Washington was a man of exceptional, almost excessive self-command, rarely permitting himself any show of discouragement or despair.
—David McCullough (b.1933) American Historian
Courage is fear holding on a minute longer.
—George S. Patton (1885–1945) American Military Leader
To see what is right, and not do it, is want of courage, or of principle.
—Confucius (551–479 BCE) Chinese Philosopher
When a man has fulfilled all four of these requisites—to be wide awake, to have fear, respect, and absolute assurance—there are no mistakes for which he will have to account; under such conditions his actions lose the blundering quality of the acts of a fool. If such a man fails, or suffers a defeat, he will have lost only a battle, and there will be no pitiful regrets over that.
—Carlos Castaneda (1925–98) Peruvian-born American Anthropologist, Author
The mass of men lead quiet lives of desperation.
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–62) American Philosopher
If you think you can, you can.
And if you think you can’t, you’re right.
—Mary Kay Ash (1918–2001) American Entrepreneur, Businessperson
Without courage, all other virtues lose their meaning.
—Winston Churchill (1874–1965) British Head of State, Political leader, Historian, Journalist, Author
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
The hallmark of courage in our age of conformity is the capacity to stand on one’s convictions not obstinately or defiantly (these are gestures of defensiveness, not courage) nor as a gesture of retaliation, but simply because these are what one believes.
—Rollo May (1909–94) American Philosopher
How, then, find the courage for action? By slipping a little into unconsciousness, spontaneity, instinct which holds one to the earth and dictates the relatively good and useful … By accepting the human condition more simply, and candidly, by dreading troubles less, calculating less, hoping more.
—Henri Frederic Amiel (1821–81) Swiss Moral Philosopher, Poet, Critic
If the human race is to continue for another million years, we will have to boldly go where no one has gone before.
—Stephen Hawking (1942–2018) English Theoretical Physicist, Cosmologist, Academic
There are a lot of fellas with all the ability it takes to play in the major leagues, but they never make it, they always get stuck in the minor leagues because they haven’t got the guts to make the climb.
—Cookie Lavagetto (1912–90) American Sportsperson
Do you have the courage for it? Do you have the love? If you have enough of one, you will develop the other.
—Dan Millman (b.1946) American Children’s Books Writer, Sportsperson
If we take the generally accepted definition of bravery as a quality which knows no fear, I have never seen a brave man. All men are frightened. The more intelligent they are, the more they are frightened.
—George S. Patton (1885–1945) American Military Leader
Have courage and a little willingness to venture and be defeated.
—Robert Frost (1874–1963) American Poet
You can make more friends in two months by becoming genuinely interested in other people than you can in two years by trying to get other people interested in you.
—Dale Carnegie (1888–1955) American Self-Help Author
To fight fear, act. To increase fear — wait, put off, postpone.
—David J. Schwartz (1927–87) American Self-help Author
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
It isn’t for the moment you are struck that you need courage, but for the long uphill climb back to sanity and faith and security.
—Anne Morrow Lindbergh (1906–2001) American Aviator, Author
The estimate and valor of a man consists in the heart and in the will; there his true honor lies. Valor is stability, not of arms and legs, but of courage and the soul; it does not lie in the valor of our horse, nor of our arms, but in ourselves. He that falls obstinate in his courage, if his legs fail him, fights upon his knees.
—Michel de Montaigne (1533–92) French Essayist
To improve is to change; to be perfect is to change often.
—Winston Churchill (1874–1965) British Head of State, Political leader, Historian, Journalist, Author
Do the thing you fear and the death of fear is certain.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
Have the courage of your desire.
—George Gissing (1857–1903) English Novelist
Courage … is nothing less than the power to overcome danger, misfortune, fear, injustice, while continuing to affirm inwardly that life with all its sorrows is good; that everything is meaningful even if in a sense beyond our understanding; and that there is always tomorrow.
—Dorothy Thompson (1893–1961) American Journalist, Radio Personality
The bravest are surely those who have the clearest vision of what is before them, glory and danger alike, and yet notwithstanding, go out to meet it.
—Thucydides (c.455?c.400 BCE) Greek Historian
What would life be if we had no courage to attempt anything?
—Vincent van Gogh (1853–90) Dutch Painter
You’ve gotta dance like there’s nobody watching,
Love like you’ll never be hurt,
Sing like there’s nobody listening,
And live like it’s heaven on earth.
