I respectfully disagree. Maybe I have a different outlook than most, but to me, the inspirational figures in history are not the people/teams/armies that succeed from the outset. It's the ones who get their head handed to them, sometimes over and over, sometimes through their own fault or failings, but still persevere. Even in the face of certain annihilation, they pick up their gear and advance.
Many times, the inspirational figures contemplate giving up. Sometimes they even do it, but something or someone changes their mind and they summon the strength to rise up and charge into the breach once more. The truly inspirarational are not giants. They're frail, weak humans just like us, with the same fears and pain. They make the same stupid mistakes and suffer for them. Just like us. But they NEVER give up. They get beat and bloodied and still keep trying to prevail, because that's the way they're wired.
