Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear — not absence of fear. Except a creature be part coward, it is not a compliment to say it is brave; it is merely a loose misapplication of the word. Consider the flea!-incomparably the bravest of all the creatures of God, if ignorance of fear were courage. Whether you are asleep or awake he will attack you, caring nothing for the fact that in bulk and strength you are to him as are the massed armies of the earth to a sucking child; he lives both day and night and all days and nights in the very lap of peril and the immediate presence of death, and yet is no more afraid than is the man who walks the streets of a city that was threatened by an earthquake ten centuries before. When we speak of Clive, Nelson, and Putnam as men who didn’t know what fear was,” we ought always to add the flea-and put him at the head of the procession.”
—Mark Twain (1835–1910) American Humorist
Fortune can take away riches, but not courage.
—Seneca the Younger (Lucius Annaeus Seneca) (c.4 BCE–65 CE) Roman Stoic Philosopher, Statesman, Tragedian
That’s a valiant flea that dares eat his breakfast on the lip of a lion.
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616) British Playwright
Courage is the capacity to confront what can be imagined.
—Leo Rosten (1908–97) Russian-born American Humorist, Teacher, Academic, Short Story Writer
Go on and increase in valor for this is the path to immortality.
—Virgil (70–19 BCE) Roman Poet
Heroism, the Caucasian mountaineers say, is endurance for one moment more.
—George F. Kennan (1904–2005) American Writer, Diplomat
Courage is spelled I-N-T-E-G-R-I-T-Y.
—Robert H. Schuller (1926–2015) American Christian Televangelist, Author
Courage is an everyday thing. When we look reality squarely in the eye and refuse to back away from our awareness, we are living courage.
—Unknown
Much of what we call evil is due entirely to the way men take the phenomenon. It can so often be converted into a bracing and tonic good by a simple change of the sufferer’s inner attitude from one of fear to one of fight; its string can so often depart and turn into a relish when, after vainly seeking to shun it, we agree to face about and bear it…
—William James (1842–1910) American Philosopher, Psychologist, Physician
The best hearts are ever the bravest.
—Laurence Sterne (1713–68) Irish Anglican Novelist, Clergyman
Courage is almost a contradiction in terms. It means a strong desire to live taking the form of a readiness to die.
—G. K. Chesterton (1874–1936) English Journalist, Novelist, Essayist, Poet
The valor that struggles is better than the weakness that endures.
—Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (1770–1831) German Philosopher
Never ask the Gods for life set free from grief, but ask for courage that endureth long.
—Menander (c.343–c.291 BCE) Greek Comic Dramatist, Poet
This is no time for ease and comfort. It is the time to dare and endure.
—Winston Churchill (1874–1965) British Head of State, Political leader, Historian, Journalist, Author
The wicked flee when no one pursues, but the righteous are bold as a lion.
—The Holy Bible Scripture in the Christian Faith
Brave men are all vertebrates; they have their softness on the surface and their toughness in the middle.
—G. K. Chesterton (1874–1936) English Journalist, Novelist, Essayist, Poet
There’s no substitute for guts.
—Bear Bryant (1913–83) American Sportsperson
We are made strong by the difficulties we face not by those we evade.
—Indian Proverb
We must constantly build dykes of courage to hold back the flood of fear.
—Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–68) American Civil Rights Leader, Clergyman
Courage is a quality so necessary for maintaining virtue that it is always respected, even when it is associated with vice.
—Samuel Johnson (1709–84) British Essayist
Perfect courage is to do without witnesses what one would be capable of doing with the world looking on.
—Francois de La Rochefoucauld (1613–80) French Writer
A true knight is fuller of bravery in the midst, than in the beginning of danger.
—Philip Sidney (1554–86) English Soldier Poet, Courtier
Courage and conviction are powerful weapons against an enemy who depends only on fists or guns. Animals know when you are afraid; a coward knows when you are not.
—David Seabury (1885–1960) American Psychologist
Courage charms us, because it indicates that a man loves an idea better than all things in the world, that he is thinking neither of his bed, nor his dinner, nor his money, but will venture all to put in act the invisible thought of his mind.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
It is easy enough to be pleasant, When life flows by like a song. But the man worthwhile is the one who can smile, when everything goes dead wrong. For the test of the heart is troubled, And it always comes with the years. And the smiles that is worth the praises of earth is the smile that shines through tears.
