The legacy of heroes is the memory of a great name and the inheritance of a great example.

Disraeli’s aphorism distinguishes two kinds of “legacy” left by heroic figures: reputation (“the memory of a great name”) and moral or practical influence (“the inheritance of a great example”). The first is commemorative—how posterity remembers and repeats a name; the second is formative—how later generations are shaped by an admired model of conduct. The line implies that true heroism is not exhausted by fame: it creates a standard others can emulate, turning private virtue or public service into a kind of social inheritance. It also hints at a conservative view of history in which exemplary individuals transmit values across time, binding communities through shared memory and imitation.