Courage defined

30th August 2006

posted in philosophy |

Many people mistakenly seem to equate the terms “courage” and “bravery” with an absence of fear. This is not the case. I remember free-fall parachuting five times to earn my jump wings in the Air Force, and there definitely WAS a fair amount of fear involved in those experiences! People who are brave are not fearless– that would be a superhuman quality. What brave and courageous people are able to do is manage their fears and act in intentional ways in spite of those fears. As Rudolf Giuliani said in reference to 9-11:

Courage is not the absence of fear…It is the active management of fear.

Quoted by D D Ganguly.

On this day..

This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 30th, 2006 at 12:53 pm and is filed under philosophy. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

1 On August 30th, 2006, Eyes Right » Blog Archive » 21st Century Gideons’ Guide said:

[...] The entry that caught my attention tonight was one for “courage.” I blogged earlier today about courage– how it is not the lack of fear, but rather the ability to act despite fear– but this verse (Psalm 27:14) puts yet a different spin on courage that I need to be reminded of. Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD. [...]