Courageous quotes page 2
“Remember that failure is an event, not a person.”
Zig Ziglar (1926–2012) American motivational speaker
“Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm.”
Winston S. Churchill (1874–1965) Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
“Without courage, wisdom bears no fruit.”
Baltasar Gracián (1601–1658) Spanish Jesuit and baroque prose writer and philosopher
“With enough courage, you can do without a reputation.”
Margaret Mitchell (1900–1949) American author and journalist
“Money lost -- little lost. Honour lost -- much lost. Pluck lost -- all lost.”
Raffles: The Amateur Cracksman
Charles Bukowski (1920–1994) American writer
Variant: the courage it took to get out of bed each
morning
to face the same things
over and over
was
enormous.
Source: You Get So Alone At Times That It Just Makes Sense
“To be or not to be. That's not really a question.”
Jean-Luc Godard (1930) French-Swiss film director, screenwriter and film critic
Dale Carnegie (1888–1955) American writer and lecturer
As quoted in The Ring of Truth (2004) by Joseph O'Day
“Your attitude determines your altitude.”
Zig Ziglar
200 Motivational and inspirational Quotes That Will Inspire Your Success
Variant: Your attitude determines your altitude. - Zig Ziglar
Henry Rollins (1961) American singer-songwriter
Talk is Cheap Volume 1 (1998)
Source: Talk is Cheap: Volume 1
“What would life be if we had no courage to attempt anything?”
Vincent Van Gogh (1853–1890) Dutch post-Impressionist painter (1853-1890)
Martin Luther King, Jr. book Strength to Love
Strength to Love, p. 25
1960s, Strength to Love (1963)
Context: The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy. The true neighbor will risk his position, his prestige and even his life for the welfare of others.
“Fear is a reaction. Courage is a decision.”
Winston S. Churchill (1874–1965) Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
“Courage is being the only only one who knows how terrified you are.”
Tom Clancy book Red Rabbit
Source: Red Rabbit
Harry Truman (1884–1972) American politician, 33rd president of the United States (in office from 1945 to 1953)
Special Message to the Congress: The President's First Economic Report (1947)
Source: https://www.trumanlibrary.gov/library/public-papers/4/special-message-congress-presidents-first-economic-report
“Act as if it were impossible to fail.”
Dorothea Brande (1893–1948) American writer and editor
“The willingness to show up changes us, It makes us a little braver each time.”
Brené Brown (1965) US writer and professor
Source: Daring Greatly: How the Courage to Be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent, and Lead
“The Brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear”
Cecelia Ahern (1981) Irish novelist
Source: How to Fall in Love
Robertson Davies (1913–1995) Canadian journalist, playwright, professor, critic, and novelist
"Gzowski on FM".
Conversations with Robertson Davies (1989)
Anaïs Nin (1903–1977) writer of novels, short stories, and erotica
Source: The Diary of Anaïs Nin, Vol. 1: 1931-1934
“Creativity requires the courage to let go of certainties.”
Erich Fromm (1900–1980) German social psychologist and psychoanalyst
“Courage starts with showing up and letting ourselves be seen.”
Brené Brown (1965) US writer and professor
Variant: There’s nothing more daring than showing up, putting ourselves out there and letting ourselves be seen.
Source: Daring Greatly: How the Courage to Be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent, and Lead
“Nothing gives a fearful man more courage than another's fear.”
Umberto Eco book The Name of the Rose
Variant: Nothing gives a fearful man more courage than another's fear.”" -
Source: The Name of the Rose
“To dare is to lose one's footing momentarily. Not to dare is to lose oneself.”
Sören Kierkegaard (1813–1855) Danish philosopher and theologian, founder of Existentialism
Bryce Courtenay The Power of One
Variant: Pride is holding your head up high when everyone around you has theirs bowed. Courage is what makes you do it.
Source: The Power of One
“Write it on your heart that every day is the best day in the year.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882) American philosopher, essayist, and poet
Works and Days
1870s, Society and Solitude (1870)
“Your attitude determines your altitude”
Stephen R. Covey book The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change
“Vulnerability sounds like truth and feels like courage.”
Brené Brown (1965) US writer and professor
Source: Daring Greatly: How the Courage to Be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent, and Lead
Paulo Coelho (1947) Brazilian lyricist and novelist
Variant: You have passed through the two hardest tests on the spiritual road: the patience to wait for the right moment and the courage not to be disappointed with what you encounter.
Source: Veronika Decides to Die
“There is no failure except in no longer trying.”
Elbert Hubbard (1856–1915) American writer, publisher, artist, and philosopher fue el escritor del jarron azul
“Stories make us more alive, more human, more courageous, more loving.”
