“Where there is no joy there can be no courage; and without courage all other virtues are useless.”
"Water", p. 113; this is often quoted as simply: Without courage, all other virtues are useless. <!-- Confessions of a Barbarian: Selections from the Journals of Edward Abbey, 1951-1989 (1994) p. 207 -->
Source: Desert Solitaire (1968)
Context: Has joy any survival value in the operations of evolution? I suspect that it does; I suspect that the morose and fearful are doomed to quick extinction. Where there is no joy there can be no courage; and without courage all other virtues are useless.
Help us to complete the source, original and additional information
Edward Abbey 146
American author and essayist 1927–1989Related quotes
“Without courage all other virtues lose their meaning.”
“Courage is the ladder on which all the other virtues mount. ”
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
Source: The Courage to Create (1975), Ch. 1 : The Courage to Create, p. 13
Context: Courage is not a virtue of value among other personal values like love or fidelity. It is the foundation that underlies and gives reality to all other virtues and personal values. Without courage our love pales into mere dependency. Without courage our fidelity becomes conformism.
Source: The Gifts of Imperfection: Let Go of Who You Think You're Supposed to Be and Embrace Who You Are
“The strangest, most generous, and proudest of all virtues is true courage.”
Attributed