Courage

Courage is the habit of overcoming fear. It forms an integral part of the virtue of fortitude, specifically applied to undertaking difficult challenges when the difficulty lies precisely in fear.

No, by no means. Boastfulness and swagger are signs of pride, vanity, or foolish bravado, not of genuine courage. The truly courageous person does not flaunt or brag about his victories, for he knows well that he experienced fear and overcame it. A person who never feels fear at all is not courageous, but reckless or insane.

There are various types of fears that courage must confront and conquer:

• Dread of excessive effort is one of the earliest obstacles to proposing worthy goals for oneself.
• The fear of looking foolish, being ridiculed, or losing social standing in certain environments.
• The fear of failure in a project, or of endangering one's personal comfort or acquired well-being. Dread of exhaustion, unpleasantness, tension, and so forth.
• And also fears that are completely unfounded, rooted merely in creations of the imagination.

Courage is indispensable for attaining any worthwhile goal. Fears severely paralyze progress in any endeavor, often preventing even the very first attempt. Only the courageous launch out in pursuit of noble objectives despite foreseeable or imaginary obstacles. Whoever focuses excessively on difficulties ends up losing the treasure out of fear of effort, fatigue, or failure... A good measure of courage is always needed to confront and surmount difficulties.

Courage has necessary boundaries, for the supreme objective is not merely to be daring, but to act well. Let us examine them:

• Prudence sets boundaries upon courage, preventing it from degenerating into recklessness, rashness, or irresponsible posturing. An example of a sound attitude is: “Though I am courageous, I will not drink this poison; I will demonstrate my courage in noble causes.”
• Courage must always be employed to do good. A terrorist might display raw daring, but his daring is evil and destructive. Likewise, it is senseless to say, “I take drugs because I am daring”; that is not courage, but foolishness—or outright cowardice born of the fear of losing face in a drug-using crowd. Far greater courage is displayed by the person who walks away, even if mocked and ridiculed. Fleeing occasions of sin is not cowardice, but wisdom.
• Courage must never be used as a moral pretext. It is unacceptable to declare: “I am courageous and I do whatever I please.” Daring alone is never sufficient to make an action morally good.

Further practical examples where courage can be exercised:

• Speaking or giving a presentation in public, overcoming the paralyzing fear of looking clumsy or failing.
• Standing firm in one's moral and religious convictions, even when the surrounding social climate is hostile and mockery or disdain may arise.
• Frequently, true courage is manifested in acknowledging one's own faults with complete sincerity and resolving to battle against them. Proposing small daily efforts, sacrifices, and self-denials is likewise a true test and exercise of courage.