“You cannot swim for new horizons until you have courage to lose sight of the shore.”

—  William Faulkner

Last update July 7, 2025. History

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William Faulkner photo
William Faulkner214
American writer 1897–1962

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Cristoforo Colombo photo

“Variants include "You can never cross the ocean unless you have the courage to lose sight of the shore."”

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Actually by André Gide.
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“A warrior cannot lower his head - otherwise he loses sight of the horizon of his dreams.”

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“One doesn't discover new lands without consenting to lose sight, for a very long time, of the shore.”

André Gide book The Counterfeiters

On ne découvre pas de terre nouvelle sans consentir à perdre de vue, d'abord et longtemps, tout rivage.
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Variant: Man cannot discover new oceans unless he has the courage to lose sight of the shore.
Source: Les faux-monnayeurs [The Counterfeiters] (1925)

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“One does not discover new lands without consenting to lose sight of the shore for a very long time.”

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Misattributed

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“Courage is like—it’s a habitus, a habit, a virtue: You get it by courageous acts. It’s like you learn to swim by swimming. You learn courage by couraging.”

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U.G. Krishnamurti photo

“You can have the courage to climb the mountain, swim the lakes, go on a raft to the other side of the Atlantic or Pacific. That any fool can do, but the courage to be on your own, to stand on your two solid feet, is something which cannot be given by somebody.”

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Part III: Nice Meeting You, and Goodbye
The Courage to Stand Alone (2001)
Context: You can have the courage to climb the mountain, swim the lakes, go on a raft to the other side of the Atlantic or Pacific. That any fool can do, but the courage to be on your own, to stand on your two solid feet, is something which cannot be given by somebody. You cannot free yourself of that burden by trying to develop that courage. If you are freed from the entire burden of the entire past of mankind, then what is left there is the courage.

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“You do not attain to knowledge by remaining on the shore and watching the foaming waves, you must make the venture and cast yourself in, you must swim, alert and with all your force, even if a moment comes when you think you are losing consciousness; in this way, and in no other, do you reach anthropological insight.”

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Source: Between Man and Man (1965), p. 148

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“If you lose hope, somehow you lose the vitality that keeps moving, you lose that courage to be, that quality that helps you go on in spite of it all. And so today I still have a dream.”

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“And the danger is that in this move toward new horizons and far directions, that I may lose what I have now, and not find anything except loneliness.”

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