
„The only thing greater than the power of the mind is the courage of the heart“
— John Nash American mathematician and Nobel Prize laureate 1928 - 2015
A collection of quotes on the topic of courage, can, doing, use.
„The only thing greater than the power of the mind is the courage of the heart“
— John Nash American mathematician and Nobel Prize laureate 1928 - 2015
„Mistakes are always forgivable, if one has the courage to admit them.“
— Bruce Lee Hong Kong-American actor, martial artist, philosopher and filmmaker 1940 - 1973
„I've got the guts to die. What I want to know is, have you got the guts to live?“
— Tennessee Williams, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
Source: Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
„Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear - not absence of fear.“
— Mark Twain American author and humorist 1835 - 1910
„It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are.“
— E.E. Cummings American poet 1894 - 1962
„One's life has value so long as one attributes value to the life of others.“
— Simone de Beauvoir French writer, intellectual, existentialist philosopher, political activist, feminist, and social theorist 1908 - 1986
„You get in life what you have the courage to ask for.“
— Oprah Winfrey American businesswoman, talk show host, actress, producer, and philanthropist 1954
„A man who dares to waste one hour of time has not discovered the value of life.“
— Charles Darwin British naturalist, author of "On the origin of species, by means of natural selection" 1809 - 1882
volume I, chapter VI: "The Voyage", page 266 http://darwin-online.org.uk/content/frameset?pageseq=284&itemID=F1452.1&viewtype=image; letter to sister Susan Elizabeth Darwin (4 August 1836)
The Life and Letters of Charles Darwin (1887)
Source: The Life & Letters of Charles Darwin
„Life shrinks or expands according to one's courage.“
— Anaïs Nin writer of novels, short stories, and erotica 1903 - 1977
As quoted in French Writers of the Past (2000) by Carol A. Dingle, p. 126
Variant: Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage.
„Mostly it is loss which teaches us about the worth of things.“
— Arthur Schopenhauer, book Parerga and Paralipomena
Meistens belehrt uns erst der Verlust über den Wert der Dinge.
Source: Parerga and Paralipomena (1851), Aphorisms on the Wisdom of Life
Total 1775 quotes courage, filter:
— Jordan Peterson Canadian clinical psychologist, cultural critic, and professor of psychology 1962
Other
„Whenever you see a successful business, someone once made a courageous decision.“
— Peter F. Drucker American business consultant 1909 - 2005
— Jesse Owens American track and field athlete 1913 - 1980
On the congratulations given by German athlete Lutz Long, a competitor in the long jump, who in some accounts he credited with giving him some friendly advice that helped him to win against him; as quoted in "Owens pierced a myth" by Larry Schwartz http://espn.go.com/sportscentury/features/00016393.html in ESPN SportsCentury (2005)
Context: It took a lot of courage for him to befriend me in front of Hitler... You can melt down all the medals and cups I have and they wouldn't be a plating on the 24-karat friendship I felt for Lutz Long at that moment. Hitler must have gone crazy watching us embrace. The sad part of the story is I never saw Long again. He was killed in World War II.
„Another word for creativity is courage.“
— Henri Matisse French artist 1869 - 1954
Variant: Creativity takes courage.
— Muhammad Ali, book The Soul of a Butterfly
The Soul of a Butterfly, 2004
Variant: All through my life I have been tested. My will has been tested, my courage has been tested, my strength has been tested. Now my patience and endurance are being tested.
