Core Value - Courage

“Is he alone who has courage on his right hand and faith on his left hand?”

--Charles Lindbergh

“It takes a lot of courage to release the familiar and seemingly secure,

to embrace the new. But there is no real security in what is no longer

meaningful. There is more security in the adventurous and exciting,

for in movement there is life, and in change there is power.”

--Alan Cohen

Do you consider yourself a person of courage? Are you willing to give some cause in your life everything you have to give; your all? In earlier postings we examined our level of commitment to a variety of core values and beliefs. If one reflects on the investment of one’s inner resources required to adhere to our values and beliefs, it becomes profoundly evident that believing in, and standing firmly with, that which we totally believe to be true; worth dying for; worth living for! Courage as presented in this entry can be as subtle as it is bold, as sublime as it is extravagant, or as timeless as it is in the moment. Most of us have heard the old standby, “S/he had to work up the courage,” as if one has the luxury of time and forethought to work up the fortitude to face what awaits us. The courage this writer is referring to is more in line with that which Charles DuBois had in mind when he suggested, “The important thing is this: To be able at any moment to sacrifice what we are for what we could become.” Is that your idea of courage? Is there something you believe in so fervently that you are willing to let go with both hands and take the proverbial leap of faith; the faith Lindbergh attaches to courage? Discovering the true purpose of, and for, your life, and then going after it with all the gusto you can muster requires courage. But, this is one of those times that each of us must decide to take Frost’s “road less traveled by” or to feel safe and secure in taking the road of the mainstream; the road of least resistance. It is a choice that each of us must make, and it can make “all the difference.”

Each of us has an inner dream that we can unfold if we

will just have the courage to admit what it is.

And the faith to trust our own admission.

The admitting is often very difficult.

--Julia Cameron

Interestingly, for the majority of us, the greatest obstacle between us and courage is fear, fear that is subcutaneous, fear that chills the marrow of our bones. The very idea of facing “failure” in all of its many hypnotic, paralyzing, forms literally stops us in our tracks; to see a world of impossibilities rather than a world of possibilities. Risk becomes a four letter obscenity that blasphemes that which we believe to represent safety and security. Ridicule and criticism are seen as mountains more formidable than Everest or K2. Vertigo sets in before we take the first step, and becomes justification for embracing the mediocrity that shapes our lives, which paradoxically we will unwittingly, by fiat, defend with that life that fears risk-taking. In a speech given in Paris at the Sorbonne in 1910, Theodore Roosevelt spoke to the possible sacrifice that courage may require of us stating, “It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbled, or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes short again and again, who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, and spends himself in a worthy cause, who at best knows achievement and who at the worst if he fails at least fails while daring greatly so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.”

“Heroes to me are guys that sit in libraries.

They absorb knowledge and then the risks

they take are calculated on the basis of

the courage it took to become replete

with knowledge.”

--William Hurt

The writer realizes that there will be some among the readers who will dismiss Roosevelt as being one of bravado and braggadocio persuasion who sees courage as a testosterone-ravaged, male-hero, talisman charging into danger with abandon and guns blazing. Is that the point Roosevelt was actually trying to make, or is it more our perception of what he is saying based upon the commonly proffered legends of the man? To avoid such a misrepresentation of the meaning of courage, and to present a feminine perspective on the subject consider the words of Susan B. Anthony: “Cautious, careful people, always casting about to preserve their reputation and social standing, never can bring about a reform. Those who are really in earnest must be willing to be anything or nothing in the world's estimation, and publicly and privately, in season and out, avow their sympathy with despised and persecuted ideas and their advocates, and bear the consequences.” It is not the intent of the writer to discourage people from properly applying caution, where and when appropriate, to their lives. But, if caution becomes the credo of anyone unwilling to take risks, then its effect is debilitating rather than cautionary. Anne Dillard observed, “You can't test courage cautiously.” As Margaret Chase Smith believed, “Moral cowardice that keeps us from speaking our minds is as dangerous to this country as irresponsible talk. The right way is not always the popular and easy way. Standing for right when it is unpopular is a true test of moral character.” According to Dorothy Thompson, thoughts of courage will not suffice. Instead, the person must translate thought into action. She wrote, “You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You must do the thing which you think you cannot do.”

