Character Quotables: Courage
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“Let’s have faith that right makes might; and in that faith let us, to the end, dare to do our duty as we understand it.”
“Courage is being scared to death…and saddling up anyway.”
“We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light.”
“Fear is a reaction. Courage is a decision.”
“And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.”
“Courage is the price that life exacts for granting peace.”
“Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgment that something else is more important than fear.”
“Courage is the art of being the only one who knows you’re scared to death.”
“Courage is doing what you are afraid to do. There can be no courage unless you are scared.”
“There is always light, if only we’re brave enough to see it. If only we’re brave enough to be it.”
“The best times you will ever have in life are when you’re brave enough to take that step beyond your fears.”
“Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced.”
“With courage you will dare to take risks, have the strength to be compassionate, and the wisdom to be humble. Courage is the foundation of integrity.”
“Courage is the most important of all the virtues because without courage, you can’t practice any other virtue consistently.”
“Courage conquers all things.”
“The great virtue in life is real courage that knows how to face facts and live beyond them.”
“Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one’s courage.”
“We are made strong by the difficulties we face, not by those we evade.”
“It is not because things are difficult that we do not dare; it is because we do not dare that they are difficult.”
“Imposing limitations on yourself is cowardly because it protects you from having to try, and perhaps failing.”
“You can choose courage, or you can choose comfort, but you cannot choose both.”
“Pain nourishes courage. You can’t be brave if you have only had wonderful things happen to you.”
“Success is never final, and failure is never fatal; is it courage that counts.”
“When your ambition is greater than your fear, your life will get bigger than your dream.”
“Courage is contagious. Every time we choose courage, we make everyone around us a little better and the world a little braver.”
“Bravery is the audacity to be unhindered by failures, and to walk with freedom, strength, and hope, in the face of things unknown.”
“Courage is fear holding on a minute longer.”
“An essential aspect of creativity is not being afraid to fail.”
“It takes courage to create a meaningful life of integrity. It also requires good company. And practice.”
“The cave you fear to enter holds the treasure you seek.”
“He who is brave is free.”
“Without courage we cannot practice any other virtue with consistency. We can’t be kind, true, merciful, generous, or honest.”
“He who loses wealth loses much; he who loses a friend loses more; but he that loses courage loses all.”
“When a resolute young fellow steps up to the great bully, the world, and takes him boldly by the beard, he is often surprised to find it comes off in his hand, and that it was only tied on to scare away the timid adventurers.”
“Courage is the capacity to confront what can be imagined.”
“A great deal of talent is lost in the world for want of courage.”
“Don’t be afraid to expand yourself, to step out of your comfort zone. That’s where the joy and the adventure lie.”
“Of all the liars in the world, sometimes the worst are our own fears.”
“You’ve got to jump off cliffs and build your wings on the way down.”
“The greatest test of courage is to bear defeat without losing heart.”
“There is nothing with which every man is so afraid as getting to know how enormously much he is capable of doing and becoming.”
“The bravest are surely those who have the clearest vision of what is before them, glory and danger alike, and yet notwithstanding, go out and meet it.”
“Don’t be afraid to do something just because it’s impossible.”
“All problems become smaller if you don’t dodge them, but confront them.”
“To love someone deeply gives you strength. Being loved by someone deeply gives you courage.”
“To dare is to lose one’s footing momentarily. Not to dare is to lose oneself.”
“The scars you acquire by exercising courage will never make you feel inferior.”
“Have the courage to face a difficulty lest it kick you harder than you bargain for.”
“Be brave. Take risks. Nothing can substitute experience.”
“Courage doesn’t mean you don’t get afraid. Courage means you don’t let fear stop you.”
“Never, never be afraid to do what’s right.”
“A bold man is better in all things.”
“To bear failure with courage is the best proof of character that anyone can give.”
“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us.”
“Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear ~ not the absence of fear.”
“If you’re the kind of person who is scared and courageous at the same time, you might end up doing big things.”
“It takes as much courage to have tried and failed as it does to have tried and succeeded.”
“Courage is the ladder on which all the other virtues mount.”
“It takes courage to live–courage and strength and hope and humor. And courage and strength and hope and humor have to be bought and paid for with pain and work and prayers and tears.”
“Only when we’re brave enough to explore the darkness will we discover the infinite power of our light.”
“All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them.”
“It is an error to suppose that courage means courage in everything. Most people are brave only in the dangers to which they accustom themselves, either in imagination or practice.”
“Develop enough courage so that you can stand up for yourself and then stand up for somebody else.”
“Courage doesn’t always roar. Sometimes courage is the little voice at the end of the day that says I’ll try again tomorrow.”
“Freedom is the sure possession of those alone who have the courage to defend it.”
“Deliberate with caution, but act with decision. Yield with graciousness, or oppose with firmness.”
“Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak; courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen.”
“Pain nourishes courage. You can’t be brave if you’ve only had wonderful things happen to you.”
“Dare to begin! He who postpones living rightly is like the rustic who waits for the river to run out before he crosses.”
“Nothing in life is to be feared. It is only to be understood. Now is the time to understand more, so that we may fear less.”
“Conscience is the root of all true courage; if a man would be brave let him obey his conscience.”
“We learn courageous action by going forward whenever fear urges us back.”
“In one of its earliest forms, the word courage meant ‘To speak one’s mind by telling all one’s heart.’”
“Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly.”
“Take chances, make mistakes. That’s how you grow. Pain nourishes your courage. You have to fail in order to practice being brave.”
“Many of your fears are tissue-paper thin, and a single courageous step would carry us through them.”
How can you use Quotes?
Start a discussion: Quotes can start a discussion about a character trait at the beginning of a meeting or the dinner table. You can ask questions about what it means, how they have seen the trait demonstrated in their own lives, or how they can develop it themselves.
Provide a model: Quotes can provide a model of good character. When you read a quote from a famous person or historical figure, you show that people they admire also value the same character traits.
Use quotes as writing/journal prompts: Ask them to write a short essay about a quote to help them think more deeply about its implications for their lives.
Post quotes: You can post quotes where they will be seen/heard often – classroom, breakroom, lobby, dining room, email signatures, video bulletin boards, morning announcements, social media, etc.
Read quotes aloud: You can read quotes aloud to your children during mealtimes, bedtime, or any other time you spend together.
Make it fun: You can make it even more fun by incorporating games, activities, or crafts. Let children decorate signs with the quotes to hang in the classroom or a bedroom door. Record children saying it and post it on social media.