Cowards falter, but danger is often overcome by those who nobly dare.
—Queen Elizabeth I (1533–1603) British Monarch
If you knew how cowardly your enemy is, you would slap him. Bravery is knowledge of the cowardice in the enemy.
—E. W. Howe (1853–1937) American Novelist, Editor
When cowardice is made respectable, its followers are without number both from among the weak and the strong; it easily becomes a fashion.
—Eric Hoffer (1902–83) American Philosopher, Author
When the adulation of life is gone, the coward sneaks to his death, but the brave live on.
—George Sewell (1687–1726) English Physician, Poet
My valor is certainly going, it is sneaking off! I feel it oozing out as it were, at the palms of my hands!
—Richard Brinsley Sheridan (1751–1816) Irish-born British Playwright, Poet, Elected Rep
Between cowardice and despair, valour is gendered.
—John Donne (1572–1631) English Poet, Cleric
A coward turns away, but a brave man’s choice is danger.
—Euripides (480–406 BCE) Ancient Greek Dramatist
That man is not truly brave who is afraid either to seem or to be, when it suits him, a coward.
—Edgar Allan Poe (1809–49) American Poet
Fear has its use but cowardice has none.
—Mohandas K. Gandhi (1869–1948) Indian Hindu Political leader
Heroes are not known by the loftiness of their carriage; the greatest braggarts are generally the merest cowards.
—Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712–78) Swiss-born French Philosopher
There are several good protections against temptations, but the surest is cowardice.
—Mark Twain (1835–1910) American Humorist
Don’t think of retiring from the world until the world will be sorry that you retire. I hate a fellow whom pride or cowardice or laziness drive into a corner, and who does nothing when he is there but sit and growl. Let him come out as I do, and bark.
—Samuel Johnson (1709–84) British Essayist
Cowards are cruel, but the brave love mercy and delight to save.
—John Gay (1685–1732) English Poet, Dramatist
Any coward can fight a battle when he’s sure of winning.
—George Eliot (Mary Anne Evans) (1819–80) English Novelist
Optimism and self-pity are the positive and negative poles of modern cowardice.
—Cyril Connolly (1903–74) British Literary Critic, Writer
The coward despairs.
—Euripides (480–406 BCE) Ancient Greek Dramatist
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
There is a level of cowardice lower than that of the conformist: the fashionable non-conformist.
—Ayn Rand (1905–82) Russian-born American Novelist, Philosopher
The human race is a race of cowards; and I am not only marching in that procession, but carrying a banner.
—Mark Twain (1835–1910) American Humorist
I am convinced that a light supper, a good night’s sleep, and a fine morning, have sometimes made a hero of the same man, who, by an indigestion, a restless night, and rainy morning, would have proved a coward.
—Earl of Chesterfield (1694–1773) English Statesman, Man of Letters
It is better to be a coward for a minute than dead for the rest of your life.
—Irish Proverb
The coward threatens when he is safe.
—Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832) German Poet
Cowards die a thousand deaths. The valiant taste of death but once.
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616) British Playwright
Faint heart never won fair lady.
—Miguel de Cervantes (1547–1616) Spanish Novelist
For cowards the road of desertion should be left open; they will carry over to the enemy nothing, but their fears.
—Christian Nestell Bovee (1820–1904) American Writer, Aphorist
Covetousness like jealousy, when it has taken root, never leaves a person, but with their life. Cowardice is the dread of what will happen.
—Epictetus (55–135) Ancient Greek Philosopher
Cowards cannot see that their greatest safety lies in dauntless courage.
—Johann Kaspar Lavater (1741–1801) Swiss Theologian, Poet
That cowardice is incorrigible which the love of power cannot overcome.
—Charles Caleb Colton (c.1780–1832) English Clergyman, Aphorist
The cowards never started—and the weak died along the way.
—Unknown
One of the chief misfortunes of honest people is that they are cowardly.
—Voltaire (1694–1778) French Philosopher, Author
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