Quotes about courage
191 quotes from 139 people
Thomas Paine1737–1809“The Forester’s Letters”, Letter III: To Cato, Pennsylvania Journal (24 April 1776)
William Blake1757–1827Proverbs of Hell, Line 49
Sigmund Freud1856–1939Letter to his fiancée Martha Bernays (27 June 1882); published in Letters of Sigmund Freud 1873-1939 (1961), 10-12Patience, that blending of moral courage with physical timidity.
Thomas Hardy1840–1928Tess of the d’Urbervilles (1891), Phase the Fifth: The Woman Pays, ch. XLIIIIn contextAll I can hope to teach my son is to tell the truth and fear no man.
Edward R. Murrow1908–1965Speech to his staff (1954)Go to the edge of the cliff and jump off. Build your wings on the way down.
Ray Bradbury1920–2012Brown Daily Herald (24 March 1995)Be a hero. Always say, “I have no fear.” Tell this to everyone—“Have no fear.”
Swami Vivekananda1863–1902Pearls of WisdomI know you’ve come to kill me. Shoot, coward, you are only going to kill a man.
Che Guevara1928–1967Reported last words, to his executioner, La Higuera, Bolivia (9 October 1967)Courage is of the heart by derivation,
And great it is. But fear is of the soul.
Robert Frost1874–1963A Masque of Mercy (1947)He ne’er is crown’d
With immortality, who fears to follow
Where airy voices lead.Should I, after tea and cakes and ices,
Have the strength to force the moment to its crisis?It is not by recognizing the want of courage in someone else that you acquire courage yourself..
Ludwig Wittgenstein1889–1951Culture and Value (1980), p. 44eCourage is contagious. When a brave man takes a stand, the spines of others are often stiffened.
Billy Graham1918–2018“A Time for Moral Courage”, Reader’s Digest (July 1964)The lion who breaks the enemy’s ranks is a minor hero compared to the lion who overcomes himself.
Rumi1207–1273I, 1389Develop enough courage so that you can stand up for yourself and then stand up for somebody else.
Maya Angelou1928–2014in Rainbow in the Cloud: The Wisdom and Spirit of Maya Angelou (2014), p. 68