“Either life entails courage, or it ceases to be life.”

--E. M. Forster

Often rock climbers will find themselves in a challenging situation. They may even momentarily succumb to believing they have landed in the middle of the realm of impossibilities; no way up, no way down; no way out! However, once the wave of fearful emotions is cast ashore and retreats, clarity of purpose returns and the climber calculates the next move and dares to move forward. In a similar fashion, each of us finds ourself clinging to a wall of impossibilities from time to time. We become frightened, frozen in our tracks, unable to think clearly, and seeing no possible route that will lead us beyond this ledge of indecision. As with the climber, we must take a moment to allow the adrenaline to recede and our emotions to subside. Two basic choices avail themselves to us at this point. One, we can continue to cling to the wall of impossibility until we can no longer maintain our grip and then allow ourselves to free-fall into the oblivion of mediocrity. On the other hand, we accept the risk of that next step, and move onward toward our goal.

Accepting the second choice is so very crucial to those committed to achieving one’s life purpose; the reason for being. To this thought, Soren Kierkegaard wrote, “To dare is to lose one's footing momentarily. To not dare is to lose oneself.” Likewise, Gilbert K. Chesterton noted, “The paradox of courage is that a man must be a little careless of his life even in order to keep it.” None of us is certain what awaits us in the future, but if we don’t keep taking one step after another, we will never find out. Mignon McLaughlin wrote in The Neurotic's Notebook, “Courage can't see around corners, but goes around them anyway.” Similarly, Raymond Lindquist noted, “Courage is the power to let go of the familiar.”

“I learned that courage was not the absence of fear,

but the triumph over it.

The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid,

but he who conquers that fear.”

-- Nelson Mandela

Although not the exact opposite of courage, fear is essentially the counterbalance for those making tough choices; demonstrating courage. According to the author of Proverbs, “Fear and courage are brothers.” Too often one creates a false paradigm that portrays courage as the absence of fear. In the vast majority of cases, this is likely not the case. In fact, usually quite the opposite is true. As the World War I flying ace Edward Vernon Rickenbacker shared, “Courage is doing what you're afraid to do. There can be no courage unless you're scared.” Or, as John Wayne put it, “Courage is being scared to death... and saddling up anyway.” Fear, and being afraid, is a natural primeval instinct aimed at keeping the person alive in the presence of danger. But, fear does not have to be the paralyzing, depilating, force that many allow it to be. Arthur Koestler believed, “Courage is never to let your actions be influenced by your fears.” Instead, fear should heighten our senses, and put us more in tune with our environment, and help us to navigate around obstacles between us and our destination. Ambrose Redmoon reminds us, “Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgment that something else is more important than fear.” And for those unable, or not ready, to take a big leap of faith and move forward, courage is still important to keep one moving forward, even if we only inch-along toward our destination. Mignon McLaughlin wrote in The Second Neurotic's Notebook, “The only courage that matters is the kind that gets you from one moment to the next.” Along the same line of thought, Harriet Beecher Stowe wrote, “I long to accomplish great and noble tasks, but it is my chief duty to accomplish humble tasks as though they were great and noble. The world is moved along, not only by the mighty shoves of its heroes, but also by the aggregate of the tiny pushes of each honest worker.” Yes, sooner or later, we come to the realization that small things, small efforts, do make a difference. There are no small things!

“Courage easily finds its own eloquence.”

