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Quotes About Courage

It was the old New York way of taking life without effusion of blood: the way of people who dreaded scandal more than disease, who placed decency above courage, and who considered that nothing was more ill-bred than scenes, except the behaviour of those who gave rise to them.
~ Edith Wharton
But in another moment she seemed to have descended from her womanly eminence to helpless and timorous girlhood; and he understood that her courage and initiative were all for others, and that she had none for herself. It was evident that the effort of speaking had been much greater than her studied composure betrayed, and that at his first word of reassurance she had dropped back into the usual, as a too adventurous child takes refuge in its mother's arms.
~ Edith Wharton
to be able to look life in the face: that's worth living in a garret for, isn't it?
~ Edith Wharton
he understood that her courage and initiative were all for others, and that she had none for herself. It was evident that the effort of speaking had been much greater than her studied composure betrayed, and that at his first word of reassurance she had dropped back into the usual, as a too-adventurous child takes refuge in its mother's arms.
~ Edith Wharton
It was the old New York way, of taking life 'without effusion of blood''; the way of people who dreaded scandal more than disease, who placed decency about courage, and who considered that nothing was more ill-bred than 'scenes,' except the behavior of those who gave rise to them.
~ Edith Wharton
She would not take more risks than she could help, and it was admiration, not love, that she wanted.
~ Edith Wharton
It was the old New York way of taking life "without effusion of blood": the way of people who dreaded scandal more than disease, who placed decency above courage, and who considered that nothing was more ill-bred than "scenes," except the behaviour of those who gave rise to them.
~ Edith Wharton
Courage is about the most useful thing in an artist's outfit.
~ Edith Wharton
Life is always a tightrope or a feather bed. Give me the tightrope.
~ Edith Wharton
He had to the full the courage of his lack of convictions.
~ Edith Wharton
We ought with reverence to approach that tremendous divinity, that loves courage, but commands counsel.
~ Edmund Burke
The elevation of mind to be derived from fear will never make a nation glorious.
~ Edmund Burke
Evil prevails if good people say nothing. -
~ Edmund Burke
timid piety, which utterly disqualifies for government;
~ Edmund Burke
All that is required for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.
~ Edmund Burke
We Americans have many grave problems to solve, many threatening evils to fight, and many deeds to do, if, as we hope and believe, we have the wisdom, the strength, and the courage and the virtue to do them. But we must face facts as they are. We must neither surrender ourselves to a foolish optimism, nor succumb to a timid and ignoble pessimism Ã¢â'¬Â¦ 
~ Edmund Morris
He castigates his habitual targets, "the dull, the feeble, and the timid good," and proclaims himself a strong man, careless of class, color, or party politics. "If I find a public servant who is dishonest, I will chop his head off if he is the highest Republican in this municipality!
~ Edmund Morris
We infinitely desire peace, and the surest way of obtaining it is to show that we are not afraid of war.
~ Edmund Morris
up to MacManus, who towered over him, he hissed, "I hear you are going to toss me in a blanket. By God! if you try anything like that, I'll kick you, I'll bite you, I'll kick you in the balls, I'll do anything to you—you'd better leave me alone." This speech had the desired effect.38
~ Edmund Morris
T]he one plain duty of every man is to face the future as he faces the present, regardless of what it may have in store for him, turning toward the light as he sees the light, to play his part manfully, as a man among men.
~ Edmund Morris
This would enable them to develop those noneconomic virtues—intelligence, unselfishness, courage, decency—which he loosely defined as "character." Character determined the worth of the individual, and "what is true of the individual is also true of the nation.
~ Edmund Morris
Black care," Roosevelt wrote, "rarely sits behind a rider whose pace is fast enough.
~ Edmund Morris
If she began by admitting defeat, then something was possible: sincerity, perhaps, or at least the avoidance of appearing ludicrous.
~ Edmund White
Being an old maid is like death by drowning, a really delightful sensation after you cease to struggle.
~ Edna Ferber