—William Watson Purkey (b.1929) American Educationalist
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
There are risks and costs to a program of action. But they are far less than the long-range risks and costs of comfortable inaction.
—John F. Kennedy (1917–63) American Head of State, Journalist
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
It takes courage to lead a life. Any life.
—Erica Jong (b.1942) American Novelist, Feminist
You will either step forward into growth or you will step back into safety.
—Abraham Maslow (1908–70) American Psychologist, Academic, Humanist
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
I am not afraid of tomorrow, for I have seen yesterday and I love today.
—William Allen White (1868–1944) American Editor, Politician, Author
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
Men are wise in proportion, not to their experience, but to their capacity for experience.
—George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950) Irish Playwright
Is he alone who has courage on his right hand and faith on his left hand?
—Charles Lindbergh (1902–74) American Aviator, Inventor, Conservationist
Act boldly and unseen forces will come to your aid.
—Paulette Mitchell
The only courage that matters is the kind that gets you from one moment to the next.
—Mignon McLaughlin (1913–83) American Journalist, Author
Tomorrow is the day when idlers work, and fools reform, and mortal men lay hold on heaven.
—Edward Young (1683–1765) English Poet
To live we must conquer incessantly, we must have the courage to be happy.
—Henri Frederic Amiel (1821–81) Swiss Moral Philosopher, Poet, Critic
Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgment that something else is more important than fear.
—Ambrose Hollingworth Redmoon (James Neil Hollingworth)
The hardest thing you can do is smile when you are ill, in pain, or depressed. But this no-cost remedy is a necessary first half-step if you are to start on the road to recovery.
—Allen Klein (1931–2009) American Businessperson
Never forget that life can only be nobly inspired and rightly lived if you take it bravely and gallantly, as a splendid adventure in which you are setting out into an unknown country, to face many a danger, to meet many a joy, to find many a comrade, to win and lose many a battle.
—Annie Besant (1847–1933) British-born Indian Theosophist, Civil Rights Advocate, Writer, Orator
The man who works need never be a problem to anyone. Opportunities multiply as they are seized; they die when neglected. Life is a long line of opportunities. Wealth is not in making money, but in making the man while he is making money. Production, not destruction, leads to success.
—John Wicker
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
We must have courage to bet on our ideas, to take the calculated risk, and to act. Everyday living requires courage if life is to be effective and bring happiness.
—Maxwell Maltz (1899–1975) American Surgeon, Motivational Writer
If we must fall, we should boldly meet the danger.
—Tacitus (56–117) Roman Orator, Historian
The opposite of courage in our society is not cowardice, it is conformity.
—Rollo May (1909–94) American Philosopher
You have enemies? Why, it is the story of every man who has done a great deed or created a new idea. It is the cloud which thunders around everything that shines. Fame must have enemies, as light must have gnats. Do not bother yourself about it; disdain. Keep your mind serene as you keep your life clear.
—Victor Hugo (1802–85) French Novelist
Any fool can criticize, complain, and condemn–and most fools do. But it takes character and self-control to be understanding and forgiving.
—Dale Carnegie (1888–1955) American Self-Help Author
Fear is the cheapest room in the house.I would like to see you living in better conditions.
—Hafez (1325–89) Persian Poet, Mystic
Ultimately a genuine leader is not a searcher for consensus, but a molder of consensus.
—Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–68) American Civil Rights Leader, Clergyman
There is nothing keeps longer than a middling fortune, and nothing melts away sooner than a great one. Poverty treads on the heels of great and unexpected riches.
—Jean de La Bruyere (1645–96) French Satiric Moralist, Author
But screw your courage to the sticking-place, and we’ll not fail.
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616) British Playwright
The first of all qualities of a general is courage.
—David McCullough (b.1933) American Historian
Considering how dangerous everything is, nothing is really very frightening.
—Gertrude Stein (1874–1946) American Writer
Where fear is, happiness is not.
—Seneca the Younger (Lucius Annaeus Seneca) (c.4 BCE–65 CE) Roman Stoic Philosopher, Statesman, Tragedian
Behold the turtle. He makes progress only when he sticks his neck out.
—James Bryant Conant (1893–1978) American Chemist, Educator
A hero is no braver than an ordinary man, but he is braver five minutes longer.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
Pay no attention to what the critics say. A statue has never been erected in honor of a critic.
—Jean Sibelius (1865–1957) Finnish Composer
Courage, not compromise, brings the smile of God’s approval.
