Boldness is ever blind, for it sees not dangers and inconveniences; whence it is bad in council though good in execution. — The right use of the bold, therefore, is, that they never command in chief, but serve as seconds under the direction of others. — For in council it is good to see dangers, and in execution not to see them unless they be very great.
—Francis Bacon (1561–1626) English Philosopher
People with courage and character always seem sinister to the rest.
—Hermann Hesse (1877–1962) German-born Swiss Novelist, Poet
He that would be superior to external influences must first become superior to his own passions.
—Samuel Johnson (1709–84) British Essayist
Courage is rightly esteemed the first of human qualities because as has been said, it is the quality which guarantees all others.
—Winston Churchill (1874–1965) British Head of State, Political leader, Historian, Journalist, Author
Love of fame, fear of disgrace, schemes for advancement; desire to make life comfortable and pleasant, and the urge to humiliate others are often at the root of the valor that men hold in such high esteem.
—Francois de La Rochefoucauld (1613–80) French Writer
What would life be if we had no courage to attempt anything?
—Vincent van Gogh (1853–90) Dutch Painter
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
Often the test of courage is not to die, but to live.
—Vittorio Alfieri (1749–1803) Italian Poet, Dramatist
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
We can never be certain of our courage until we have faced danger.
—Francois de La Rochefoucauld (1613–80) French Writer
Finite to fail, but infinite to venture.
—Emily Dickinson (1830–86) American Poet
Valor is of no service, chance rules all, and the bravest often fall by the hands of cowards.
—Tacitus (56–117) Roman Orator, Historian
Courage is the art of being the only one who knows you’re scared to death.
—Earl Wilson (1907–87) American Broadway Gossip Columnist
Courage, not compromise, brings the smile of God’s approval.
—Thomas S. Monson (b.1927) American Mormon Religious Leader
Without belittling the courage with which men have died, we should not forget those acts of courage with which men … have lived. The courage of life is often a less dramatic spectacle than the courage of a final moment; but it is no less a magnificent mixture of triumph and tragedy. A man does what he must—in spite of personal consequences, in spite of obstacles and dangers and pressures—and that is the basis of all human morality…. In whatever arena of life one may meet the challenge of courage, whatever may be the sacrifices he faces if he follows his conscience—the loss of his friends, his fortune, his contentment, even the esteem of his fellow men—each man must decide for himself the course he will follow. The stories of past courage can define that ingredient—they can teach, they can offer hope, they can provide inspiration. But they cannot supply courage itself. For this each man must look into his own soul.
—John F. Kennedy (1917–63) American Head of State, Journalist
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
I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.
—Nelson Mandela (1918–2013) South African Political leader
Courage is a special kind of knowledge: the knowledge of how to fear what ought to be feared and how not to fear what ought not to be feared.
—David Ben-Gurion (1886–1973) Russian-born Israeli Head of State
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
As a rock on the seashore he standeth firm, and the dashing of the waves disturbeth him not. He raiseth his head like a tower on a hill, and the arrows of fortune drop at his feet. In the instant of danger, the courage of his heart here, and scorn to fly.
—Akhenaten (1378BCE–1348BCE) Egyptian Monarch, Religious Leader
The brave love mercy, and delight to save.
—John Gay (1685–1732) English Poet, Dramatist
What you have outside you counts less than what you have inside you.
—B. C. Forbes (1880–1954) Scottish-born American Journalist, Publisher
Courage is fear holding on a minute longer.
—George S. Patton (1885–1945) American Military Leader
The best hearts are ever the bravest.
—Laurence Sterne (1713–68) Irish Anglican Novelist, Clergyman
The courage we desire and prize is not the courage to die decently, but to live manfully.
—Thomas Carlyle (1795–1881) Scottish Historian, Essayist
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
I would define true courage to be a perfect sensibility of the measure of danger, and a mental willingness to endure it.
—William Tecumseh Sherman (1820–91) American Military Leader, Businessperson, Educator
I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand. It’s when you know you’re licked before you begin but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what. You rarely win, but sometimes you do.
—Harper Lee (1926–2016) American Novelist
I think of those who were truly great. The names of those who in their lives fought for life, Who wore at their hearts the fire’s center.
