Heroism, the Contempt for Happiness

Kenneth Clark on heroism in "Civilisation" (1969):

Seen by itself, the David's body might be an unusually taut and vivid work of antiquity. It is only when we come to the head that we are aware of a spiritual force the ancient world never knew. I suppose that this quality, which I may call heroic, is not a part of most people's idea of civilisation. It involves a contempt for convenience and a sacrifice of all those pleasures that contribute to what we call civilised life. It is the enemy of happiness. And yet we recognise that to despise material obstacles, and even to defy the blind forces of fate, is man's supreme achievement. And since, in the end, civilisation depends on man extending his powers of mind and spirit to the utmost, we must reckon the emergence of Michelangelo as one of the great events in the history of Western man.