Sri Aurobindo
The Harmony of Virtue
Early Cultural Writings — 1890-1910
Passing Thoughts
Stray Thoughts and Glimpses1 [1]
True heroism findeth not its symbol in the splendour and majesty of the shining armour and accoutrement, nor seeth its glory in the trophies of a thousand victories; for its symbol is the Holy War in which the might and puissance of the Eternal plays through its willing hands, and its glory the laurel-wreath of Delight wherewith God crowns all doughty champions of His Cause.
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Not he the philosopher that achieves marvels in ratiocination and winneth the applause of an intellectual age, but he whose organon is a sharply whetted instrument which God pierces into the closed strongholds of prejudice, pedantry, error and obscurantism.
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Guruhood shall attain its apex, only when it turns the disciple's eye towards the beacon light of his own godhead; for not in the borrowed lights of a single aureola, but in the original effulgence of all points in a shining galaxy of pioneers is to be heralded the dawn of the coming age.
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The true reformer is no mere compassionate fighter of evils, dashing upon the fenced ramparts of society and directing from without the might of his assault upon stereotyped customs and usages; but he who has realised the Collective Soul in the profundities of his being, and with an unerring sureness of aim born of an inner illumination and with the conscious omnipotence 
of an intense Will, sendeth forth mighty currents reverberating from the centre of society's life to its outer surface, dethroning and annihilating the distorted and ugly usurpers of the Throne of God.
1 It seemes that these Stray Thoughts were not publicated in later editions including The Complete Works of Sri Aurobindo in 37 volumes.