The coward despairs.
—Euripides (480–406 BCE) Ancient Greek Dramatist
A coward is one who in a perilous emergency thinks with his legs.
—Ambrose Bierce (1842–1913) American Short-story Writer, Journalist
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
There are several good protections against temptations, but the surest is cowardice.
—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
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
How many feasible projects have miscarried through despondency, and been strangled in their birth by a cowardly imagination.
—Jeremy Collier (1650–1726) Anglican Church Historian, Clergyman
To say a person is a coward has no more meaning than to say he is lazy: It simply tells us that some vital potentiality is unrealized or blocked.
—Rollo May (1909–94) American Philosopher
To know what is right and not do it is the worst cowardice.
—Confucius (551–479 BCE) Chinese Philosopher
A coward is much more exposed to quarrels than a man of spirit.
—Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826) American Head of State, Lawyer
Cowards are cruel, but the brave love mercy and delight to save.
—John Gay (1685–1732) English Poet, Dramatist
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
Peace and plenty breed cowards; hardness ever of hardiness is the mother.
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616) British Playwright
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
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
Any coward can fight a battle when he’s sure of winning.
—George Eliot (Mary Anne Evans) (1819–80) English Novelist
Cowardice is the mother of cruelty.
—Michel de Montaigne (1533–92) French Essayist
That cowardice is incorrigible which the love of power cannot overcome.
—Charles Caleb Colton (c.1780–1832) English Clergyman, Aphorist
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
It is better to be the widow of a hero than the wife of a coward.
—Dolores Ibarruri (1895–1989) Spanish Communist Leader
Man gives every reason for his conduct save one, every excuse for his crimes save one, every plea for his safety save one; and that one is his cowardice.
—George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950) Irish Playwright
A coward gets scared and quits. A hero gets scared, but still goes on.
—Unknown
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
The most mortifying infirmity in human nature … is, perhaps, cowardice.
—Charles Lamb (1775–1834) British Essayist, Poet
A coward turns away, but a brave man’s choice is danger.
—Euripides (480–406 BCE) Ancient Greek Dramatist
Cowards falter, but danger is often overcome by those who nobly dare.
—Queen Elizabeth I (1533–1603) British Monarch
One of the chief misfortunes of honest people is that they are cowardly.
—Voltaire (1694–1778) French Philosopher, Author
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
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
Cowards die a thousand deaths. The valiant taste of death but once.
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616) British Playwright
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