—Stephen Spender (1909–95) English Poet, Critic
Courage is rightly considered the foremost of the virtues, for upon it, all others depend.
—Winston Churchill (1874–1965) British Head of State, Political leader, Historian, Journalist, Author
When you carry out acts of kindness you get a wonderful feeling inside. It is as though something inside your body responds and says, yes, this is how I ought to feel.
—Harold Kushner (b.1935) American Jewish Religious Leader, Priest
There are obstinate and unknown braves who defend themselves inch by inch in the shadows against the fatal invasion of want and turpitude. There are noble and mysterious triumphs which no eye sees. No renown rewards, and no flourish of trumpets salutes. Life, misfortune, isolation, abandonment, and poverty and battlefields which have their heroes.
—Victor Hugo (1802–85) French Novelist
It is in great dangers that we see great courage.
—Jean-Francois Regnard (1655-1709) French Dramatist
The better part of courage is the courage of having done the thing before.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
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
You take a number of small steps which you believe are right, thinking maybe tomorrow somebody will treat this as a dangerous provocation. And then you wait. If there is no reaction, you take another step: courage is only an accumulation of small steps.
—Gyorgy Konrad (1933–2019) Hungarian Novelist, Sociologist, Essayist
If we must fall, we should boldly meet the danger.
—Tacitus (56–117) Roman Orator, Historian
It is easy to fly into a passion – anybody can do that – but to be angry with the right person to the right extent and at the right time with the right object and in the right way – that is not easy, and it is not everyone who can do it.
—Aristotle (384BCE–322BCE) Ancient Greek Philosopher, Scholar
What counts is not necessarily the size of the dog in the fight; it’s the size of the fight in the dog.
—Unknown
I do not like heroes; they make too much noise in the world. The more radiant their glory, the more odious they are.
—Voltaire (1694–1778) French Philosopher, Author
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
Have the courage to say no. Have the courage to face the truth. Do the right thing because it is right. These are the magic keys to living your life with integrity.
—W. Clement Stone (1902–2002) American Self-help Guru, Entrepreneur
Physical courage, which despises all danger, will make a man brave in one way; and moral courage, which despises all opinion, will make a man brave in another. The former would seem most necessary for the camp; the latter for the council; but to constitute a great man, both are necessary.
—Charles Caleb Colton (c.1780–1832) English Clergyman, Aphorist
Nothing gives a fearful man more courage than another’s fear.
—Umberto Eco (1932–2016) Italian Novelist
I would say to the House, as I said to those who have joined this Government: I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat. You ask, what is our aim? I can answer in one word: It is victory, victory at all costs, victory in spite of all terror, victory, however long and hard the road may be; for without victory, there is no survival.
—Winston Churchill (1874–1965) British Head of State, Political leader, Historian, Journalist, Author
No one reaches a high position without daring.
—Publilius Syrus (fl.85–43 BCE) Syrian-born Roman Latin Writer
The ideal man bears the accidents of life with dignity and grace, making the best of the circumstances.
—Aristotle (384BCE–322BCE) Ancient Greek Philosopher, Scholar
Lean into the sharp points and fully experience them. The essence of bravery is being without self-deception. Wisdom is inherent in (understanding) emotions.
—Pema Chodron (b.1936) American Buddhist Nun
If we listened to our intellect we’d never have a love affair. We’d never have a friendship. We’d never go in business because we’d be cynical: It’s gonna go wrong. Or She’s going to hurt me. Or, I’ve had a couple of bad love affairs, so therefore … Well, that’s nonsense. You’re going to miss life. You’ve got to jump off the cliff all the time and build your wings on the way down.
—Ray Bradbury (b.1920) American Novelist, Short Story Writer
Is he alone who has courage on his right hand and faith on his left hand?
—Charles Lindbergh (1902–74) American Aviator, Inventor, Conservationist
It takes vision and courage to create; it takes faith and courage to prove.
—Owen D. Young (1874–1962) American Businessperson, Lawyer, Diplomat
Last, but by no means least, courage-moral courage, the courage of one’s convictions, the courage to see things through. The world ;is in a constant conspiracy against the brave. It’s the age-old struggle-the roar of the crowd on one side and the voice of your ;conscience on the other.