Source: The Soul of a Butterfly: Reflections on Life's Journey
— Charbel Makhlouf Lebanese Maronite monk and saint 1828 - 1898
Love is a Radiant Light: The Life & Words of Saint Charbel (2019)
„To love someone is to show to them their beauty, their worth and their importance.“
— Jean Vanier Canadian humanitarian 1928 - 2019
„Where there's hope, there's life. It fills us with fresh courage and makes us strong again.“
— Anne Frank victim of the Holocaust and author of a diary 1929 - 1945
Source: The Diary of a Young Girl
„He who is not courageous enough to take risks will accomplish nothing in life“
— Muhammad Ali African American boxer, philanthropist and activist 1942 - 2016
— Brené Brown US writer and professor 1965
Source: The Gifts of Imperfection: Let Go of Who You Think You're Supposed to Be and Embrace Who You Are
„The most courageous act is still to think for yourself. Aloud.“
— Coco Chanel French fashion designer 1883 - 1971
As quoted in Believing in Ourselves (1992) by Armand Eisen, p. 39
„I can shake off everything as I write; my sorrows disappear, my courage is reborn.“
— Anne Frank victim of the Holocaust and author of a diary 1929 - 1945
— Hannibal military commander of Carthage during the Second Punic War -247 - -183 BC
As quoted in Hannibal : Enemy of Rome (1992) by Leonard Cottrell, p. 150.
— Michael Jackson American singer, songwriter and dancer 1958 - 2009
Also used at his funeral (3 Sep. 2009) invitation. Quoted in "Dead stars and classic art will surround Michael Jackson " in CNN.com/entertainment (03 July 2009) http://edition.cnn.com/2009/SHOWBIZ/Music/09/03/michael.jackson.funeral/index.html#cnnSTCOther1
— Marie Antoinette last Queen of France prior to the French Revolution 1755 - 1793
Responding to the priest who had accompanied her to the foot of the guillotine, who had whispered, "Courage, madame! Now is the time for courage." Quoted in Women of Beauty and Heroism (1859) by Frank B. Goodrich, p. 301.
Variant translations:
Courage! The moment when my ills are going to end is not the moment when courage is going to fail me.
To the juror, Abbé Girard, shortly before her death, quoted in Marie-Antoinette a la Conciergerie (du ler août au 16 octobre 1793) 2nd edition (1864) by M. Émile Campardon
Courage? The moment when my troubles are going to end is not the moment when my courage is going to fail me.
As quoted in Marie Antoinette (2008) by Jane Bingham, p. 39
— Erwin Rommel German field marshal of World War II 1891 - 1944
Ch XVI : The Great Retreat, p. 347.
The Rommel Papers (1953)
— Eleanor Roosevelt American politician, diplomat, and activist, and First Lady of the United States 1884 - 1962
Source: You Learn by Living (1960), p. 29–30
Context: You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, "I have lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along." … You must do the thing you think you cannot do.
„Courage is being scared to death, but saddling up anyway.“
— John Wayne American film actor 1907 - 1979
„Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.“
— Winston S. Churchill Prime Minister of the United Kingdom 1874 - 1965
Attributed to Winston Churchill in The Prodigal Project : Book I : Genesis (2003) by Ken Abraham and Daniel Hart, p. 224 and other places, though no source attribution is given. It actually derives from an advertising campaign for Budweiser beer in the late 1930s.
Misattributed
Variant: Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.
Source: http://quoteinvestigator.com/2013/09/03/success-final/
„Love begets courage, moderation creates abundance and humility generates power.“
— B.K.S. Iyengar, book Light on Yoga
Source: Light on Yoga
— Michel Foucault French philosopher 1926 - 1984
Truth, Power, Self : An Interview with Michel Foucault (25 October 1982)
„To look at something as though we had never seen it before requires great courage.“
— Henri Matisse French artist 1869 - 1954
„I will survive, Tracy thought. I face mine enemies naked, and my courage is my shield.“
— Sidney Sheldon, book If Tomorrow Comes
Source: If Tomorrow Comes
„It is stupidity rather than courage to refuse to recognize danger when it is close upon you.“
— Arthur Conan Doyle, book The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes
Source: The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes
„You cannot swim for new horizons until you have courage to lose sight of the shore.“
— William Faulkner American writer 1897 - 1962
„True courage is in facing danger when you are afraid…“
— L. Frank Baum, book The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
Source: The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900)
Context: There is no living thing that is not afraid when it faces danger. The true courage is in facing danger when you are afraid, and that kind of courage you have in plenty.
