1,016 Courage Quotes

If you hear a voice within you say 'you cannot paint,' then by all means paint, and that voice will be silenced.

There may be a time in life when one is tired of everything and feels as if all one does is wrong, and there maybe some truth in it - do you think this is a feeling one must try to forget and to banish, or is it 'the longing for God,' which one must not fear, but cherish to see if it may bring us some good? Is it 'the longing for God' which leads us to make a choice which we never regret? Let us keep courage and try to be patient and gentle. And not mind being eccentric, and make distinction between good and evil.

Courage is poorly housed that dwells in numbers; the lion never counts the herd that are about him, nor weighs how many flocks he has to scatter.

The probability that we may fail in the struggle ought not to deter us from the support of a cause we believe to be just.

Only so you can appeal to your God and pray Him to support and bless your courage, your work, your perseverance, your strength, your resolution, and with all these your claim on life.

For the sake of historical truth I must verify that only the Greeks, of all the adversaries who confronted us, fought with bold courage and highest disregard of death.

Not one of us knows what effect his life produces, and what he gives to others; that is hidden from us and must remain so, though we are often allowed to see some little fraction of it, so that we may not lose courage.

Not less strong than the will to truth must be the will to sincerity. Only an age, which can show the courage of sincerity, can possess truth, which works as a spiritual force within it.

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

To run away from trouble is a form of cowardice and, while it is true that the suicide braves death, he does it not for some noble object but to escape some ill.

You will never do anything in this world without courage. It is the greatest quality of the mind next to honor.

Come back again, old heart! Ah me! Methinks in those thy coward fears There might, perchance, a courage be, That fails in these the manlier years; Courage to let the courage sink, Itself a coward base to think, Rather than not for heavenly light Wait on to show the truly right.

We must have courage, faith, and lunch together sometime soon.

It's hard to face tomorrow, but it's easier than facing no tomorrow.

I can face anything, except the future, and certain parts of the past and present.

Don't let the fear of striking out hold you back.

Never let the fear of striking out get in your way.

Oh why do we not say the important things, it would be so easy, and we are damned because we do not.

To save the world requires faith and courage: faith in reason, and courage to proclaim what reason shows to be true.

I do not regret one professional enemy I have made. Any actor who doesn't dare to make an enemy should get out of the business.

Better to die fighting for freedom then be a prisoner all the days of your life.

I would rather be free in my mind, and be locked up in a prison cell, than to be a coward and not be able to say what I want.

Mistakes are always forgivable, if one has the courage to admit them.

If the angels are unkind or the season is dark Or if in the end Love just falls apart Well then here's to our destruction Baby let me be your soul driver.

Those afraid of the universe as it really is, those who pretend to nonexistent knowledge and envision a Cosmos centered on human beings will prefer the fleeting comforts of superstition. They avoid rather than confront the world. But those with the courage to explore the weave and structure of the Cosmos, even where it differs profoundly from their wishes and prejudices, will penetrate its deepest mysteries.

It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to, than I have ever known.

I must honor those who fight of their own free will, he said to himself. And I must try to imitate their courage by following my path as a pacifist, wherever it takes me.

The truth is always modern and there never comes a time when it is safe to give it voice.

Lost causes are the only ones worth fighting for.

Never be silent! Make your opinions known, and do not fear retribution for speaking your mind! The only ones who will aggressively try to silence you are the ones who do not respect the liberties and rights of the individual. Those people deserve our contempt, and when you draw them out of the shadows by exercising your civil right to freedom of speech, they will expose themselves for what they truly are.

Whether you actually can or can't fight city hall is of little relevance. Either way, when the need arises, you must!

Fortune favors the audacious.

It was the call of all those fortuities... which gave her the courage to leave home and change her fate.

What is meant by 'mingling' is the spirit of advancing and becoming engaged with the enemy, and not withdrawing even one step. You must understand this.

Ophelia was a circus queen the female cannonball projected through five flaming hoops to wild and shocked applause...

Long, long may it be, ere he comes again! His hour is one of darkness, and adversity, and peril. But should domestic tyranny oppress us, or the invader's step pollute our soil, still may the Gray Champion come, for he is the type of New England's hereditary spirit; and his shadowy march, on the eve of danger, must ever be the pledge, that New England's sons will vindicate their ancestry.

Sheila Wood: If you're so unhappy Nick, why haven't you killed yourself? Drake: It's too cowardly, and besides, I don't have the courage.

I am a mariner of Odysseus with heart of fire but with mind ruthless and clear.

We, who are dying, are doing better, than they, who will live. For Crete doesn't need householders, she needs madmen like us. These madmen make Crete immortal.

This is the moment of greatest crisis. This is the signal for the March to begin. If you do not hear this Cry tearing at your entrails, do not set out.