—Douglas MacArthur (1880–1964) American Military Leader
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 Lawyer, Diplomat, Politician
The beauty of the soul shines out when a man bears with composure one heavy mischance after another, not because he does not feel them, but because he is a man of high and heroic temper.
—Aristotle (384BCE–322BCE) Ancient Greek Philosopher, Scholar
It requires courage not to surrender oneself to the ingenious or compassionate counsels of despair that would induce a man to eliminate himself from the ranks of the living; but it does not follow from this that every huckster who is fattened and nourished in self-confidence has more courage than the man who yielded to despair.
—Soren Kierkegaard (1813–55) Danish Philosopher, Theologian
Have the courage of your desire.
—George Gissing (1857–1903) English Novelist
It is impossible to win the race unless you venture to run, impossible to win the victory unless you dare to battle.
—Richard DeVos (1926–2018) American Businessman, Philanthropist
There’s no substitute for guts.
—Bear Bryant (1913–83) American Sportsperson
We could say that meditation doesn’t have a reason or doesn’t have a purpose. In this respect it’s unlike almost all other things we do except perhaps making music and dancing. When we make music we don’t do it in order to reach a certain point, such as the end of the composition. If that were the purpose of music then obviously the fastest players would be the best. Also, when we are dancing we are not aiming to arrive at a particular place on the floor as in a journey. When we dance, the journey itself is the point, as when we lay music the playing itself is the point. And exactly the same thing is true in meditation. Meditation is the discovery that the point of life is always arrived at in the immediate moment.
—Alan Watts (1915–73) British-American Philosopher, Author
Ability is what you’re capable of doing. Motivation determines what you do. I count him braver who overcomes his desires than him who conquers his enemies; the hardest victory is over self.
—Aristotle (384BCE–322BCE) Ancient Greek Philosopher, Scholar
Physical bravery is an animal instinct; moral bravery is a much higher and truer courage.
—Wendell Phillips (1811–84) American Abolitionist, Lawyer, Orator
We need to find the courage to say NO to the things and people that are not serving us if we want to rediscover ourselves and live our lives with authenticity.
—Barbara De Angelis (b.1951) American Lecturer, Author, TV Personality, Motivational Speaker
Common experience shows how much rarer is moral courage than physical bravery. A thousand men will march to the mouth of the cannon where one man will dare espouse an unpopular cause.
—Clarence Darrow (1857–1938) American Civil Liberties Lawyer
The greatest test of courage on earth is to bear defeat without losing heart.
—Robert G. Ingersoll (1833–99) American Lawyer, Orator, Agnostic
But screw your courage to the sticking-place, and we’ll not fail.
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616) British Playwright
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
A timid person is frightened before a danger; a coward during the time; and a courageous person afterward.
—Jean Paul (1763–1825) German Novelist, Humorist
In fighting and in everyday life you should be determined though calm. Meet the situation without tenseness yet not recklessly, your spirit settled yet unbiased. An elevated spirit is weak and a low spirit is weak. Do not let the enemy see your spirit.
—Miyamoto Musashi (1584–1645) Japanese Samurai Warrior, Artist
Courage is the price that life exacts for granting peace.
The soul that knows it not, knows no release from little things;
Knows not the livid loneliness of fear;
Nor mountain heights where bitter joy can hear
The sound of wings.
—Amelia Earhart (1897–1937) American Aviator
It takes courage to grow up and turn out to be who you really are.
—e. e. cummings (1894–1962) American Poet, Writer, Painter
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
I’ve been through it all, baby. I’m Mother Courage.
—Elizabeth Taylor (b.1932) English Actor, Activist
The will to do, the soul to dare.
—Walter Scott (1771–1832) Scottish Novelist, Poet, Playwright, Lawyer
No matter how carefully you plan your goals they will never be more than pipe dreams unless you pursue them with gusto.
—W. Clement Stone (1902–2002) American Self-help Guru, Entrepreneur
Rest not. Life is sweeping by; go and dare before you die. Something mighty and sublime, leave behind to conquer time.
—Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832) German Poet
Who dares do all that may become a man, and dares no more, he is a man indeed.
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616) British Playwright