you either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become the villain
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Meaning · English
Initial ideals can eventually give way to negative actions over time
Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt
Các lý tưởng ban đầu có thể dần dần nhường chỗ cho hành động tiêu cực theo thời gian
Machine-translated — suggest a fix
Where it’s used:
Used
Widespread English
Sources & notes
Listed on Wikipedia “List of proverbial phrases” (CC BY-SA 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-07-30; pending editor spot-check.
Common questions
What does “you either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become the villain” mean?
Initial ideals can eventually give way to negative actions over time
Is “you either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become the villain” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.