—Thomas S. Monson (b.1927) American Mormon Religious Leader
Among wellborn spirits courage does not depend on age.
—Pierre Corneille (1606–84) French Poet, Dramatist
The man who makes no mistakes does not usually make anything.
—Edward John Phelps (1822–1900) American Lawyer, Diplomat
Genius is an infinite capacity for taking life by the scruff of the neck.
—Katharine Hepburn (1907–2003) American Actor, TV Personality
Kill the snake of doubt in your soul, crush the worms of fear in your heart and mountains will move out of your way.
—Kate Seredy
You can’t test courage cautiously.
—Annie Dillard (b.1945) Essayist, Novelist, Poet, Naturalist, Mystic
The great epochs of our life come when we gain the courage to rechristen our evil as what is best in us.
—Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900) German Philosopher, Scholar, Writer
Courage is rarely reckless or foolish … courage usually involves a highly realistic estimate of the odds that must be faced.
—Margaret Truman (1924–2008) American Singer, Writer, Historian
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
There is no security in life, only opportunity.
—Douglas MacArthur (1880–1964) American Military Leader
Fortune favors the audacious.
—Desiderius Erasmus (c.1469–1536) Dutch Humanist, Scholar
Courage can’t see around corners, but goes around them anyway.
—Mignon McLaughlin (1913–83) American Journalist, Author
Courage from hearts and not from numbers grows.
—John Dryden (1631–1700) English Poet, Literary Critic, Playwright
Do not pray for an easy life, pray for the strength to endure a difficult one.
—Bruce Lee (1940–73) American Martial Artist, Actor, Philosopher
It takes vision and courage to create; it takes faith and courage to prove.
—Owen D. Young (1874–1962) American Businessperson, Lawyer, Diplomat
No one has yet calculated how many imaginary triumphs are silently celebrated by people each year to keep up with their courage.
—Athenaeus (fl.2nd century CE) Greek Grammarian, Author
Courage is contagious. When a brave man takes a stand, the spines of others are stiffened.
—Billy Graham (1918–91) American Baptist Religious Leader
You have to accept whatever comes and the only important thing is that you meet it with courage and with the best that you have to give.
—Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962) American First Lady, Diplomat, Humanitarian
We need not be afraid to touch, to feel, to show emotion. The easiest thing in the world is to be what you are, what you feel. The hardest thing to be is what other people want you to be. Don’t let them put you in that position.
—Leo Buscaglia (1924–98) American Motivational Speaker
Everyone has a talent. What is rare is the courage to nurture it in solitude and to follow the talent to the dark places where it leads.
—Erica Jong (b.1942) American Novelist, Feminist
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
The most glorious moments in your life are not the so-called days of success, but rather those days when out of dejection and despair you feel rise in you a challenge to life, and the promise of future accomplishments.
—Gustave Flaubert (1821–80) French Novelist, Playwright, Short Story Writer
A man goes to knowledge as he goes to war: wide-awake, with fear, with respect, and with absolute assurance. Going to knowledge or going to war in any other manner is a mistake, and whoever makes it might never live to regret it.
—Carlos Castaneda (1925–98) Peruvian-born American Anthropologist, Author
Although the world is full of suffering, it is full also of the overcoming of it. My optimism, then, does not rest on the absence of evil, but on a glad belief in the preponderance of good and a willing effort always to cooperate with the good, that it may prevail.
—Helen Keller (1880–1968) American Author
Never give in — never, never, never, never, in nothing great or small, large or petty, never give in except to convictions of honour and good sense. Never yield to force; never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy.
—Winston Churchill (1874–1965) British Head of State, Political leader, Historian, Journalist, Author
It is a brave act of valor to contemn death; but where life is more terrible than death it is then the truest valor to dare to live.
—Thomas Browne (1605–82) English Author, Physician
It takes courage to push yourself to places that you have never been before… to test your limits… to break through barriers. And the day came when the risk it took to remain tight inside the bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.
—Anais Nin (1903–77) French-American Essayist
One isn’t necessarily born with courage, but one is born with potential. Without courage, we cannot practice any other virtue with consistency. We can’t be kind, true, merciful, generous, or honest.
—Maya Angelou (1928–2014) American Poet
He who has never failed somewhere, that man cannot be great.
—Herman Melville (1819–91) American Novelist, Short Story Writer, Essayist, Poet
Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.
