Reprinted from the April 1934 issue of Doc Savage Magazine

YOUR PART?

HEROES, they say, are made, not born. The bravest, most heroic creature would go unknown if some incident, some occurrence, did not give him the occasion to show what bravery dwelt within him. Equally true is this fact: that many brave, heroic deeds go unsung, unrewarded, because they remain unknown.

It is not always the man with the medal who has done the most heroic thing. Nor is it true that real heroism exists only in feats of daring. Many a man has played a heroic role all his life, but no one has stamped him a hero because there was no blaring of trumpets to accompany his deeds.

How many of these men are there- and women, too? How many people in your own acquaintance are worthy of commendation, yet have none given them? How many of our members, in living up to the Code of Doc Savage, perform deeds that are really worth mentioning, yet no one talks of them?

There is a great opportunity here to show what true heroism is, and to furnish encouragement to all who strive long and faithfully, without any outward reward, only the satisfaction of doing the best they can at all times for all people, in the true spirit of a follower of our own Doc Savage.

You need not always risk your life to be a hero. It looks better; it appeals to the public more; to do a dashing rescue, have your pictures in the paper, have dinners given in your honor. But all of these people forget you a week after the dinner, and your medal is no good to any one after you have had the public's hero-worship.

Not that such heroes are not worth their salt. Every bit of attention they receive, they deserve. In fact, they deserve more, but the fickle public never clings long to one hero. It must move along for something new.

The real hero worshippers, and the real heroes, are those who hold forever the love and respect of those whom they have helped. The man who performs the most spectacular rescue can have this love from those whom he has helped, but so can the individual who has done nothing so spectacular, but aided, steadily and cheerfully, in the slightest of things.

Perhaps it is the sacrifice of an hour a day for the cheer of some invalid. Possibly it is the foregoing of some personal desire in order that some one else may get more pleasure.

Such devotion is not uncommon. Parents give it to their children as part of their lives and think it nothing unusual, ask no reward for it. People often forego pleasures so that their companions may be more happy in something else.

All this comes about because so many of our members seem at times to become discouraged; to feel that they are doing nothing which makes them worthy of membership in our club. Using Doc Savage as an example, they feel that they are so far behind him in accomplishments that their case is utterly hopeless.

Real merit is not judged under such conditions. Your work is not worth less because some one else does more. So long as you, in your own capacity, do everything you can, you are doing more than some one else whose deeds, though they seem far superior, are not to the full of his ability. It is not the grand total of your accomplishments, it is the use of all your possibilities, that counts.

Let's have our members give us more of their experiences, or of their fellows' experiences, to encourage those members who become gloomy over their prospects of good deeds. Let's have more of our members show others that way to better living, to more enjoyment of life, by having them join our Doc Savage Club.

Any one who is told the full purpose of this organization will not hesitate to join. And most of them, too, will want to wear the emblem, which can be secured for a slight charge. But whether you want the emblem or not-or the new rubber stamp announced in these pages-your membership and card showing it comes to you entirely free, if you feel that you wish to strive to keep up the Code of Doc Savage and be one of us.

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