Courage is not the lack of fear. It is acting in spite of it.
–Mark Twain
In The Wizard of Oz, the blood of the cowardly lion’s courage:
Dorothy:
Your Majesty, if you were a king, would you not be afraid of anything?
Lion:
Not anyone, not in any way!
Tin Man:
Not even a rhino?
Lion:
Impossible!
Dorothy:
How about a hippo?
Lion:
Why, I would rip him apart from top to bottom!
Dorothy:
What if you met an elephant?
Lion:
I would wrap it in cellophane!
Scarecrow:
What if it was a brontosaurus?
Lion:
He would show her who the King of the Forest was!
The four of them:
As?
Lion:
As?
Courage! What makes a King of a slave?
Courage! What makes the flag fly on the mast?
Courage! What makes the elephant load his tusk, in the misty mist or in the dark twilight?
What makes the muskrat protect its musk?
Courage! What makes the sphinx the seventh wonder?
Courage! What makes the dawn rise like thunder?
Courage! What makes Hottentots so attractive? What puts the “monkey” in apricot?
What do they have that I don’t?
The four of them:
Courage!
Lion:
Then you can say that again!
Courage can mean so many things to so many people. Many people hear the word courage and evoke visions of firefighters, soldiers, policemen… however, courage is that and much more.
How many times in our daily lives do we show courage without even realizing it? How many ordinary people must have such courage just to get out of bed in the morning? Some people need courage to do things that others do without even thinking. This is about as brave as a firefighter walking into a burning building.
The definitions of courage are endless, from someone battling cancer to someone running away from an abusive relationship, to having to ask for a raise, to even looking at yourself. Everything is bravery.
Courage carries us through our everyday lives, why many times it takes courage just to drive to work in traffic every day. You don’t think about it, but it’s courage.
Many people when they first think of the word courage will think of the great things, the heroic things, the things that make the six o’clock news. But what about the courage we display as humans in our everyday lives? The things we do because we have to, for ourselves and for our families? The simple things. The acts of courage given in love and compassion? Acts of bravery given in kindness and service to another? Sharing our hearts, our souls in relationships, is courage at its core.
Taking inventory of your life and making changes takes courage. Coming to any crossroads in your life and deciding which one to continue on, putting faith in yourself and a higher power, trusting, taking a step into the unknown, is very brave.
Trust yourself, trust another, be vulnerable, seek help, ask a question, help another, take the road less traveled. These are all acts of bravery, which people take every day.
How many times have you thought you couldn’t go on? That you did not have the strength? That you had reached the end of your rope? Only to look back and see that you had moved on, that you had found the strength? That you were able to climb that rope again? Human bravery is an incredible gift that we all have, it’s a bottomless pit. It’s what allows us to move on, when we truly believe we can’t.
And you don’t need a huge amount of courage, you just need a little flash, just enough that somewhere in your heart and soul you know it’s there, whether consciously or unconsciously. That little pinprick of courage is enough to sustain you whether you realize it’s there or not.
We are all amazing and brave souls. Just look back in his life at those times that were so difficult that he thought they would never end, and see the courage that came out of him and sustained him, and allowed him to help others through it. It’s always there, you always have courage, even if you don’t feel brave. I am in awe of the courage I have seen in others, it inspires me and never ceases to amaze me.
Like the cowardly lion, we will all discover that we have been brave all along, that we are brave even when we are afraid, that we can trust ourselves even when we think we cannot, and that our courage will sustain us and give us strength. throughout all the journeys of our life.
Now I would like to share with you some inspirational quotes about courage.
Personal mastery teaches us to choose. Choosing is an act of courage: choosing the results and actions that you will make of your destiny.
–Peter Senge
Courage is rarely reckless or foolish. . . courage usually involves a very realistic estimate of the odds that must be faced.
–Margaret Truman
Definition of courage: ‘Grace under pressure’.
–Ernest Hemingway (1899-1961)
Whatever you do, you need courage. Whichever course you decide on, there will always be someone to tell you that you are wrong. Difficulties always arise that tempt him to believe that his critics are right. To chart a course of action and follow it to the end requires some of the same courage that a soldier needs. Peace has its victories, but it takes brave men and women to win them.
–Ralph Waldo Emerson
It takes a lot of courage to show your dreams to another person.
–Erma Bomback
I am old enough to know that victory is often a deferred thing, and seldom at the height of courage. What is at the height of courage, I think, is freedom. The freedom that comes with the knowledge that nothing on earth can break you
–Paula Giddings
The only courage that matters is the one that carries you from one moment to the next.
–Mingnon McLaughlin
What would life be if we didn’t have the courage to try anything?
–Vincent van Gogh
Inside each of us is a hidden reserve of energy. Energy that we can unleash to compete in the marathon of life Within each of us is a hidden reserve of courage. Courage to give us the strength to face any challenge Within each of us is a hidden reserve of determination. Determination to stay in the race when all seems lost
–Roger Dawson The 13 Secrets of Powerful Performance by Roger Dawson
Courage is like love, it must have hope of food.
–Napoleon Bonaparte
Any smart fool can make things bigger and more complex… It takes a touch of genius and a lot of courage to move in the opposite direction.
–Albert Einstein
Everyone has talent. What is rare is the courage to follow that talent to the dark place it leads to.
–Erica Jong
Courage consists in the power of self-recovery.
–Ralph Waldo Emerson
Courage, sacrifice, determination, commitment, toughness, heart, talent, guts. That’s what girls are made of; to hell with sugar and spices.
–A stranger
Courage is sometimes fragile as hope is fragile: a fragile sprout between two stones that grows brave towards the sun though heat and brightness fail, effort and faith the only strength it knows
–Frances Rodman
Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage.
–Lao Tso
The bravest thing you can do when you are not brave is to profess courage and act on it.
–Corra May White Harris
Pain feeds courage. You can’t be brave if only wonderful things have happened to you.
–Mary Tyler Moore
Many of our fears are as thin as tissue paper, and a single courageous step would help us overcome them.
–Brendan Francis
Strength and courage are not always measured in medals and victories. They are measured in the struggles they overcome. The strongest people are not always the ones who win, but the ones who don’t give up when they lose.
-Ashley Hodgeson
Courage is not the imposing oak that sees the storms come and go, it is the fragile flower that opens in the snow.
–Alice Mackenzie Swaim
Having courage for what comes in life, everything lies in that.
–Mother Teresa
You gain strength, courage, and confidence from every experience where you really stop to look fear in the face. You are capable of saying to yourself: ‘I have lived through this horror. I can take whatever comes next. You must do what you think you cannot do.
–Eleanor Roosevelt
Courage is rightly esteemed as the first of human qualities because it is the quality that guarantees all the others.
–Sir Winston Churchill
Courage is feeling the daily daggers of implacable steel and continuing to live.
–Douglas Malloch