„It takes a lot of courage to show your dreams to someone else“
— Erma Bombeck When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left, and coul… 1927 - 1996
„Courage is the first of human qualities because it is the quality which guarantees the others.“
— Aristotle Classical Greek philosopher, student of Plato and founder of Western philosophy -384 - -321 BC
— Thomas Sankara President of Upper Volta 1949 - 1987
From 1985 interview with Swiss Journalist Jean-Philippe Rapp, translated from Sankara: Un nouveau pouvoir africain by Jean Ziegler. Lausanne, Switzerland: Editions Pierre-Marcel Favre, 1986. In Thomas Sankara Speaks: The Burkina Faso Revolution 1983-87. trans. Samantha Anderson. New York: Pathfinder, 1988. pp. 141-144.
— Adolf Hitler Führer and Reich Chancellor of Germany, Leader of the Nazi Party 1889 - 1945
Speech from the Sixth Nazi Party Congress, Nuremberg (September 8th, 1934), quoted in Hitler: speeches and proclamations, 1932-1945 - Volume 2 - Page 533 https://books.google.com/books?id=a9dVAAAAYAAJ&q=What+a+man+sacrifices+in+struggling+for+his+Volk,+a+woman+sacrifices+in+struggling+to+preserve+this+Volk+in+individual+cases&dq=What+a+man+sacrifices+in+struggling+for+his+Volk,+a+woman+sacrifices+in+struggling+to+preserve+this+Volk+in+individual+cases&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj8id_w8-TWAhXIRSYKHSn5CV0Q6AEILDAB
1930s
— Albert Einstein German-born physicist and founder of the theory of relativity 1879 - 1955
Attributed in “The Conflict Between Church And State In The Third Reich”, by S. Parkes Cadman, La Crosse Tribune and Leader-Press (28 October 1934), viewable online on p. 9 of the issue here http://newspaperarchive.com/us/wisconsin/la-crosse/la-crosse-tribune-and-leader-press/1934/10-28/ (double-click the page to zoom). The quote is preceded by “In this connection it is worth quoting in free translation a statement made by Professor Einstein last year to one of my colleagues who has been prominently identified with the Protestant church in its contacts with Germany.” [Emphasis added.] While based on something that Einstein said, Einstein himself stated that the quote was not an accurate record of his words or opinion. After the quote appeared in Time magazine (23 December 1940), p. 38 http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,765103,00.html, a minister in Harbor Springs, Michigan wrote to Einstein to check if the quote was real. Einstein wrote back “It is true that I made a statement which corresponds approximately with the text you quoted. I made this statement during the first years of the Nazi-Regime — much earlier than 1940 — and my expressions were a little more moderate.” (March 1943) http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/roadshow/archive/200706A19.html
In a later letter to Rev. Cornelius Greenway of Brooklyn, who asked if Einstein would write out the statement in his own hand, Einstein was more vehement in his repudiation of the statement (14 November 1950) http://books.google.com/books?id=T5R7JsRRtoIC&pg=PA94: <blockquote><p>The wording of the statement you have quoted is not my own. Shortly after Hitler came to power in Germany I had an oral conversation with a newspaper man about these matters. Since then my remarks have been elaborated and exaggerated nearly beyond recognition. I cannot in good conscience write down the statement you sent me as my own.</p><p> The matter is all the more embarrassing to me because I, like yourself, I am predominantly critical concerning the activities, and especially the political activities, through history of the official clergy. Thus, my former statement, even if reduced to my actual words (which I do not remember in detail) gives a wrong impression of my general attitude.</p></blockquote>
: In his original statement Einstein was probably referring to the actions of the Emergency Covenant of Pastors organized by Martin Niemöller, and the Confessing Church which he and other prominent churchmen such as Karl Barth and Dietrich Bonhoeffer established in opposition to Nazi policies.
