Quotes About Courage

proof that everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms—to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way.

If you want to stay alive, there is only one way: look fit for work. If you even limp, because, let us say, you have a small blister on your heel, and an SS man spots this, he will wave you aside and the next day you are sure to be gassed.

Pero a mí no me incumbe juzgar a los prisioneros que favorecían a su propia gente. ¿Quién se atrevería a arrojar la primera piedra contra aquel que favorece a sus amigos en unas circunstancias en que, tarde o temprano, la cuestión a ventilar era la vida o la muerte?Nadie debería juzgar, nadie, a no ser que con absoluta sinceridad, pudiera asegurar que, en una situación similar, actuaría de manera diferente.

even the helpless victim of a hopeless situation, facing a fate he cannot change, may rise above himself, may grow beyond himself, and by so doing change himself

La historia de ese libro es sorprendente y apasionante. Apareció por primera vez en 1946 con el título Ein Psychologe erlebt das Konzentrationslager (Un psicólogo en un campo de concentración).

El talante con el que un hombre acepta su ineludible destino y todo el sufrimiento que le acompaña, la forma en que carga con su cruz, le ofrece una singular oportunidad, incluso bajo las circunstancias más adversas, para dotar a su vida de un sentido más profundo.

We who lived in concentration camps can remember the men who walked through the huts comforting others, giving away their last piece of bread. They may have been few in number, but they offer sufficient proof that everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms—to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way. And

the incurable sufferer is given very little opportunity to be proud of his suffering and to consider it ennobling rather than degrading" so that "he is not only unhappy, but also ashamed of being unhappy.

One may demand heroism only of a single person and that is oneself.

As I once put it: "As a professor in two fields, neurology and psychiatry, I am fully aware of the extent to which man is subject to biological, psychological and sociological conditions. But in addition to being a professor in two fields I am a survivor of four camps —concentration camps, that is—and as such I also bear witness to the unexpected extent to which man is capable of defying and braving even the worst conditions conceivable."17

One of the prisoners, who on his arrival marched with a long column of new inmates from the station to the camp, told me later that he had felt as though he were marching at his own funeral. His life had seemed to him absolutely without future. He regarded it as over and done, as if he had already died.

la libertad interior puede elevar al hombre por encima de un destino adverso

When we spoke about attempts to give a man in camp mental courage, we said that he had to be shown something to look forward to in the future. He had to be reminded that life still waited for him, that a human being waited for his return.

I said that someone looks down on each us in difficult hours—a friend, a wife, somebody alive or dead, or a God—and he would not expect us to disappoint him. He would hope to find us suffering proudly—not miserably—knowing how to die.

I said that someone looks down on each of us in difficult hours — a friend, a wife, somebody alive or dead, or a God — and he would not expect us to disappoint him. He would hope to find us suffering proudly — not miserably — knowing how to die.

suffer unnecessarily is masochistic rather than heroic.

Therefore, it was necessary to face up to the full amount of suffering, trying to keep moments of weakness and furtive tears to a minimum. But there was no need to be ashamed of tears, for tears bore witness that a man had the greatest of courage, the courage to suffer. Only very few realized that.

The way in which a man accepts his fate and all the suffering it entails, the way in which he takes up his cross, gives him ample opportunity—even under the most difficult circumstances—to add a deeper meaning to his life.

I was horrified, but this was just as well, because step by step we had to become accustomed to a terrible and immense horror.

The prisoner of Auschwitz, in the first phase of shock, did not fear death. Even the gas chambers lost their horrors for him after the first few days—after all, they spared him the act of committing suicide.

but even one such example is sufficient proof that man's inner strength may raise him above his outward fate.

El hombre es ese ser capaz de inventar las cámaras de gas de Auschwitz, pero también es el ser que ha entrado en esas mismas cámaras con la cabeza erguida y el Padrenuestro o el Shemá Israel en los labios.

there was no need to be ashamed of tears, for tears bore witness that a man had the greatest of courage, the courage to suffer.

Para hacerse imitable no se precisa esconder algún suceso oscuro o denigrante, pero sí resulta necesario percibir el ángulo frágil de su entereza...