--Titus Maccius Plautus

No matter what is written here, there will still be those among the readers who scoff at the suggestions made thus far, and those yet to be offered. Claiming to be pragmatists and realists, skeptic and cynics, a plethora of reasons will be thrown down as a gauntlet of sorts to disclaim and disprove what they will portray as naiveté. All the better! As Buckminster Fuller declared, “Dare to be naive.” Some among us believe the world could use a good deal more naiveté! Without it we become stagnant, our creativity and genius shriveled and thwarted. Aristotle noted, “Without courage, wisdom bears no fruit.” And as Erich Fromm wrote, “Creativity requires the courage to let go of certainties.” We must allow ourselves to become open, yea even vulnerable, to the world of possibilities that awaits us. As individuals, and as a collective society, we must allow ourselves to be naïve enough to believe and have faith that something better awaits us in the future. But, we must let go of today, if we hope to experience tomorrow. We absolutely must! In the words of Lord Chesterfield, “Man cannot discover new oceans unless he has the courage to lose sight of the shore.” Walt Disney realized and understood this truth when he stated, “All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them.” Do you believe this? Can you believe this to be true? Is fear standing between you and your dream? Do you consider all of this vapid blandishment by some starry-eyed idealist? Indeed, this whole chapter may be nothing but the vacuous ranting of some misanthrope hoping to aid in the misery of human disappointment. Are you willing to risk that he isn’t? Clay Aiken related, “My mother taught me that we all have the power to achieve our dreams. What I lacked was the courage.”

"The courage to imagine the otherwise is our greatest resource,

adding color and suspense to all our life."

--Daniel J. Boorstin

C. S. Lewis wrote, “Courage is not simply one of the virtues, but the form of every virtue at the testing point.” To this notion, Maya Angelou added, “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.” The priority ranking the reader might wish to bestow upon courage is a personal choice. However, if one believes in the importance of values to, and in, a person’s life, there can be no getting around the importance of courage in the gestalt of human existence. Albert Camus observed, “Those who lack the courage will always find a philosophy to justify it.” If we lack courage in the moment, we must not allow ourselves to be condemned to a life of fear and discouragement. Instead, we must believe that overcoming fear and gaining courage is simply one more of the challenges we each must face in our individual and collective evolution. Hope is something we must cling to dearly. Hope is what helps us to inch our way around that wall of impossibilities. That hope was expressed by Maya Angelou when she stated, “One isn't necessarily born with courage, but one is born with potential.” Marian Wright Edelman, in her book The Trumpet of Conscience wrote, “If you lose hope, somehow you lose the vitality that keeps life 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.” Hope with conviction morphs into faith, and as Marcus Tullius Cicero observed, “A man of courage is also full of faith.”

“Take chances, make mistakes.That's how you grow.

Pain nourishes your courage.You have to fail in order

to practice being brave.”

--Mary Tyler Moore

So, we come back to the importance of courage in relation to the other virtues. Clare Boothe Luce suggested, “Courage is the ladder on which all the other virtues mount.” And, as Samuel Johnson acknowledged, “Courage is reckoned the greatest of all virtues; because, unless a man has that virtue, he has no security for preserving any other.” Michel de Montaigne added his perspective, “The strangest, most generous, and proudest of all virtues is true courage.” Yet, the question that must arise from all this acknowledgement of courage’s importance as a value is, “If courage is so important why does there seem to be a scarcity among the general masses?” This is a great question, and no small one to answer. Ralph Waldo Emerson addressed this question in his statement, “The test of courage comes when we are in the minority. The test of tolerance comes when we are in the majority.”

The test of courage frequently becomes even more difficult with those whom we share a greater intimacy. Theodore H. White acknowledged the challenge, writing, “To go against the dominant thinking of your friends, of most of the people you see every day, is perhaps the most difficult act of heroism you can perform.” Surprisingly, the person with courage, the hero, becomes the anti-hero in our society. On one hand the person of courage is admired, on the other s/he is despised. As Hermann Hesse observes, “People with courage and character always seem sinister to the rest.” At first such a perspective seems counter-intuitive. However, if we step back and examine social norms and tendencies it begins to make sense. Rollo May points out that, “The opposite of courage in our society is not cowardice, it is conformity.” Answer the question for yourself; is there pressure to conform in our society? Have you experienced such pressure yourself at any time in your life? Except for those of us who like to delude ourselves, the question is most certainly going to be answered with “yes.”

