Theme

Courage philosophy quotes

Courage is the virtue of facing fear without abandoning judgment—central to ethics from Aristotle to modern existential resolve.

Why this theme matters

Philosophers ask whether courage is fearlessness or right action amid fear, and how it relates to recklessness, endurance, and moral courage in public life.

In the history of philosophy

Greek andreia, Confucian and martial ethics, Stoic endurance, and civil-disobedience traditions all refine the concept.

Thinkers in this collection

Socrates , Seneca , Immanuel Kant , Ralph Waldo Emerson , Bertrand Russell , Confucius , Paul Tillich , Søren Kierkegaard

Frequently asked questions

What is courage in philosophy?

Typically a mean between cowardice and rashness: persevering for worthy ends despite fear.

Is moral courage different from physical courage?

Many ethicists distinguish facing bodily danger from risking status, career, or approval for a principle.

Where are philosophy quotes about courage?

This theme gathers English passages on bravery, fear, and steadfastness.

  1. It is worse to do injustice than to suffer it.
  2. It is not because things are difficult that we do not dare; it is because we do not dare that they are difficult.
  3. He who has learned how to die has unlearned how to be a slave.
  4. Dare to know! Have the courage to use your own understanding!
  5. Trust thyself: every heart vibrates to that iron string.
  6. A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds.
  7. Fear is the main source of superstition, and one of the main sources of cruelty. To conquer fear is the beginning of wisdom.
  8. The Master said: When you have faults, do not fear to correct them.
  9. The courage to be is the courage to accept oneself as accepted in spite of being unacceptable.
  10. The Master said: The wise are not perplexed; the humane are not anxious; the brave are not afraid.
  11. To dare is to lose one’s footing momentarily. Not to dare is to lose oneself.
  12. Courage is the self-affirmation of being in spite of the fact of nonbeing.