—Margaret Mead (1901–78) American Anthropologist, Social Psychologist
If you follow your bliss, you put yourself on a kind of track that has been there all the while, waiting for you, and the life that you ought to be living is the one you are living. When you can see that, you begin to meet people who are in your field of bliss, and they open doors to you. I say, follow your bliss and don’t be afraid, and doors will open where you didn’t know they were going to be.
—Joseph Campbell (1904–87) American Mythologist, Writer, Lecturer
Greatness, in the last analysis, is largely bravery — courage in escaping from old ideas and old standards.
—James Harvey Robinson (1863-1936) American Historian
We pay a heavy price for our fear of failure. It is a powerful obstacle to growth. It assures the progressive narrowing of the personality and prevents exploration and experimentation. There is no learning without some difficulty and fumbling. If you want to keep on learning, you must keep on risking failure—all your life.
—John W. Gardner (1912–2002) American Government Official, Political leader
Don’t wait until you die to learn the warrior’s way. Do it now, each night, just before you drift off to sleep. As you review your day, consider these two questions of courage and love. Learn from each day, so that each day you can show a little more courage and a little more love. Then, as incidents occur, you may rise to the occasion and look back at the end of your life and feel good about the way you lived.
—Dan Millman (b.1946) American Children’s Books Writer, Sportsperson
The only real progress lies in learning to be wrong all alone.
—Albert Camus (1913–60) Algerian-born French Philosopher, Dramatist, Essayist, Novelist, Author
Courage is reckoned the greatest of all virtues; because, unless a man has that virtue, he has no security for preserving any other.
—Samuel Johnson (1709–84) British Essayist
The will to do, the soul to dare.
—Walter Scott (1771–1832) Scottish Novelist, Poet, Playwright, Lawyer
It is better by a noble boldness to run the risk of being subject to half of the evils we anticipate, than to remain in cowardly listlessness for fear of what may happen.
—Herodotus (c.485–425 BCE) Ancient Greek Historian
The better part of courage is the courage of having done the thing before.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
Often the test of courage is not to die, but to live.
—Vittorio Alfieri (1749–1803) Italian Poet, Dramatist
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
Courage easily finds its own eloquence.
—Plautus (Titus Maccius Plautus) (c.250–184 BCE) Roman Comic Playwright
Courage is the art of being the only one who knows you’re scared to death.
—Earl Wilson (1907–87) American Broadway Gossip Columnist
If you take risks, you may fail. But if you don’t take risks, you will surely fail. The greatest risk of all is to do nothing.
—Roberto Goizueta (1931–97) Cuban Businessperson
Do what you feel in your heart to be right—for you’ll be criticized anyway. You’ll be damned if you do, and damned if you don’t.
—Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962) American First Lady, Diplomat, Humanitarian
There are two sides to every question: my side and the wrong side.
—Oscar Levant (1906–72) American Musician, Composer, Author, Comedian, Actor
Attack life, it’s going to kill you anyway.
—Niels Bohr (1885–1962) Danish Physicist
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
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
Courage is being scared to death … and But screw your courage to the sticking place saddling up anyway.
—John Wayne (1907–79) American Actor, Director, Producer
The worst sorrows in life are not in its losses and misfortunes, but its fears.
—A. C. Benson (1862–1925) English Essayist, Poet, Author
Courage does not consist in calculation, but in fighting against chances.
—John Henry Newman (1801–90) British Theologian, Poet
People are made of flesh and blood and a miracle fibre called courage.
—Mignon McLaughlin (1913–83) American Journalist, Author
Nothing gives a fearful man more courage than another’s fear.
—Umberto Eco (1932–2016) Italian Novelist
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
As a rule, what is out of sight disturbs men’s minds more seriously than what they see.
—Julius Caesar (c.100–44BCE) Roman Statesman, Military General
The highest courage is to dare to appear to be what one is.
—John Lancaster Spalding (1840–1916) American Catholic Clergyman, Educator, Essayist, Biographer
If you care about something, you have to protect it—if you’re lucky enough to find a way of life you love, you have to find the courage to live it.
—John Irving (b.1942) American Novelist, Short-story Writer
The only thing we have to fear is fear itself — nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance.
—Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882–1945) American Head of State, Lawyer
Awakening begins when a man realizes that he is going nowhere and does not know where to go.
—Georges Gurdjieff (1877–1949) Armenian Spiritual Leader, Occultist
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
The greatest test of courage on earth is to bear defeat without losing heart.