Madeleine L'Engle (1918–2007) American writer
“He who jumps into the void owes no explanation to those who stand and watch.”
Jean-Luc Godard (1930) French-Swiss film director, screenwriter and film critic
“All serious daring starts from within.”
Eudora Welty (1909–2001) American author
Source: On Writing (2002)
“Sooner or later even the fastest runners have to stand and fight.”
Stephen King book Just After Sunset
Source: Just After Sunset
Leo Buscaglia (1924–1998) Motivational speaker, writer
Living, Loving, and Learning (1982)
Variant: Risks must be taken because the greatest hazard in life is to risk nothing.
Source: Living Loving and Learning
Context: To love is to risk not being loved in return. To hope is to risk pain. To try is to risk failure, but risks must be taken, because the greatest hazard in life is to risk nothing.
“Do the thing you fear and the death of fear is certain.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882) American philosopher, essayist, and poet
“Life is not meant to be easy, my child but take courage: it can be delightful.”
George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950) Irish playwright
Pt. V; see also the later phrasing of Malcolm Fraser, "life wasn't meant to be easy"
1920s, Back to Methuselah (1921)
Harper Lee book To Kill a Mockingbird
Pt. 1, ch. 11
Atticus Finch
Variant: Courage is not a man with a gun in his hand. It's knowing you're licked before you begin but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what. You rarely win, but sometimes you do.
Source: To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)
Context: I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand. It's when you know you're licked before you begin, but you begin anyway and see it through no matter what. You rarely win, but sometimes you do.
“A hero is no braver than an ordinary man, but he is brave five minutes longer.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882) American philosopher, essayist, and poet
“It takes courage to make a fool of yourself.”
Charlie Chaplin (1889–1977) British comic actor and filmmaker
Variant: Failure is unimportant. It takes courage to make a fool of yourself
“Just because you fail once doesn't mean you're gonna fail at everything.”
Marilyn Monroe (1926–1962) American actress, model, and singer
“What we know matters but who we are matters more.”
Brené Brown (1965) US writer and professor
Source: Daring Greatly: How the Courage to Be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent, and Lead
“Courage is very important. Like a muscle, it is strengthened by use.”
Ruth Gordon (1896–1985) American playwright and actress
“Have enough courage to trust love one more time and always one more time.”
Maya Angelou (1928–2014) American author and poet
Christopher Reeve (1952–2004) actor, director, producer, screenwriter
Speech at the Democratic National Convention (26 August 1996) http://www.chrisreevehomepage.com/sp-dnc1996.html
“Live out of your imagination, not your history.”
Stephen R. Covey (1932–2012) American educator, author, businessman and motivational speaker
As quoted in Wake-up Calls : You Don't Have to Sleepwalk through your Life, Love, or Career! (1992) by Eric Allenbaugh, p. 65
Malcolm Gladwell (1963) journalist and science writer
Source: David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants
“Courage originally meant "To speak one's mind by telling all one's heart.”
Brené Brown (1965) US writer and professor
Source: The Gifts of Imperfection: Let Go of Who You Think You're Supposed to Be and Embrace Who You Are
“Clear thinking requires courage rather than intelligence.”
Thomas Szasz (1920–2012) Hungarian psychiatrist
“Those who dare to fail miserably can achieve greatly.”
John F. Kennedy (1917–1963) 35th president of the United States of America
“I have not ceased being fearful, but I have ceased to let fear control me.”
Erica Jong (1942) Novelist, poet, memoirist, critic
“Vulnerability is our most accurate measurement of courage.”
Brené Brown (1965) US writer and professor
“Curiosity will conquer fear even more than bravery will.”
James Stephens book The Crock of Gold
The Crock of Gold (Charleston: BiblioBazaar, [1912] 2006) p. 13.
“What separates the winners from the losers is how a person reacts to each new twist of fate.”
Donald J. Trump (1946) 45th President of the United States of America
Trump: Surviving at the Top (1990), p. 3; https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/550046337547665409
“The secret is that there is no secret.”
Lionel Shriver book We Need to Talk About Kevin
Source: We Need to Talk About Kevin
“Be brave. Take risks. Nothing can substitute experience.”
Paulo Coelho (1947) Brazilian lyricist and novelist
“Courage is contagious. When a brave man takes a stand, the spines of others are often stiffened.”
Billy Graham (1918–2018) American Christian evangelist
"A Time for Moral Courage", Reader’s Digest (July 1964)
Variant: Courage is contagious. When a brave man takes a stand, the spines of others are often stiffened.
Maya Angelou (1928–2014) American author and poet
As quoted in USA Today (5 March 1988)
Variant:
Courage is the most important of all the virtues, because without courage you can't practice any other virtue consistently. You can practice any virtue erratically, but nothing consistently without courage.
