never meet your heroes

English

Proverb

never meet your heroes

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.
   • 2008 July 22, Phill Jupitus, “Blood, sweat and ink”, in Guardian‎^[1], retrieved May 15, 2021:

     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?

   • 2011 February 18, Michael Oliveira, “Deadmau5 mingles and murders in Minecraft”, in The Star‎^[2], retrieved May 15, 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.

   • 2019 January 29, Ellie Kemper, “What I Learned From the Cast of ‘Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt’”, in New York Times‎^[3], retrieved May 15, 2021:

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