Courage

we become brave by training ourselves to despise and endure terrors, and we shall be best able to endure terrors when we have become brave.

Thus Temperance and Courage are destroyed by excess and deficiency, and preserved by the observance of the mean.

Again some extremes show a certain likeness to the mean—for instance, Rashness resembles Courage, Prodigality Liberality, whereas the extremes display the greatest unlikeness to one another.

If justice, courage, temperance, and the other virtues are living creatures, how will they have one mind?

Justice and courage, if they are living creatures, are certainly terrestrial.

Teach me, not whether courage is a living creature, but that no living creature is happy without courage, unless it has grown strong against the strokes of chance and has, by pondering them, mastered beforehand every accident before it should befall.

Courage is the compliance of the irascible faculty with the rational faculty in advancing and in holding back, as sound judgement requires.

Courage is the virtue of the spirited part, by which they are hard to dismay by fears that concern death.

Accompanying courage are boldness, good spirit, confidence, daring, and also love of toil and endurance.

the virtues of the spirited part are gentleness and courage;

And again, the brave man throws himself into the battle though he knows his body will perish, seeking the thanks and the praise that accrue to him after his death.

For some, being by nature high-spirited, and then having nourished this without reason, rush irrationally upon most things and do deeds like those of the courageous, so that sometimes they achieve the same things—such as enduring tortures easily;

Nearly, then, in the gnostic, with knowledge the perfection of courage grows out of the joint discipline of life, since he has practised always to master the passions.

No one, then, who is irrationally courageous is gnostic;

All men would agree with me, I believe, that it is of the utmost importance for young men of your age to possess beauty in respect of person, self-discipline in respect of soul, and manliness in respect of both, and consistently to possess charm in respect of speech.

Believing also, as you do, that it is futile to desire the things most worth while, or yet to be physically endowed for all sorts of feats, unless the soul has been prepared for an ambitious career, at the very outset you exhibited diligence in the training grounds, nor in the real tests were you disappointing, but you gave extraordinary proof of the distinction of your natural gifts and particula …

Turning now to courage—for it will not do to omit this either, not because I would intimate that your character does not still admit of great development nor that the future will fail to furnish richer material for eulogy to those who wish to praise you, but rather that words of praise mean most at your age when to do no wrong is the best hope for other lads—your courage a man might extol on many …

For of all virtue, I say, and I repeat it, the beginning is understanding and the fulfillment is courage;

As for Courage and the other elements of virtue, I shrink from rehearsing the whole story, being on my guard for fear an untimely length shall attach to my speech, but such facts as it is worth while even for those who are familiar with them to recall to mind and most profitable for the inexperienced to hear, events of great power to inspire and calling for no tedious length of speech, these I sha …

For the mastery among the survivors is decided as the deity disposes, but that which each was in duty bound to contribute to this end, every man who has kept his post in battle has done.

Ares, exceeding in strength, chariot-rider, golden-helmed, doughty in heart, shield-bearer, Saviour of cities, harnessed in bronze, strong of arm, unwearying, mighty with the spear, O defence of Olympus, father of warlike Victory, ally of Themis, stern governor of the rebellious, leader of righteous men, sceptred King of manliness, who whirl your fiery sphere among the planets in their sevenfold c …

Shed down a kindly ray from above upon my life, and strength of war, that I may be able to drive away bitter cowardice from my head and crush down the deceitful impulses of my soul.

While praise is due to Athens for her policy, for choosing as she did a course not only ranking with her past achievements but even surpassing them in pride and honor, and to the fallen also for their gallantry in battle, for proving worthy of their forbears’ valor, to Leosthenes the general it is doubly due;

For no campaign has better shown the courage of the soldiers than this last, when they had daily to be arrayed for combat, to fight, on but one expedition, more battles than the combats which any soldier of the past endured, and face extreme severities of weather and many hard privations in the daily needs of life with an endurance almost beyond description.

Noble indeed beyond our dreams was the courage these men attained, honorable and magnificent the choice they made.

For while in times past we fought that we might have dominion over the other states, now we must fight that we ourselves may not be forced to do their bidding—which is proof of a free spirit, to preserve which no hardship on earth is too great to endure, not for us alone, but for all others as well who have not renounced every claim to manhood but still make even slight pretensions to courage.

Therefore those should not lack courage who are about to take up arms in a just cause, but far more those who are insolent and do not know how to bear their good fortune with moderation.

and thus it happens that men of a warlike temper obtain a more satisfactory peace than those who too readily come to terms.

Though many motives impelled me to abide by these principles, not the least incentive was that I saw that courage and cleverness and the other qualities which are held in high esteem are shared by many even among the base, whereas justice and temperance are the possessions of the good and noble alone.

Nevertheless, it is not fair to decry strength because there are persons who assault people whom they encounter, nor to traduce courage because there are those who slay men wantonly, nor in general to transfer to things the depravity of men, but rather to put the blame on the men themselves who misuse the good things, and who, by the very powers which might help their fellow-countrymen, endeavor to do them harm.

I am astonished that those who hold the view to which I have just referred do not rail also against wealth and strength and courage;

Then, Simmias, he continued, is not that which is called courage especially characteristic of philosophers?

for they fear that they may be deprived of certain pleasures which they desire, and so they refrain from some because they are under the sway of others.

I don’t know the musical modes, I said, but leave us that mode that would fittingly imitate the utterances and the accents of a brave man who is engaged in warfare or in any enforced business, and who, when he has failed, either meeting wounds or death or having fallen into some other mishap, in all these conditions confronts fortune with steadfast endurance and repels her strokes.

But any words or deeds of endurance in the face of all odds attributed to famous men are suitable for our youth to see represented and to hear, such as:

If they are to be brave, must we not extend our prescription to include also the sayings that will make them least likely to fear death?

nevertheless, we must quit ourselves like brave men as well as may be in these circumstances, and must not yield, but rather try to save ourselves by glorious victory if we can;

Again, whoever is desirous of saving his life, let him strive for victory;

We, then, taking to heart this lesson, so suited to the crisis which now confronts us, must be brave men ourselves and call forth bravery in our fellows.

never cease to bear in mind what you have just seen in this day’s battle, so that you may always judge in your own hearts whether courage is more likely to save men’s lives than running away, and whether it is easier for those to withdraw who wish to fight than for those who are unwilling, and what sort of pleasure victory brings;

and you Hyrcanians—for now I speak with you also as confederates and allies—you must know that we are in a position where we shall meet with nothing but disaster if we betray a lack of courage;

And if you would always keep this in mind, you would be more valiant men.

It follows that those who know how to deal well with terrors and dangers are courageous, and those who utterly mistake the way are cowards?

Then do you think that those who are good in the presence of terrors and dangers are courageous, and those who are bad are cowards?

So those who feel no fear of such things because they are ignorant of them are not courageous?