The Cry within me is a call to arms. It shouts: 'I, the Cry, am the Lord your God! I am not an asylum. I am not hope and a home. I am not the Father nor the Son nor the Holy Ghost. I am your General! 'You are not my slave, nor a plaything in my hands. You are not my friend, you are not my child. You are my comrade-in-arms! 'Hold courageously the passes which I entrusted to you; do not betray them. You are in duty bound, and you may act heroically by remaining at your own battle station. 'Love danger. What is most difficult? That is what I want! Which road should you take? The most craggy ascent! It is the one I also take: follow me!

The centuries are thick, dark waves that rise and fall, steeped in blood. Every moment is a gaping abyss. Gaze on the dark sea without staggering, confront the abyss every moment without illusion or impudence or fear. ... But this is not enough; take a further step: battle to give meaning to the confused struggles of man.

Gather together in your heart all terrors, recompose all details. Salvation is a circle; close it!

This is our epoch, good or bad, beautiful or ugly, rich or poor - we did not choose it. This is our epoch, the air we breathe, the mud given us, the bread, the fire, the spirit! Let us accept Necessity courageously. It is our lot to have fallen on fighting times. Let us tighten our belts, let us arm our hearts, our minds, and our bodies. Let us take our place in battle!

The war is simply an obscenity, a depraved act by weak and miserable men, including all of us who have allowed it to go on and on with endless fury and destruction - all of us who would have remained silent had stability and order been secured.

Chomsky's morally impassioned and powerfully argued denunciation of American aggression in Vietnam and throughout the world is the most moving political document I have read since the death of Leon Trotsky. It is inspiring to see a brilliant scientist risk his prestige, his access to lucrative government grants, and his reputation for Olympian objectivity by taking a clearcut, no-holds-barred, adversary position on the burning moral-political issue of the day, and by castigating the complacent mythology of 'specialized expertise' under which many academic intellectuals shrug off the crimes committed by their government, only provided they are not naked enough (e.g., the Dominican intervention) to defy the most accomplished casuistry. --Raziel Abelson, April 20, 1967 [192]

We declared our intentions to preserve monarchy, and they still are so, unless necessity enforce an alteration. It's granted the king has broken his trust, yet you are fearful to declare you will make no further addresses... look on the people you represent, and break not your trust, and expose not the honest party of your kingdom, who have bled for you, and suffer not misery to fall upon them for want of courage and resolution in you, else the honest people may take such courses as nature dictates to them.

As for that famous and magnanimous commander, Lieutenant-General Cromwell, whose prowess and prudence, as they have rendered him most renowned for many former successful deeds of chivalry, so in this fight they have crowned him with the never withering laurels of fame and honour, who with so lion-like courage and impregnable animosity, charged his proudest adversaries again and again, like a Roman Marcellus indeed....and at last came off, as with some wounds, so with honour and triumph inferior to none.

Never mind that the rules are stupid and counterproductive. I broke them.

Before I do it, I have to know: is it a cause worth dying for?

I'm Mr. Scared-from-Ass-to-Ankles. Whereas you are just plain old miss ass.

Stop threatening me... I've lived in terror and I've come out of it. Kill me or not, torture me or not, it doesn't matter to me. Just decide what to do.

May the day when you need courage never come even as she said it, though, she knew the day would come.

All it did was let her step off that brink into the dark unknown with a smile on her face and pride in her heart. It made death sweet to her.

I want the truth, no matter how hard it is to hear it.

It's a brave man who beats a little child. They'll no doubt write songs about your courage.

I began to suspect that the ultimate sacrifice isn't death after all; the ultimate sacrifice is willingly bearing the fullest penalty for your own actions.

Aren't you the strong one. Aren't you brave, to insist on reality. You never could face your own dreams.

Give me a dozen men who are not afraid to die, and I'll accomplish what all the Generals & Admirals with all their Armies & Battleships cannot...

As for courage and will- we cannot measure how much of each lies within us, we can only trust there will be sufficient to carry through trials which may lie ahead.

She is a soldier. She will not be defeated.

Paul likes to test himself. That's what makes Paul run. He's got a lot of courage, a highly underrated element in people's lives these days.

But the bravest are surely those who have the clearest vision of what is before them, glory and danger alike, and yet notwithstanding go out to meet it.

Make up your mind that happiness depends on being free, and freedom depends on being courageous.

Hey don't lock and turn away lose your life today and follow me into the alleyway. ~ 'Simonize'

Only in his poetry did he have the courage to love.

Qui ne craint point la mort ne craint point les menaces.

I think no virtue goes with size; The reason of all cowardice Is, that men are overgrown, And, to be valiant, must come down To the titmouse dimension.

Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.

'I've always written poetry but never had the courage to really express myself until now.'

One time I was in the men's room of the bar and there was a guy at the urinal. He was kind of drunk, and said to me in a mean-sounding voice, 'I don't like your face. I think I'll push it in.' I was scared green. I replied in an equally mean voice, 'Get out of my way, or I'll pee right through ya!'

