never meet your heroes

proverb

It is unwise to seek personal acquaintance with people whom one has regarded with high esteem, as they often fail to fulfill one's expectations, resulting in disappointment.

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Meanings

proverb
  1. It is unwise to seek personal acquaintance with people whom one has regarded with high esteem, as they often fail to fulfill one's expectations, resulting in disappointment.

    [Y]ou know how they say never meet your heroes? Well, they’re wrong. Jane was everything I had hoped for and more.

    2019 January 29, Ellie Kemper, “What I Learned From the Cast of ‘Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt’”, in New York Times, retrieved 15 May 2021
    2 more examples

    I'm a great believer in the maxim that you should never meet your heroes. I thought of these artists as rebellious, ink-spattered heroes, righting wrongs. What if they turned out to be ranting misanthropes or monosyllabic recluses?

    2008 July 22, Phill Jupitus, “Blood, sweat and ink”, in Guardian, retrieved 15 May 2021

    They say you should never meet your heroes, so fans of Canadian DJ and music producer Deadmau5 might want to consider the risks before looking him up online.

    2011 February 18, Michael Oliveira, “Deadmau5 mingles and murders in Minecraft”, in The Star, retrieved 15 May 2021
Cite this entry
APA

never meet your heroes. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/never%20meet%20your%20heroes

MLA

“never meet your heroes.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/never%20meet%20your%20heroes. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “never meet your heroes,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/never%20meet%20your%20heroes.

Source: never meet your heroes on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.