Quotes About Bravery

Persian envoy our arrows will black out the sun... Dienekes of the Spartans..Good, then we'll fight in the shade.

Fear conquers fear. This is how we Spartans do it, counterpoising to fear of death a greater fear: that of dishonor. Of exclusion from the pack.

Better to be in the arena getting stomped by the bulls, than to be up in the stands or out in the parking lot.

Do we have to stare death in the face to make us stand up and confront Resistance?

These scars on my body," Alexander declared, "were got for you, my brothers. Every wound, as you see, is in the front. Let that man stand forth from your ranks who has bled more than I, or endured more than I for your sake. Show him to me, and I will yield to your weariness and go home." Not a man came forward. Instead, a great cheer arose from the army. The men begged their king to forgive them for their want of spirit and pleaded with him only to lead them forward.

Because a warrior carries helmet and breastplate for his own protection, but his shield for the safety of the whole line.

fear doesn't go away.

Be brave, my heart [wrote the poet and mercenary Archilochus]. Plant your feet and square your shoulders to the enemy. Meet him among the man-killing spears. Hold your ground. In victory, do not brag; in defeat, do not weep. The ancients resisted innovation in warfare because they feared it would rob the struggle of honor. King Agis was shown a new catapult, which could shoot a killing dart 200 yards. When he saw this, he wept. "Alas," he said. "Valor is no more.

The Spartans do not ask how many are the enemy but where are they. —Plutarch Sayings of the Spartans

Be brave, my heart [wrote the poet and mercenary Archilochus]. Plant your feet and square your shoulders to the enemy. Meet him among the man-killing spears. Hold your ground. In victory, do not brag; in defeat, do not weep.

It's only you and I, with our big brains and our tiny hearts, who doubt and overthink and hesitate.

Are you paralyzed with fear? That's a good sign. Fear is good. Like self-doubt, fear is an indicator. Fear tells us what we have to do. Remember our rule of thumb: The more scared we are of a work or calling, the more sure we can be that we have to do it.

And they knew that when battle came, he would take his place not safely in the rear, but in the front rank, at the hottest and most perilous spot on the field.

Leonidas's and Dienekes' quips draw the individual out of his private terror and yoke him to the group.

Crazy,' says Paddy Mayne, 'is our business.

When we experience panic, it means that we're about to cross a threshold. We're poised on the doorstep of a higher plane.

Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, magic, and power in it. Begin it now."   —W. H. Murray, The Scottish Himalayan Expedition

Leonidas began softly, his voice carrying in the dawn stillness, heard with ease by all. "Shall I tell you where I find this strength, friends? In the eyes of our sons in scarlet before us, yes. And in the countenances of their comrades who will follow in battles to come. But more than that, my heart finds courage from these, our women, who watch in tearless silence as we go.

Xerxes does not want your lives, sir," Tommie called. "Only your arms." Leonidas laughed. "Tell him to come and get them.

When we conceive an enterprise and commit to it in the face of our fears, something wonderful happens.

When we turn pro, we stop running from our fears. We turn around and face them.

Someone once asked the Spartan king Leonidas to identify the supreme warrior virtue from which all others flowed. He replied: Contempt for death. For us as artists, read failure. Contempt for failure is our cardinal virtue.

This is how we Spartans do it, counterpoising to fear of death a greater fear: that of dishonor. Of exclusion from the pack.

Courage is inseparable from love and leads to what may arguably be the noblest of all warrior virtues: selflessness.