Francois de La Rochefoucauld Quotes

Surrendering to fear and allowing ourselves to be paralyzed by peril isn't something most of us can afford to do.

One cannot answer for his courage when he has never been in danger.

When danger reared its ugly head, he bravely turned his tail and fled.

My father says that fear is good; it's the body's alarm system, it warns us of danger. But sometimes danger can't be avoided, and then you have to forget about being afraid.

You remember that I told you it was safer not to know. But,' he went on, as his hands moved wuth their sure and practiced motion, 'I will tell you just a little, because you were so very brave.' Brave?' Annemarie asked, surprised. 'No, I wasn't. I was very frightened.' You risked your life.' But I didn't even think about that! I was only thinking of-' He interrupted her,smiling. 'That's all that brave means-not thinking about the dangers. Just thinking about what you must do. Of course you were frightened. I was too, today. But you kept your mind on what you had to do. So did I.

I believe there is no other difference between those who are called courageous and those who are branded craven than that the second are fearful before the danger and the first after it. No one can be much frightened, certainly, during a period of great and immanent peril -- the mind is too much concentrated on the thing itself, and on the actions necessary to meet or avoid it. The coward is a coward, then, because he has brought his fear with him; persons we think cowardly will sometimes amaze us by their bravery, if they have had no forewarning of their danger.

Before putting yourself in peril, it is necessary to foresee and fear it; but when one is there, nothing remains but to despise it.

True courage is in facing danger when you are afraid.

Nearly every man is a coward, if confronted by the proper terror.

It's not because things are difficult that we dare not venture. It's because we dare not venture that they are difficult.

We walked to the brink and we looked it in the face.

A timid person is frightened before a danger, a coward during the time, and a courageous person afterward.

There's action only if there is danger.

Being brave means to know something is scary, difficult, and dangerous, and doing it anyway, because the possibility of winning the fight is worth the chance of losing it.

Considering how dangerous everything is, nothing is really very frightening.

The only thing I am afraid of is fear.

When we are afraid we ought not to occupy ourselves with endeavoring to prove that there is no danger, but in strengthening ourselves to go on in spite of the danger.

Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear - not absence of fear.

Cowardice, as distinguished from panic, is almost always simply a lack of ability to suspend the functioning of the imagination.

I have, indeed, no abhorrence of danger, except in its absolute effect - in terror.

I find it ironic that fear is eliminating the possibility to tell stories that depict our ability to overcome fear

Even the bravest men are frightened by sudden terrors.

Courage is not the lack of fear. It is acting in spite of it.

Now, don't be angry after you've been afraid. That's the worst kind of cowardice.