: Einstein also made some scathingly negative comments about the behavior of the Church under the Nazi regime (and its behavior towards Jews throughout history) in a 1943 conversation with William Hermanns recorded in Hermanns' book Einstein and the Poet (1983). On p. 63 http://books.google.com/books?id=QXCyjj6T5ZUC&lpg=PP1&pg=PA63#v=onepage&q&f=false Hermanns records him saying "Never in history has violence been so widespread as in Nazi Germany. The concentration camps make the actions of Ghengis Khan look like child's play. But what makes me shudder is that the Church is silent. One doesn't need to be a prophet to say, 'The Catholic Church will pay for this silence.' Dr. Hermanns, you will live to see that there is moral law in the universe. . . .There are cosmic laws, Dr. Hermanns. They cannot be bribed by prayers or incense. What an insult to the principles of creation. But remember, that for God a thousand years is a day. This power maneuver of the Church, these Concordats through the centuries with worldly powers . . . the Church has to pay for it. We live now in a scientific age and in a psychological age. You are a sociologist, aren't you? You know what the Herdenmenschen (men of herd mentality) can do when they are organized and have a leader, especially if he is a spokesmen for the Church. I do not say that the unspeakable crimes of the Church for 2000 years had always the blessings of the Vatican, but it vaccinated its believers with the idea: We have the true God, and the Jews have crucified Him. The Church sowed hate instead of love, though the Ten Commandments state: Thou shalt not kill." And then on p. 64 http://books.google.com/books?id=QXCyjj6T5ZUC&lpg=PP1&pg=PA64#v=onepage&q&f=false: "I'm not a Communist but I can well understand why they destroyed the Church in Russia. All the wrongs come home, as the proverb says. The Church will pay for its dealings with Hitler, and Germany, too." And on p. 65 http://books.google.com/books?id=QXCyjj6T5ZUC&lpg=PP1&pg=PA65#v=onepage&q&f=false: "I don't like to implant in youth the Church's doctrine of a personal God, because that Church has behaved so inhumanely in the past 2000 years. The fear of punishment makes the people march. Consider the hate the Church manifested against the Jews and then against the Muslims, the Crusades with their crimes, the burning stakes of the Inquisition, the tacit consent of Hitler's actions while the Jews and the Poles dug their own graves and were slaughtered. And Hitler is said to have been an alter boy! The truly religious man has no fear of life and no fear of death—and certainly no blind faith; his faith must be in his conscience. . . . I am therefore against all organized religion. Too often in history, men have followed the cry of battle rather than the cry of truth." When Hermanns asked him "Isn't it only human to move along the line of least resistance?", Einstein responded "Yes. It is indeed human, as proved by Cardinal Pacelli, who was behind the Concordat with Hitler. Since when can one make a pact with Christ and Satan at the same time? And he is now the Pope! The moment I hear the word 'religion', my hair stands on end. The Church has always sold itself to those in power, and agreed to any bargain in return for immunity. It would have been fine if the spirit of religion had guided the Church; instead, the Church determined the spirit of religion. Churchmen through the ages have fought political and institutional corruption very little, so long as their own sanctity and church property were preserved."
Misattributed
— Jack Welch American executive: General Electric CEO 1935
Source: Jack: Straight from the Gut (2001), Ch. 24.
— Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum Emirati politician 1949
Inspirational Quotes to lighten our load, http://neuralorganizationtherapy.com/Inspirational_Quotes.html, Neural Organization Therapy
— Vincent Van Gogh Dutch post-Impressionist painter (1853-1890) 1853 - 1890
Letter to Theo van Gogh. The Hague, Thursday, 29 December 1881. p. 83; as cited in Dear Theo: the Autobiography of Vincent Van Gogh (1995), edited by Irving Stone and Jean Stone -
1880s, 1881
Context: I feel a certain calm. There is safety in the midst of danger. What would life be if we had no courage to attempt anything? It will be a hard pull for me; the tide rises high, almost to the lips and perhaps higher still, how can I know? But I shall fight my battle, and sell my life dearly, and try to win and get the best of it.
— John Green, book Looking for Alaska
Miles "Pudge" Halter about Alaska Young, p. 88
Looking for Alaska (2005)
„One cannot fight an enemy if one does not even have the courage to identify him.“
— David Lane (white nationalist) American white supremacist, convicted felon 1938 - 2007
Crossing the Rubicon
Focus Fourteen
„The greatest test of courage on earth is to bear defeat without losing heart.“
— Robert G. Ingersoll Union United States Army officer 1833 - 1899
Variant: The greatest test of courage is to bear defeat without losing heart.