—Robert G. Ingersoll (1833–99) American Lawyer, Orator, Agnostic
The truth will set you free, but first it will make you miserable.
—Unknown
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
We can easily become as much slaves to precaution as we can to fear. Although we can never rivet our fortune so tight as to make it impregnible, we may by our excessive prudence squeeze out of the life that we are guarding so anxiously all the adventurous quality that makes it worth living.
—Randolph Bourne (1886–1918) American Writer, Scholar
Religion is doing; a man does not merely think his religion or feel it, he “lives” his religion as much as he is able, otherwise it is not religion but fantasy or philosophy.
—Georges Gurdjieff (1877–1949) Armenian Spiritual Leader, Occultist
We all have the ability…we just don’t all have the courage to follow our dreams and to follow the signs.
—Paulo Coelho (b.1947) Brazilian Songwriter, Novelist
It is in great dangers that we see great courage.
—Jean-Francois Regnard (1655-1709) French Dramatist
Who bravely dares must sometimes risk a fall.
—Tobias Smollett (1721–71) Scottish Poet, Novelist
I’ve been through it all, baby. I’m Mother Courage.
—Elizabeth Taylor (b.1932) English Actor, Activist
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
Courage is to feel the daily daggers of relentless steel and keep on living.
—Douglas Malloch (1877–1938) American Poet, Short-story Writer
We can never be certain of our courage until we have faced danger.
—Francois de La Rochefoucauld (1613–80) French Writer
It is fatal to enter any war without the will to win it.
—Douglas MacArthur (1880–1964) American Military Leader
The great virtue in life is real courage that knows how to face facts and live beyond them.
—D. H. Lawrence (1885–1930) English Novelist, Playwright, Poet, Essayist, Literary Critic
He that is overcautious will accomplish but very little.
—Friedrich Schiller (1759–1805) German Poet, Dramatist
Confidence … is directness and courage in meeting the facts of life.
—John Dewey (1859–1952) American Philosopher, Psychologist, Educator
Courage is the lovely virtue – the rib of Himself that God sent down to His children.
—J. M. Barrie (1860–1937) Scottish Novelist, Dramatist
To accept whatever comes, regardless of the consequences, is to be unafraid.
—John Cage (1912–92) American Composer, Philosopher, Poet, 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
He who has the courage to laugh is almost as much a master of the world as he who is ready to die.
—Giacomo Leopardi (1798–1837) Italian Poet, Essayist, Philosopher
Who dares do all that may become a man, and dares no more, he is a man indeed.
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616) British Playwright
It seems that the necessary thing to do is not to fear mistakes, to plunge in, to do the best that one can, hoping to learn enough from blunders to correct them eventually.
—Abraham Maslow (1908–70) American Psychologist, Academic, Humanist
Knowledge of sin is the beginning of salvation.
—Seneca the Younger (Lucius Annaeus Seneca) (c.4 BCE–65 CE) Roman Stoic Philosopher, Statesman, Tragedian
Someday, in the moment of death, your whole life will pass before you. In a few fractions of a second–because time no longer applies–you will see many incidents from your life in order to learn. You will review your life with two questions in your consciousness: Could I have shown a little more courage in these moments? Could I have shown a little more love? You will see where you let fear stop you from expressing who you are, how you feel, or what you need. You will see whether you were able to expand into these moments, just a little, to show love, or whether you contracted.
—Dan Millman (b.1946) American Children’s Books Writer, Sportsperson
Without a struggle, there can be no progress.
—Frederick Douglass (1817–95) American Abolitionist, Author, Editor, Diplomat, Political leader
It is not the magnitude of the task that matters, it is the magnitude of our courage that counts.
—Matthieu Ricard (b.1946) French Buddhist Monk
Courage which goes against military expediency is stupidity, or, if it is insisted upon by a commander, irresponsibility.
—Erwin Rommel (1891-1944) German Soldier
To have courage, one must first be afraid. The deeper the fear, the more difficult the climb toward courage.
—Jim Bishop (1907–87) American Journalist, Author
Courage is the thing. All goes if courage goes.
—J. M. Barrie (1860–1937) Scottish Novelist, Dramatist
So long as I am acting from duty and conviction, I am indifferent to taunts and jeers. I think they will probably do me more good than harm.
