Best Advice Ever On Heroes

Russian cosmonaut Gennady Padalka has accumulated 879 days in space over 17 years. Padalka has more time in space than any other human, ever. He was recently interviewed for an article for National Geographic. The article is a great read and Padalka, when asked if he had any heroes, gave the following response:

"If somebody becomes your hero, a pattern for you to follow, you start to imitate what he does. And you lose your individuality. Everybody has his own talent. Everybody was born with some certain and very different capabilities. Somebody will become a great scientist, a Nobel prize winner, somebody will become a great mother. Somebody said that we don’t live on the minefield to follow somebody’s steps.

I was impressed at the very early stage of my space career, like the flights to space, to the moon, landing on the moon. But to say this guy, yes, I have to be similar to him? We are all talented. We are all heroes. Nyet. Don’t suppress your own talent."