“Être fort pour être utile,” Hébert declared. “Be fit to be useful.” It was brilliant, really. In those final two words, Hébert came up with a complete philosophy of life. No matter who you are, no matter what you’re seeking or hope to leave behind after your time on the planet—is there any better approach than simply to be useful? “Here is the great duty of man to himself, to his family, his homeland and to humanity,” Hébert wrote. “Only the strong will prove useful in difficult circumstances of life.”