It takes a lot of courage to show your dreams to someone else.

--Erma Bombeck

In contemporary society, deviating from the norm is considered eccentricity. John Stuart Mill spoke to this when he stated, “The amount of eccentricity in a society has generally been proportional to the amount of genius, mental vigor, and moral courage it contained. That so few now dare to be eccentric marks the chief danger of the time.” The person of true courage, that which stands the trials and tribulations that daring to defy the “code of the flock” is sure to bring, is going to have to find the source of strength either in oneself, or a higher power. Speaking to the danger of seeking strength and courage in oneself through that of others, Ralph Waldo Emerson acknowledged, “Every man has his own courage, and is betrayed because he seeks in himself the courage of other persons.” True courage, courage that perseveres, that stands resolute in the face of adversity, comes from within, be it through one’s conscious and subconscious resources, or through connection to a higher source, call it God, or whatever aligns with your own personal belief system. Rollo May noted, “It requires greater courage to preserve inner freedom, to move on in one's inward journey into new realms, than to stand defiantly for outer freedom. It is often easier to play the martyr, as it is to be rash in battle.” As becomes apparent throughout the statements shared in the preceding lines, courage requires much of the person who chooses to pursue it. Everything worthwhile in life comes with an attached cost, and courage is no different. However, for the person who wants to find her purpose in life, to follow her vision, or accomplish her mission, to be what is referred to as being “successful,” sooner or later, will find herself in the cage with the creatures of discouragement. Orison Swett Marden wrote, “Success is not measured by what you accomplish, but by the opposition you have encountered, and the courage with which you have maintained the struggle against overwhelming odds.” Winston Churchill put courage in context to success when he remarked, “Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.” For the majority, extricating oneself from the call to conformity, paddling against the tide of mediocrity, is not worth the investment of personal resources required to do so. The status quo becomes the new gold standard, while entropy slowly works to wither our resolve to be different than the rest of the crowd. For those resolute to display courage in their lives, there is added a special quality to their existence; a beauty. William Congreve recognized this quality of courage when he wrote, “There is in true beauty, as in courage, something which narrow souls cannot dare to admire.”

“If you are lucky enough to find a way of life you love,

you have to find the courage to live it.”

--John Irving

Courage becomes one of the cornerstones to living a life of purpose and meaning. It provides us with the strength to keep on keeping on when the odds against our success seem too great. James Allen understood the foundational qualities of courage when he wrote, “Whether you be man or woman you will never do anything in this world without courage. It is the greatest quality of the mind next to honor.” Thomas S. Monson likewise recognized the importance of courage in a person’s life when he related, “The principles of living greatly include the capacity to face trouble with courage, disappointment with cheerfulness, and trial with humility.” And, as Plutarch acknowledged, “Courage consists not in hazarding without fear; but being resolutely minded in a just cause.” Becoming a person of substance, the person that your core cries out to become, is going to require the person to rally the forces within, and boldly strike out for the intended destination. Helen Keller realized the importance of courage in the life of a successful person. She believed, “With courage you will dare to take risks, have the strength to be compassionate, and the wisdom to be humble. Courage is the foundation of integrity.” As Confucius pointed out, “Wisdom, compassion, and courage are the three universally recognized moral qualities of men.” Alfred North Whitehead also realized the true value of courage to the person of purpose when he stated, “True courage is not the brutal force of vulgar heroes, but the firm resolve of virtue and reason.”

Perhaps it is time to do a reality check. Where do you want to go with your life? What do you hope to accomplish? How do you see courage impacting those decisions? Are you fearful of falling on your face or certain of landing on your feet? Hopefully, you have answered positively all the posed questions. Although often used in the form of a cliché, our outlook, either positive or negative, does have an impact on how things unfold. Think about it for a moment. Which is more reasonable, that one is more likely to experience courage when in a positive, or a negative, frame of mind? You make the decision. Nicholas Murray Butler was clear about the effect that attitude has on courage stating, “Optimism is the foundation of courage.” Tommy Douglas knew the value of a positive attitude as it applies to courage when he said, “Courage, my friends; 'tis not too late to build a better world.”