„Courage, Alexander,” she whispered.
“Courage, Tatiana.“
— Paullina Simons, book The Bronze Horseman
Source: The Bronze Horseman
— Christopher Paolini, book Eragon
Variant: Are you willing to die for what you believe in? The real courage is in living and suffering for what you believe.
Source: Eragon
„All you need is the plan, the road map, and the courage to press on to your destination.“
— Earl Nightingale American motivational speaker 1921 - 1989
„my courage always rises with every attempt to intimidate me.“
— Jane Austen, book Pride and Prejudice
Source: Pride and Prejudice
— Anne Frank victim of the Holocaust and author of a diary 1929 - 1945
Source: The Diary of a Young Girl
— John Milton, book Paradise Lost
Variant: All is not lost, the unconquerable will, and study of revenge, immortal hate, and the courage never to submit or yield.
Source: Paradise Lost
„Laughter rises out of tragedy when you need it the most, and rewards you for your courage.“
— Erma Bombeck When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left, and coul… 1927 - 1996
— Marianne Williamson American writer 1952
Source: A Return to Love: Reflections on the Principles of "A Course in Miracles"
„The best protection any woman can have… is courage.“
— Elizabeth Cady Stanton Suffragist and Women's Rights activist 1815 - 1902
— Benjamin Hoff, book The Tao of Pooh
Source: The Tao of Pooh
— Cormac McCarthy, book All the Pretty Horses
Variant: Long before morning I knew that what I was seeking to discover was a thing I'd always known. That all courage was a form of constancy. That it is always himself that the coward abandoned first. After this all other betrayals come easily.
Source: All the Pretty Horses
„Be courageous when the mind deceives you
Be courageous
In the final account only this is important“
— Zbigniew Herbert Polish writer 1924 - 1998
„We must be neither cowardly nor rash but courageous.“
— Aristotle Classical Greek philosopher, student of Plato and founder of Western philosophy -384 - -321 BC
„Let us go forth with fear and courage and rage to save the world.“
— Grace Paley American writer and activist 1922 - 2007
„I've found what makes children happy doesn't always prepare them to be courageous, engaged adults.“
— Brené Brown US writer and professor 1965
Source: Daring Greatly: How the Courage to Be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent, and Lead
„He's got courage," Alex said.
"Courage!" Raoul bellowed. "That coward almosthim and--“
— Tamora Pierce, book Alanna: The First Adventure
Source: Alanna: The First Adventure
„Courage is not having the strength to go on; it is going on when you don't have the strength.“
— Theodore Roosevelt American politician, 26th president of the United States 1858 - 1919
— T.S. Eliot 20th century English author 1888 - 1965
Source: The Use of Poetry and the Use of Criticism
„The courage to be is the courage to accept oneself, in spite of being unacceptable.“
— Paul Tillich German-American theologian and philosopher 1886 - 1965
„A team is where a boy can prove his courage on his own. A gang is where a coward goes to hide.“
— Mickey Mantle Professional baseball player 1931 - 1995
„… it takes great personal courage to let yourself appear weak.“
— David Foster Wallace, book Infinite Jest
Source: Infinite Jest
— Paulo Coelho, book The Devil and Miss Prym
Source: The Devil and Miss Prym [O Demônio e a srta Prym] (2000), p. x; this has also been misquoted as "A moment is more than enough time for us to decide whether or not to accept our destiny."
Context: When we least expect it, life sets us a challenge to test our courage and willingness to change; at such a moment, there is no point in pretending that nothing has happened or in saying that we are not ready. The challenge will not wait. Life does not look back. A week is more than enough time for us to decide whether or not to accept our destiny.
„But desperate people find courage.“
— Ken Follett, book The Pillars of the Earth
The Pillars of the Earth
— Dejan Stojanovic poet, writer, and businessman 1959
Siren http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/siren-7/
From the poems written in English