“One must think like a hero to behave like a merely decent human being.” —May Sarton, poet and novelist (1912–1995)

It’s a good quote, one that goes well with Thoreau’s observation that “the mass of men live lives of quiet desperation.”

I sometimes wonder if there’s a converse: if one aspires to be no more than merely decent, does one end up behaving like a casual villain? I think it might be true, given that 80% of us believe that we are morally above average.