“If you could get up the courage to begin, you have the courage to succeed.”

--David Viscott

Douglas’ statement is a good segue into bringing all that has been said up to this point to a meaningful closure. Having courage is not enough. For it to have meaning for ourselves and others it must lead to some productive end. Dale Carnegie understood the importance of putting our ideas into action. He wrote, ‘Inaction breeds doubt and fear. Action breeds confidence and courage. If you want to conquer fear, do not sit home and think about it. Go out and get busy.” John F. Kennedy was quoted as saying, “Efforts and courage are not enough without purpose and direction.” And, often times, this means a direction contrary to supported by popular opinion. Albert Einstein applied this thinking in his statement, “Any intelligent fool can make things bigger and more complex... It takes a touch of genius - and a lot of courage to move in the opposite direction.” The idea of genius is believed an important aspect in our consideration of courage and all its facets. Henry Van Dyke observed, “Genius is talent set on fire by courage.”

Courage is not the blanched commodity of the foolhardy, but the seasoned staple of the wise. Joseph Epstein acknowledges the importance of application to setting when he suggested, “Courage is nine-tenths context. What is courageous in one setting can be foolhardy in another and even cowardly in a third.” Unless we get too contextual in our orientation, what has been acknowledged as courage heretofore in this paragraph is courage manifested in the world. Even more important is courage manifested within oneself. François, Duc de La Rochefoucauld wrote in Maxims back in 1678, “Perfect courage means doing unwitnessed what we would be capable of with the world looking on.” This notion of unwitnessed courage carries over in the writings of Karl Von Clausewitz: “Two qualities are indispensable: first, an intellect that, even in the darkest hour, retains some glimmerings of the inner light which leads to truth; and second, the courage to follow this faint light wherever it may lead.” Although courage can be a shared phenomenon, its greatest strength still appears to be manifested in the actions of individuals. As Robert Green Ingersoll pointed out, “It is a blessed thing that in every age someone has had the individuality enough and courage enough to stand by his own convictions.”

“Hope lies in dreams, in imagination, and in the courage

of those who dare to make dreams into reality.”

--Jonas Salk

With every entry into the Children’s Champion’s writings comes the question, “How does this apply to our interactions with children. Advocating for children requires great courage on the part of those who will take a stand for the rights and welfare of children. Courage is also one of the values we hope will become part of each child’s reality, not an anomaly. Mary McLeod Bethune observed, “We have a powerful potential in our youth, and we must have the courage to change old ideas and practices so that we may direct their power toward good ends.” In a world appearing geared toward mediocrity, being creative in our approach to helping children takes on risks of its own. Henri Matisse observed, “Creativity takes courage.” Yet it all goes back to our purpose, our mission, our reason for doing whatever it is that we are doing or feel driven to do. Margaret J. Wheatley ties it together stating, “Determination, energy, and courage appear spontaneously when we care deeply about something. We take risks that are unimaginable in any other context.” Or, as stated by Maxwell Maltz of Psycho-cybernetics acclaim, “We must have courage to bet on our ideas, to take the calculated risk, and to act. Everyday living requires courage if life is to be effective and bring happiness.” As caretakers of our children’s education and growth we cannot allow to happen that which Sydney Smith speaks to: “A great deal of talent is lost to the world for want of a little courage. Every day sends to their graves obscure men whose timidity prevented them from making a first effort.” We simply cannot allow that to become reality for our children!

“Real courage is when you know you're licked before you begin,

but you begin anyway and see it through no matter what.

--Harper Lee

“Courage is the capacity to confront what can be imagined.”

--Leo Rosten

“To me, there is no greater act of courage

than being the one who kisses first.”

--Janeane Garofalo