As quoted in Diversity : Leaders Not Labels (2006) by Stedman Graham, p. 224
“Everyone has talent. What's rare is the courage to follow it to the dark places where it leads.”
Erica Jong (1942) Novelist, poet, memoirist, critic
“Faced with what is right, to leave it undone shows a lack of courage.”
Confucius (-551–-479 BC) Chinese teacher, editor, politician, and philosopher
“God grant me the courage not to give up what I think is right even though I think it is hopeless.”
Chester W. Nimitz (1885–1966) United States Navy fleet admiral
Appended to a variant of the Serenity Prayer in The Armed Forces Prayer Book (1951)
“The strangest, most generous, and proudest of all virtues is true courage.”
Michel De Montaigne (1533–1592) (1533-1592) French-Occitan author, humanistic philosopher, statesman
Attributed
“The ideal man bears the accidents of life
With dignity and grace, the best of circumstances.”
Joseph Addison book Cato
Act V, scene i.
Cato, A Tragedy (1713)
Adam Lindsay Gordon book Sea Spray and Smoke Drift
Many quoters, including Bartlett's Familiar Quotations (1919), have "in our own" instead of "in your own". <br class="br">Source: "Finis Exoptatus (A metaphysical Song)" (24 November 1866), Fytte 8 of Ye Wearie Wayfarer: Hys Ballad in Eight Fyttes, as published in Sea Spray and Smoke Drift http://books.google.com/books?id=xZUuAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA47 (1867).
Rumi (1207–1273) Iranian poet
Helen Schucman in A Course in Miracles (1976) by Helen Schucman and William Thetford, Ch. 16 The Forgiveness of Illusions, p. 338,#6.
Misattributed
“All our dreams can come true — if we have the courage to pursue them.”
Walt Disney (1901–1966) American film producer and businessman
Source: How to Be Like Walt : Capturing the Magic Every Day of Your Life (2004), Ch. 3 : Imagination Unlimited, p. 63; Unsourced variant: All your dreams can come true if you have the courage to pursue them.
“Is he alone who has courage on his right hand and faith on his left hand?”
Charles Lindbergh (1902–1974) American aviator, author, inventor, explorer, and social activist
As quoted in 1927 (2000) by Robert P. Fitton
“To see what is right and not to do it is want of courage.”
James Legge (1815–1897) missionary in China
Bk. 2, Ch. 24 (p. 23)
Translations, The Confucian Analects
“In dreams and in love there are no impossibilities.”
János Arany (1817–1882) Hungarian writer
As quoted in Dictionary of Quotations from Ancient and Modern, English and Foreign Sources (1893) by James Wood, p. 11
“There's no such thing as not being afraid.”
Robert De Niro (1943) American actor, director and producer
What I've Learned
“Necessity makes even the timid brave.”
Necessitas etiam timidos fortes facit.
Sallust (-86–-34 BC) Roman historian, politician
Source: Bellum Catilinae (c. 44 BC), Chapter LVII
“To have courage for whatever comes in life — everything lies in that.”
Teresa of Ávila (1515–1582) Roman Catholic saint
As quoted in The Little Lamp (1981) by Eknath Easwaran, p. 80
“True courage is being afraid, and going ahead and doing your job.”
Norman Schwarzkopf (1934–2012) United States Army general
As quoted in General H. Norman Schwarzkopf Jr. Interview with the American Academy of Achievement Source: [General H. Norman Schwarzkopf Jr. Interview, www.achievement.org, "Academy of Achievement", https://achievement.org/achiever/general-h-norman-schwarzkopf/#interview] As quoted in Pocket Patriot : Quotes from American Heroes (2005) by Kelly Nickell, p. 53
“Taking a new step, uttering a new word, is what people fear most.”
Fyodor Dostoyevsky book Crime and Punishment
Crime and Punishment (1866)
“No one knows what he can do till he tries.”
Publilio Siro Latin writer
Maxim 786
Sentences, The Moral Sayings of Publius Syrus, a Roman Slave
Mahatma Gandhi book The Essential Gandhi
In Young India (2 March 1922). Quoted in The Essential Gandhi: An Anthology of His Writings on His Life, Work, and Ideas edited by Louis Fischer (2002), p. 160 http://books.google.com/books?id=gz6l-vCVgxQC&lpg=PP1&pg=PA160#v=onepage&q&f=false. <br class="br">1920s
“There was no future and no past. The present was eternity.”
Statement about perceptions he experienced in early clinical experiments with LSD. How Do We Know Who We Are? : A Biography of the Self (1997)
Jim Hightower (1943) Texas author and liberal political activist
Americans who tell the truth http://www.americanswhotellthetruth.org/pgs/portraits/Jim_Hightower.html, portrait.