Thomas Babington Macaulay on courage

Was none who would be foremost
To lead such dire attack;
But those behind cried, “Forward!”
And those before cried, “Back!”

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.