—Ella Wheeler Wilcox (1850–1919) American Poet, Journalist
It takes as much courage to have tried and failed as it does to have tried and succeeded.
—Anne Morrow Lindbergh (1906–2001) American Aviator, Author
Is he alone who has courage on his right hand and faith on his left hand?
—Charles Lindbergh (1902–74) American Aviator, Inventor, Conservationist
The human race afraid of nothing, rushes on through every crime.
—Horace (Quintus Horatius Flaccus) (65–8 BCE) Roman Poet
We sometimes from dreams pick up some hint worth improving by … reflection.
—Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826) American Head of State, Lawyer
It is wonderful what strength and boldness of purpose and energy will come from the feeling that we are in the way of duty.
—John Foster Dulles (1888–1959) American Republican Public Official, Lawyer
The mind, ever the willing servant, will respond to boldness, for boldness, in effect, is a command to deliver mental resources.
—Norman Vincent Peale (1898–1993) American Clergyman, Self-Help Author
For the man sound in body and serene of mind there is no such thing as bad weather; every sky has its beauty, and storms which whip the blood do but make it pulse more vigorously.
—George Gissing (1857–1903) English Novelist
Let me tell you the secret that has led me to my goal. My strength lies solely in my tenacity.
—Louis Pasteur (1822–95) French Biologist
The greatest test of courage on earth is to bear defeat without losing heart.
—Robert G. Ingersoll (1833–99) American Lawyer, Orator, Agnostic
Stand up to crises. Don’t let them throw you! Fight to stay calm… even surmount the crisis completely and turn it into an opportunity. Refuse to renounce your self-image. No matter what happens, you must keep your good opinion of yourself. No matter what happens, you must hold your past successes in your imagination, ready for showing in the motion picture screen of your mind. No matter what happens, no matter what you lose, no matter what failures you must endure, you must keep faith in yourself. Then you can stand up to crises, with calm and courage, refusing to buckle; then you will not fall through the floor. You will be able to support yourself.
—Maxwell Maltz (1899–1975) American Surgeon, Motivational Writer
No man can be brave who considers pain the greatest evil of life; or temperate, who regards pleasure as the highest good.
—Cicero (106BCE–43BCE) Roman Philosopher, Orator, Politician, Lawyer
The brave person thinks of themselves last of all.
—Friedrich Schiller (1759–1805) German Poet, Dramatist
Noah was a brave man to sail in a wooden boat with two termites.
—Indian Proverb
The brave man inattentive to his duty, is worth little more to his country than the coward who deserts in the hour of danger.
—Andrew Jackson (1767–1845) American Head of State
The brave love mercy, and delight to save.
—John Gay (1685–1732) English Poet, Dramatist
Courage is the art of being the only one who knows you’re scared to death.
—Earl Wilson (1907–87) American Broadway Gossip Columnist
Women and men of retiring timidity are cowardly only in dangers which affect themselves, but are the first to rescue when others are endangered.
—Jean Paul (1763–1825) German Novelist, Humorist
Have the courage of your desire.
—George Gissing (1857–1903) English Novelist
They are surely to be esteemed the bravest spirits who, having the clearest sense of both the pains and pleasures of life, do not on that account shrink from danger.
—Thucydides (c.455?c.400 BCE) Greek Historian
Do not fear, for those who are with us, are more than those who are with them.
—The Holy Bible Scripture in the Christian Faith
What would life be if we had no courage to attempt anything?
—Vincent van Gogh (1853–90) Dutch Painter
Courage is like love; it must have hope for nourishment.
—Napoleon I (1769–1821) Emperor of France
My message to you is: Be courageous! I have lived a long time. I have seen history repeat itself again and again. I have seen many depressions in business. Always America has come out stronger and more prosperous. Be as brave as your fathers before you. Have faith! Go forward.
—Thomas Edison (1847–1931) American Inventor, Scientist, Entrepreneur
Courage is not the absence of fear but rather the judgment that something is more important than fear. The brave may not live forever but the cautious do not live at all.
—Unknown
I have never looked upon ease and happiness as ends in themselves – such an ethical basis I call more proper for a herd of swine. The ideals which have lighted me on my way and time after time given me new courage to face life cheerfully, have been Truth, Goodness, and Beauty.
—Albert Einstein (1879–1955) German-born Physicist