Courage isn’t having the strength to go on – it is going on when you don’t have strength. Napoleon Bonaparte
As to moral courage, I have very rarely met with two o’clock in the morning courage. I mean instantaneous courage. Napoleon I
cf.
The three-o’clock in the morning courage, which Bonaparte thought was the rarest. Henry David Thoreau, Walden
It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbled, or where the doer of deeds could have done 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, who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, and spends himself in a worthy cause, who at best knows 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, Paris Sorbonne address 1910
Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure, than to take rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much, because they live in the gray twilight that knows neither victory nor defeat. Theodore Roosevelt, Strenuous Life
Courtesy is as much a mark of a gentleman as courage. Theodore Roosevelt
If you lose hope, somehow you lose the vitality that keeps life moving, you lose that courage to be, that quality that helps you go on in spite of it all. And so today I still have a dream. Martin Luther King, The Trumpet of Conscience
We must substitute courage for caution. Martin Luther King
He is giving up his fame. He is giving up millions of dollars in order to stand for what his conscience tells him is right. No matter what you think of his religion, you have to admire his courage. Martin Luther King
The test of courage comes when we are in the minority. The test of tolerance comes when we are in the majority. Ralph W Sockman
Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; He will never leave you nor forsake you. Deuteronomy 31:6
Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear – not absence of fear. Mark Twain
Courage is not the lack of fear, it is acting in spite of it. Mark Twain
It is curious that physical courage should be so common in the world and moral courage so rare. Mark Twain
It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are. e e cummings
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 see it through no matter what. Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird
Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgement that something else is more important than fear. Ambrose Redmoon
There is a stubbornness about me that never can bear to be frightened at the will of others. My courage always rises at every attempt to intimidate me. Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice
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
Keep in mind that many people have died for their beliefs; it’s actually quite common. The real courage is in living and suffering for what you believe. Christopher Paolini, Eragon
It is not the strength of the body that counts, but the strength of the spirit. J R R Tolkien
It takes strength and courage to admit the truth. Rick Riordan
‘You have plenty of courage, I am sure,’ answered Oz. ‘All you need is confidence in yourself. There is no living thing that is not afraid when it faces danger. The true courage is in facing danger when you are afraid, and that kind of courage you have in plenty.’ L Frank Baum, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
Have a little courage that’s all. The Wizard of Oz 1939 starring Judy Garland & Ray Bolger & Frank Morgan & Jack Haley & Bert Lahr & Billie Burke & Margaret Hamilton & Clara Blandick & Charley Grapewin & Terry the dog, director Victor Fleming, second farm bloke
Cowardly Lion: Courage! What makes a king out of a slave? Courage! What makes the flag on the mast to wave? Courage! What makes the elephant charge his tusk in the misty mist, or the dusky dusk? What makes the muskrat guard his musk? Courage! What makes the sphinx the seventh wonder? Courage! What makes the dawn come up like thunder? Courage! What makes the Hottentot so hot? What puts the ‘ape’ in apricot? What have they got that I ain’t got? ibid.
Courage is the first of human qualities because it is the quality which guarantees the others. Aristotle
You will never do anything in this world without courage. It is the greatest quality of the mind next to honour. Aristotle
Those who lack the courage will always find a philosophy to justify it. Albert Camus
We ought to face our destiny with courage. Friedrich Nietzsche
It goes with a courageous intent to greet the universe as it really is, not to foist our emotional predispositions on it but to courageously accept what our explorations tell us. Carl Sagan, The Varieties of Scientific Experience
He who is not courageous enough to take risks will accomplish nothing in life. Muhammad Ali
One man with courage is a majority. Thomas Jefferson
He is a man of courage who does not run away, but remains at his post and fights against the enemy. Socrates
Have courage for the great sorrows of life and patience for the small ones; and when you have laboriously accomplished your daily task, go to sleep in peace. Victor Hugo
Failure is unimportant. It takes courage to make a fool of yourself. Charlie Chaplin
Courage is a kind of salvation. Plato
What would life be if we had no courage to attempt anything? Vincent van Gogh
The courage to be is the courage to accept oneself, in spite of being unacceptable. Paul Tillich
Do not lose courage in considering your own imperfections. Saint Francis de Sales
Courage – a perfect sensibility of the measure of danger, and a mental willingness to endure it. William Tecumseh Sherman
Most of us have far more courage than we ever dreamed we possessed. Dale Carnegie
It is courage, courage, courage, that raises the blood of life to crimson splendour. Live bravely and present a brave front to adversity. Horace
The opposite of courage in our society is not cowardice, it is conformity. Rollo May
Why should we honour those that die upon the field of battle? A man may show as reckless a courage in entering into the abyss of himself. William Butler Yeats
Courage, of all national qualities, is the most precarious; because it is exerted only at intervals, and by a few in every nation; whereas industry, knowledge, civility, may be of constant and universal use, and for several ages, may become habitual to the whole people. David Hume, Of National Characters
Courage conquers all things: it even gives strength to the body. Ovid, Epistolæ Ex Ponto