What is Courage?

MEDITATION ON COURAGE

Courage is a muscle…..requiring, therefore, exercise…

Like all muscle it can come then go depending on if/how we use it, train it, sustain it.

Various cultures and societies and various periods of time in history have defined courage according to their particular needs and the manifestation thereof in those places and times. Thus, varying definitions of courage were shaped and emanated from place and time to include qualities of mind, body, and heart – with emphasis on one or more of these three aspects. And while tracing the history of the concept of courage is fascinating, our focus might be well-spent in some determination of what courage means in today’s world – at large and in our culture.

When one ponders, reads about, watches films based upon, and then imagines the applications of the term courage in Classical history and the literature thereof, one envisions powerful, able-bodied men – soldiers, knights, etc., galloping on lightening swift steeds into battle for some typically thought-of as noble cause in an attempt to win in the face of apparently insurmountable odds. Names like Odysseus (for one) and his many trials pop up easily as a hero who embodied courage, among his other attributes. Spinning on to the Roman empire, Mark Antony’s challenge of facing down Caesar’s murderers is another Classical example of the courage of that particular place and time. And as we wind our way through centuries of history, there is no shortage of illuminating examples of ‘heroes’ who could only do what they did because they exercised their courage muscle. Fast-forwarding to the twentieth century, a case-in-point would be the undaunted will and courage of Winston Churchill, to fight on land, sea, and air and “never give up”….for this latter is at the heart and soul of courage. And to follow this thought to its origin, we must recognize that the word courage is rooted in the Latin word for heart; that is “cor”.

At the most fundamental level, ours is a world in which we need not ‘slay the dragon’, euphemistically speaking. Nor do we need to kill roving bands of those who would displace us in our chosen cave of habitation. Nor are we in mainstream western culture required to, as individuals, hunt and kill for our daily food. In fact, we don’t even know, often enough, the source of much of what we eat. We simply pick up food supplies in some supermarket for the most part. Vis-à-vis this last fact, the interesting irony is the role reversal of courage in that we now courageously challenge the status quo of the proliferation of toxic GMO’s and their perpetrators in the social movement to disband and shut them down. Moreover, at every other level of the social strata, from the very basic concerns over what we are eating, to concerns for the survival of the planet’s environment, man is now faced with challenges which require a new brand of courage, one which is all too often nameless and faceless – as we ask ourselves and each other what we can do to rectify the problems which may yet be our undoing as a species.

Let us then, collectively, look to those who have faced the insurmountable for any possible wisdom which may apply to today’s challenges, and let us look to ourselves in our search for the meaning of courage. Surely there are nuggets of wisdom to be gleaned from the writings and actions of, to name a few, Victor Frankyl, Winston Churchill, Anne Frank, Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, the list goes on. And let us determine what, if anything, from these and others applies to our own personal and societal needs to exercise courage in the face of the insurmountable.

A Short Glossary of Definitions and References:

Courage is the ability and willingness to confront fear (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fear), pain (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pain), danger (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Risk), uncertainty (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uncertainty), or intimidation (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intimidation). Physical courage is courage in the face of physical pain, hardship, death, or threat of death, while moral courage is the ability to act rightly (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethics) in the face of popular opposition, shame (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shame), scandal (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scandal), or discouragement.

Courage is knowing what not to fear. (Plato)

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

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

Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak; courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen. (Winston Churchill (http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/w/winston_churchill.html))

We shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender. (Winston Churchill)

Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts. (http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/w/winstonchu124653.html)(Winston Churchill)

Atticus Finch defined courage as “It's when you know you're licked before you begin but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what.” (Lee, To Kill A Mockingbird)

To dare is to lose one’s footing momentarily. To not dare is to lose oneself.
— Soren Kierkegaard

“It takes courage ... to endure the sharp pains of self discovery rather than choose to take the dull pain of unconsciousness that would last the rest of our lives.” ― Marianne Williamson, "Return to Love: Reflections on the Principles of 'A Course in Miracles'"

Courage doesn't always roar. Sometimes courage is the little voice at the end of the day that says I'll try again tomorrow. — Mary Anne Radmacher