas for the past decade, we’ve gotten used to expensive fight scenes, explosions, and magical artifacts being used to save the day at the climaxes of those movies. But as 2Lines1shape points out, perhaps the best heroes in fiction aren’t the ones who can punch through planets, control reality, or can blow things up with their minds.

The best heroes – superpowered or not – are the ones who inspire other people to be their best, to help them do what they can with their own abilities and gifts, and even save themselves, both physically and morally, characters like Superman, Atticus Finch, or Samwise Gamgee. They seek not to glorify themselves, but to extend a hand and invite us to join them in greatness.