—Winston Churchill (1874–1965) British Head of State, Political leader, Historian, Journalist, Author
Great spirits have always found violent opposition from mediocre minds. The latter cannot understand it when a man does not thoughtlessly submit to hereditary prejudices but honestly and courageously uses his intelligence.
—Albert Einstein (1879–1955) German-born Physicist
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
One doesn’t discover new lands without consenting to lose sight of the shore for a very long time.
—Andre Gide (1869–1951) French Novelist
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
Little minds are tamed and subdued by misfortune, but great minds rise above it.
—Washington Irving (1783–1859) American Essayist, Biographer, Historian
Go confidently in the direction of your dreams! Live the life you’ve imagined! As you simplify your life, the laws of the Universe will be simpler, solitude will not be solitude, poverty will not be poverty, nor weakness weakness.
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–62) American Philosopher
The brave love mercy, and delight to save.
—John Gay (1685–1732) English Poet, Dramatist
It was times like these when I thought my father, who hated guns and had never been to any wars, was the bravest man who ever lived.
—Harper Lee (1926–2016) American Novelist
True miracles are created by men when they use the courage and intelligence that God gave them.
—Jean Anouilh (1910-87) French Dramatist
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
Go at it boldly, and you’ll find unexpected forces closing round you and coming to your aid.
—Basil King (1859–1928) Canadian Clergyman
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
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
A man of genius makes no mistakes. His errors are volitional and are the portals of discovery.
—James Joyce (1882–1941) Irish Novelist, Poet
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
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
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 what it takes to stand up and speak; courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen.
—Winston Churchill (1874–1965) British Head of State, Political leader, Historian, Journalist, Author
Let a man who has to make his fortune in life remember this maxim: Attacking is the only secret. Dare and the world yields, or if it beats you sometimes, dare it again and you will succeed.
—William Makepeace Thackeray (1811–63) English Novelist
There’s no substitute for guts.
—Bear Bryant (1913–83) American Sportsperson
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
Nothing is as valuable to a man as courage.
—Terence (c.195–159 BCE) Roman Comic Dramatist
A fellow can’t keep people from having a bad opinion of him, but he can keep them from being right about it.
—Unknown
What is needed, rather than running away or controlling or suppressing or any other resistance, is understanding fear; that means, watch it, learn about it, come directly into contact with it. We are to learn about fear, not how to escape from it.
—Jiddu Krishnamurti (1895–1986) Indian Philosopher
To him that waits all things reveal themselves, provided that he has the courage not to deny, in the darkness, what he has seen in the light.
—Coventry Patmore (1823–96) English Poet, Critic
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
An excuse is a lie guarded.
—Jonathan Swift (1667–1745) Irish Satirist
Every positive change–every jump to a higher level of energy and awareness–involves a rite of passage. Each time to ascend to a higher rung on the ladder of personal evolution, we must go through a period of discomfort, of initiation. I have never found an exception.
—Dan Millman (b.1946) American Children’s Books Writer, Sportsperson
You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look at fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, I have lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along”. You must do the think you think you cannot do.”
—Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962) American First Lady, Diplomat, Humanitarian
Bravery never goes out of style.
—William Makepeace Thackeray (1811–63) English Novelist
Don’t let your throat tighten with fear. Take sips of breath all day and night, before death closes your mouth.
—Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Rumi (1207–73) Persian Muslim Mystic
This above all—to thine own self be true; And it must follow, as the night the day, Thou canst not then be false to any man.
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616) British Playwright
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
We must have courage to bet on our ideas, on the calculated risk, and to act. Everyday living requires courage if life is to be effective and bring happiness.
—Maxwell Maltz (1899–1975) American Surgeon, Motivational Writer
No great thing comes to any man unless he has courage.
—James Gibbons (1834–1921) American Catholic Religious Leader, Clergyman
I have learned over the years that when one’s mind is made up, this diminishes fear; knowing what must be done does away with fear.
—Rosa Parks (1913–2005) American Civil Rights Leader
Only those are fit to live who are not afraid to die.
—Douglas MacArthur (1880–1964) American Military Leader
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
I will not follow where the path may lead, but I will go where there is no path, and I will leave a trail.
—Muriel Strode (1875–1964) American Author, Businesswoman
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
Do what you fear and fear disappears.
—David J. Schwartz (1927–87) American Self-help Author
Why not go out on a limb? That’s where the fruit is.
—Will Rogers (1879–1935) American Actor, Rancher, Humorist
Every man of courage is a man of his word.
