To see what is right and not to do it is want of courage.
Confucius (551–479 BC) was a Chinese teacher and civil servant whose teachings on duty, family and government shaped Chinese thought for more than two thousand years. He wrote no book himself; the Analects are a collection of his sayings compiled by his students after his death.
About this theme: Courage
Aristotle placed courage precisely between cowardice and recklessness, settling a confusion that still recurs. Courage is not the absence of fear — that would be insensibility, which is not a virtue but a failure of judgement. Courage is acting despite fear, and it assumes the fear is present and warranted.
More by Confucius
- It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop.
- Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.
- The man who moves a mountain begins by carrying away small stones.
- Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it.
- Real knowledge is to know the extent of one's ignorance.
More on Courage
- Fortune favors the bold.— Latin Proverb
- I am not afraid of storms, for I am learning how to sail my ship.— Louisa May Alcott
- No one knows what he can do till he tries.— Publilius Syrus
- Dare to know! Have the courage to use your own understanding.— Immanuel Kant
- Courage is knowing what not to fear.— Plato