Courage is knowing what not to fear

“Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.” — Winston Churchill

“Courage is simply doing whatever is needed in pursuit of the vision.” ― [@sengeFifthDisciplineArt2006]

“Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear - not absence of fear.” — Mark Twain

“Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the assessment that something else is more important than fear.” — Franklin D. Roosevelt

“Courage is feeling fear, not getting rid of fear, and taking action in the face of fear.” — Roy T. Bennett, The Light in the Heart

“Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one’s courage.” — Anaïs Nin

“The only courage that matters is the kind that gets you from one moment to the next.” — Mignon McLaughlin

“You cannot swim for new horizons until you have courage to lose sight of the shore.” — William Faulkner

“Courage is not simply one of the virtues but the form of every virtue at the testing point, which means at the point of highest reality. ” ― C.S. Lewis, The Screwtape Letters

“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 one 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. The amateur believes he must first overcome his fear; then he can do his work. The professional knows that fear can never be overcome.” ― Steven Pressfield, The War of Art

“If you are unsure of a course of action, do not attempt it. Your doubts and hesitations will infect your execution. Timidity is dangerous: Better to enter with boldness. Any mistakes you commit through audacity are easily corrected with more audacity. Everyone admires the bold; no one honors the timid.” ― Robert Greene, The 48 Laws of Power

“A coward dies a thousand times before his death; but the valiant taste of death but once.” — Julius Caesar


Courage is who you are when it’s inconvenient. When no one is watching. When the rewards are uncertain. When the outcomes are unpredictable.


因無所懼,而生其心。


Intelligence isn’t just about what you know. It is also the ability to avoid being your own bottleneck.

  • If you lack the skills, be willing to look foolish while you learn them.
  • If you lack the connections, be courageous enough to reach out and build them.
  • If you feel uncertain, be bold enough to figure it out along the way.

Many people have the ability, but they talk themselves out of trying.

Thanks for reading! If you found this page useful, consider buying me a coffee.
© 2025 Hua-Ming Huang · licensed under CC BY 4.0