—Pierre Corneille (1606–84) French Poet, Dramatist
Any coward can sit at home and criticize a pilot for flying into a mountain in a fog. But I would rather by far die on a mountainside than in bed.
—Charles Lindbergh (1902–74) American Aviator, Inventor, Conservationist
A decent boldness ever meets with friends.
—Homer (751–651 BCE) Ancient Greek Poet
It is really true what philosophy tells us, that life must be understood backwards. But with this, one forgets the second proposition, that it must be lived forwards.
—Soren Kierkegaard (1813–55) Danish Philosopher, Theologian
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
The man with insight enough to admit his limitations comes nearest to perfection.
—Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832) German Poet
He that would be superior to external influences must first become superior to his own passions.
—Samuel Johnson (1709–84) British Essayist
All men are afraid in battle. The coward is the one who lets his fear overcome his sense of duty. Duty is the essence of manhood.
—George S. Patton (1885–1945) American Military Leader
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
If I were asked to give what I consider the single most useful bit of advice for all humanity it would be this: Expect trouble as an inevitable part of life and when it comes, hold you head high, look it squarely in the eye and say, “I will be bigger than you. You cannot defeat me.”
—Ask Ann Landers (1918–2002) American Advice Columnist
Be bold. If you’re going to make an error, make a doozy, and don’t be afraid to hit the ball.
—Billie Jean King (b.1943) American Tennis Player
“Come to the edge,” he said. They said, “We are afraid.” “Come to the edge,” he said. They came. He pushed them … and they flew!.
—Guillaume Apollinaire (1880–1918) Italian-born French Poet, Playwright
Better to die on one’s feet than to live on one’s knees.
—Emiliano Zapata (1879–1919) Mexican Revolutionary
It takes courage to grow up and turn out to be who you really are.
—e. e. cummings (1894–1962) American Poet, Writer, Painter
Cowardice, as distinguished from panic, is almost always simply a lack of ability to suspend the functioning of the imagination.
—Ernest Hemingway (1899–1961) American Author, Journalist, Short Story Writer
A total immersion in life offers the best classroom for learning to love.
—Leo Buscaglia (1924–98) American Motivational Speaker
Who hath not known ill-fortune, never knew himself, or his own virtue.
—David Mallet (c.1705–1765) Scottish Poet, Dramatist
People with a culture of poverty suffer much less from repression than we of the middle class suffer and indeed, if I may make the suggestion with due qualification, they often have a hell of a lot more fun than we have.
—Brian Friel (1929–2015) Irish Dramatist, Short Story Writer
Hatred and fear blind us. We no longer see each other. We see only the faces of monsters, and that gives us the courage to destroy each other.
—Thich Nhat Hanh (b.1926) Vietnamese Buddhist Religious Leader, Teacher, Author, Peace Activist
You are goodness and mercy and compassion and understanding. You are peace and joy and light. You are forgiveness and patience, strength and courage, a helper in time of need, a comforter in time of sorrow, a healer in time of injury, a teacher in times of confusion. You are the deepest wisdom and the highest truth; the greatest peace and the grandest love. You are these things. And in moments of your life you have known yourself to be these things. Choose now to know yourself as these things always.
—Neale Donald Walsch (b.1943) American Spiritual Writer
Our doubts are traitors and make us lose the good we oft might win by fearing to attempt.
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616) British Playwright
There is no security on this earth. Only opportunity.
—Douglas MacArthur (1880–1964) American Military Leader
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
We stumble and fall constantly even when we are most enlightened. But when we are in true spiritual darkness, we do not even know that we have fallen.
—Thomas Merton (1915–68) American Trappist Monk
Despair gives courage to a coward.
—Thomas Fuller (1608–61) English Cleric, Historian
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
The bravest are the tenderest. The loving are the daring.
—Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807–82) American Poet, Educator, Academic
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
I am a writer who came of a sheltered life. A sheltered life can be a daring life as well. For all serious daring starts from within.
—Eudora Welty (1909–2001) American Short Story Writer, Novelist
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
And truly it demands something godlike in him who cast off the common motives of humanity and ventured to trust himself for a taskmaster.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
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
True courage is more a matter of intellect than of feeling.
—Steve Pavlina (b.1971) American Motivational Speaker
You don’t develop courage by being happy in your relationships everyday. You develop it by surviving difficult times and challenging adversity.