God gets the greatest glory when we attack the greatest giants.

At once maddeningly original and disarmingly humane, Roger Williams championed Native American rights, church-state separation, and an independent judiciary when each was considered rank heresy.

The number of people that put their lives at risk, just totally overwhelmed the evil of the act.

And I just want to say one other thing about Mayor Giuliani: As this began, and if you were like me, and in many respects, God, I hope you're not. But in this one small measure, if you're like me, and you're watching and you're confused and depressed and irritated and angry and full of grief, and you don't know how to behave and you're not sure what to do and you don't really... because we've never been through this before... all you had to do at any moment was watch the Mayor. Watch how this guy behaved. Watch how this guy conducted himself. Watch what this guy did. Listen to what this guy said. Rudolph Giuliani is the personification of courage.

He who has God with him fears nothing save His Might.

Some say 'we've got it made ... let's not rock the boat,' but I believe that's exactly how we lost in 2002 and 2004. We won't win by default. We won't win by just running out the clock. We'll only win if we show we are willing to discuss tough subjects or else we will be perceived as weak and full of fear.

I still feel just as I told you, that I shall come safely out of this war. I felt so the other day when danger was near. I certainly enjoyed the excitement of fighting our way out of Giles to the Narrows as much as any excitement I ever experienced. I had a good deal of anxiety the first hour or two on account of my command, but not a particle on my own account. After that, and after I saw that we were getting on well, it was really jolly. We all joked and laughed and cheered constantly.

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful. There are those who, on being told: 'Your enemy has mustered a great force against you and so fear them,' they grew more tenacious in their faith and replied: Allah's help is all -sufficient for us. He is the best Protector'. Thus they earned Allah's grace and bounty and no harm befell them. For they had striven to please Allah, whose, bounty is infinite. It is Satan that prompts men to fear his followers. But have no fear of them. Fear Me, if you are true believers. Do not grieve for those that quickly renounce their faith. They will not harm Allah in the least. He seeks to give them no share in the hereafter. Their punishment shall be terrible indeed. God speaks the truth.

You are scared of the interior minister. He doesn't scare my dog.

My chief request is that anyone who is a servant of God be ready and willing, to carry this letter forward; may it never be hidden or stolen by anyone, but rather, may it be read aloud before the whole people- Yes, even when Coroticus himself is present.

I like it, murder, because this is courage. It is anti-bourgeois. Murder is closer to heaven, because after becoming remords de conscience, one prays, one opens the sky, and the angels say, 'Good morning!'

Cold approbation gave the ling'ring bays, For those who durst not censure, scarce could praise.

A frame of adamant, a soul of fire, No dangers fright him, and no labors tire.

The sweet imperious mouth, whose haughty valor Defied all portents of impending doom.

I'm so afraid of hurting other people's feelings I don't speak out when I should. I get into big messes that way.

(about Preston walking out) If people start turning their backs on comedy, and walking off panel shows, then the terrorists have won.

Go, Soul, the body's guest, Upon a thankless arrant: Fear not to touch the best; The truth shall be thy warrant: Go, since I needs must die, And give the world the lie. Say to the court, it glows And shines like rotten wood; Say to the church, it shows What's good, and doth no good: If church and court reply, Then give them both the lie.

So when thou hast, as I Commanded thee, done blabbing - Although to give the lie Deserves no less than stabbing - Stab at thee he that will, No stab the soul can kill.

Cowards fear to die; but courage stout, Rather than live in snuff, will be put out.

I have long recognized the theory and aesthetic of such comprehensive display: show everything and incite wonder by sheer variety. But I had never realized how powerfully the decor of a cabinet museum can promote this goal until I saw the Dublin [Natural History Museum] fixtures redone right. [:] The exuberance is all of one piece-organic and architectural. I write this essay to offer my warmest congratulations to the Dublin Museum for choosing preservation-a decision not only scientifically right, but also ethically sound and decidedly courageous. The avant-garde is not an exclusive locus of courage; a principled stand within a reconstituted rear unit may call down just as much ridicule and demand equal fortitude. Crowds do not always rush off in admirable or defendable directions.

The voices licensed to follow the event seem to have joined together in a campaign to infantilize the public. Where is the acknowledgment that this was not a 'cowardly' attack on 'civilization' or 'liberty' or 'humanity' or 'the free world' but an attack on the world's self-proclaimed superpower, undertaken as a consequence of specific American alliances and actions? How many citizens are aware of the ongoing American bombing of Iraq? And if the word 'cowardly' is to be used, it might be more aptly applied to those who kill from beyond the range of retaliation, high in the sky, than to those willing to die themselves in order to kill others. In the matter of courage (a morally neutral virtue): whatever may be said of the perpetrators of Tuesday's slaughter, they were not cowards.