William Ernest Henley on courage

Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the Pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.

I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds, and shall find, me unafraid.

Courage is the first of human qualities because it is the quality which guarantees the others.

Aristotle384–322 BC

Cowards die many times before their deaths. The valiant never taste of death but once.

William Shakespeare1564–1616Julius Caesar (1599), Act II, scene ii.In context

Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.