—Barbara De Angelis (b.1951) American Lecturer, Author, TV Personality, Motivational Speaker
And only when we are no longer afraid do we begin to live in every experience, painful or joyous; to live in gratitude for every moment, to live abundantly.
—Dorothy Thompson (1893–1961) American Journalist, Radio Personality
When we feel stuck, going nowhere–even starting to slip backward–we may actually be backing up to get a running start.
—Dan Millman (b.1946) American Children’s Books Writer, Sportsperson
Don’t wait for moods. You’ll accomplish nothing.
—Pearl S. Buck (1892–1973) American Novelist, Human Rights Activist
Life is a battle in which we fall from wounds we receive in running away.
—William Laurence Sullivan (1872–1935) American Unitarian Clergyman, Author, Literary Critic, Theologian
Moderation? It’s mediocrity, fear, and confusion in disguise. It’s the devil’s dilemma. It’s neither doing nor not doing. It’s the wobbling compromise that makes no one happy. Moderation is for the bland, the apologetic, for the fence-sitters of the world afraid to take a stand. It’s for those afraid to laugh or cry, for those afraid to live or die. Moderation…is lukewarm tea, the devil’s own brew.
—Dan Millman (b.1946) American Children’s Books Writer, Sportsperson
If at first, the idea is not absurd, then there is no hope for it.
—Albert Einstein (1879–1955) German-born Physicist
The courage we desire and prize is not the courage to die decently, but to live manfully.
—Thomas Carlyle (1795–1881) Scottish Historian, Essayist
The ability to get to the verge without getting into the war is the necessary art. If you try to run away from it, if you are scared to go to the brink, you are lost.
—John Foster Dulles (1888–1959) American Lawyer, Diplomat, Politician
He that would have the fruit must first climb the tree.
—Thomas Fuller (1608–61) English Cleric, Historian
Who dares nothing, need hope for nothing.
—Friedrich Schiller (1759–1805) German Poet, Dramatist
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
A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines. With consistency a great soul has simply nothing to do. He may as well concern himself with his shadow on the wall. Speak what you think now in hard words and tomorrow speak what tomorrow thinks in hard words again, though it contradict everything you said today… Is it so bad then to be misunderstood? Pythagoras was misunderstood, and Socrates, and Jesus, and Luther, and Copernicus, and Galileo, and Newton, and every pure and wise spirit that ever took flesh. To be great is to be misunderstood.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
He who knows no hardships will know no hardihood. He who faces no calamity will need no courage. Mysterious though it is, the characteristics in human nature which we love best grow in a soil with a strong mixture of troubles.
—Harry Emerson Fosdick (1878–1969) American Baptist Minister
Risk! Risk anything! Care no more for the opinion of others, for those voices. Do the hardest thing on earth for you. Act for yourself. Face the truth.
—Katherine Mansfield (1888–1923) New Zealand-born British Author
None but the brave deserve the fair.
—John Dryden (1631–1700) English Poet, Literary Critic, Playwright
It takes courage to know when you ought to be afraid.
—James A. Michener (1907–97) American Novelist, Short Story Writer, Historian
Courage is sustained by calling up anew the vision of the goal.
—Antonin Sertillanges (1863–1948) French Catholic Philosopher, Spiritual Writer
Look not mournfully into the Past. It comes not back again. Wisely improve the Present. It is thine. Go forth to meet the shadowy Future, without fear, and with a manly heart.
—Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807–82) American Poet, Educator, Academic
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
Fear and love can never be experienced at the same time. It is always our choice as to which of these emotions we want.
—Gerald Jampolsky (b.1925) American Psychiatrist
What counts is not necessarily the size of the dog in the fight; it’s the size of the fight in the dog.
—Unknown
It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, and comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.
—Theodore Roosevelt (1858–1919) American Head of State, Political leader, Historian, Explorer
No one reaches a high position without daring.
—Publilius Syrus (fl.85–43 BCE) Syrian-born Roman Latin Writer
Discouragement is not the absence of adequacy but the absence of courage.
—Neal A. Maxwell (1926–2004) American Mormon Religious Leader
Imagination
Imagination—sparks dreams and laughter,
Dissolves barriers, expands knowledge and lights the mind.
Imagination also holds captive in dark places
Both the weak and strong, liquefies courage,
Builds enormous insurmountable fear.
—Unknown
Courage is, on all hands, considered as an essential of high character.
—James Anthony Froude (1818–94) British Historian, Novelist, Biographer, Editor