Courage Vs Moral Courage

All throughout history there have been many courageous people. There were people that stood up for what they believed in when no one else was, there were people that did the unthinkable, there were people that did the impossible, and many other great things. This all depends, though, on how a person defines courage. Courage, to me, is doing something that no one else would ever think about doing. To me, that person was Corporal Desmond Doss. He stood up for what he believed in, he did the unthinkable, and he did what no one else would ever dream of doing.

“Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.” ~ Winston Churchill. This quote defines what it is to be courageous, to be courageous is to persevere even if you know you will fail. This kind of courage is the courage which both Harold Crick in Stranger Than Fiction and Jean Louise “Scout” Finch in To Kill A Mockingbird. In Stranger Than Fiction, an IRS agent, Harold Crick, with a monotonous life learns that you must not only survive, but you must truly live. This lesson is taught through a series of events that lead to his breaking out of his shell and truly living his life. The events are preliminarily put into action through Harold hearing the voice of the author of a book about his life. In To Kill A Mockingbird, a tomboyish six-year-old, Jean Louise “Scout” Finch, discovers the true meaning of camaraderie and bravery. Her friendships are strong but her definition of courage is flawed. In the end, she realizes a great truth, that to really know someone, you have to imagine yourself in their shoes. Courage is important to these two characters, as they both discover what it really means to be brave and what the true definition of courage is. Courage is not always outspoken, sometimes courage is knowing that you will fail, but trying and failing anyway and then accepting your failure.

“Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear - not absence of fear.” - Mark Twain. To be courageous means being a risk-taker and standing up for what one believe in. One must not let fear stop them from overcoming an obstacle. Courage is the ability to act on one's beliefs despite the dangers or disapproval. Courage shows when one acts on their beliefs whether someone feels that it’s right or wrong. Being courageous means to have the ability to face a fear, pain, or a difficult challenge. It means to conquer fear. Three great examples of bravery and heroism was shown in the Civil Rights Movement by Rosa Parks, in World War 2 by the Monuments Men and Robert M. Edsel, and by former First Lady, Michelle Obama. Their involvement in the world set the bar for people on why having courage is important and what it means to me.

A courageous action most often is associated with reaching a goal or task of importance, despite the dangers even risks associated with it (“Courage”). For any specific act to be considered truly courageous it must be reasonably thought about and determined that the goal is well worth the risk or danger (“Courage”). Courage so often can be put with words such as heroic, and bravery although with courage there can be a fine line between courageous acts and plain foolishness. All this can make people believe that courage only applies to physical actions. There are two kinds of courage moral and physical in many cases they are both displayed in a single courageous act; however, bravery must come before all else, because they are associated with reaching a task of importance regardless of risk.

Many people act courageously everyday and, have been since humanity came to be. Proof of this bravery can be found in Elie Wiesel's Night: During the torturous time of the holocaust, while Elie was being escorted to another camp by cattle car; he describes the death of

Courage is not any ordinary feat. Courage is a battle won by the most ordinary or the most extraordinary of them all. People rarely see the faces of bravery and honor, but when they do, they see strong willed citizens with the everyday dream to prove that fighting isn’t just pointing a gun and pulling the trigger. In To Kill a Mockingbird, valor is implemented by standing tall when the weight of the world is on your shoulders; not backing down. In this novel, courage is displayed through the most quiet, the wisest, and the youngest characters.

Nowadays, courage is often hard to find. Self-benefit or protection is often the only intention of human beings. Many people choose to take the easy route, the route that guarantees their own protection. Yet like a needle in a haystack, there are people that put others before themselves and do what is right. These are the people that show one of the purest types of courage in this world.

Whether on scales large and small, bravery is presented everyday. The disregard of fear has repeated and will repeat many times in history. An example of this is the Tank Man. This man risked his welfare to stop a convoy of tanks by merely standing in their way. In the days prior, innocent men and women were slain in cold blood by the state. The morale of the protesters had fallen vastly due to the threat of death. As all faith was declining, this man singlehandedly stopped a tank convoy. With this he resented the heart and spirit of the protesters. Even after 100s slain and 1000s wounded, they continued to detest the states constant push for taking control. With no hope, one man stood up to just say he is tired or this abuse. This bravery

Tom Robinson is the epitome of bravery. He is the perfect example of a human with good morals and intentions. The quote “Simply because we were licked a hundred years before we started is no reason for us not to try to win” describes Tom’s mindset completely. He could have ran or fought back, but instead he was respectful and went through to the trial. He might have been found guilty by the jury, but Tom died as innocent as the day he was born. Bravery is defined as “the quality or state of having or showing mental or moral strength to face danger, fear, or difficulty”.

Throughout history , we find courage weaving itself into the souls of remarkable people. A Soldier shows courage by sacrificing his/her life for their comrades and their cause. The Merriam Webster Dictionary defines Courage as “the quality of mind and spirit as one has in the face of peril and fear”. Henry Fleming was naive, and a coward, but in the end, his mind and his spirit grew strong.

Only those who are brave and willing to face the worst are courageous enough to face fear. To go more in depth, finding someone who will sacrifice himself for the greater good of someone else is rare to find. These people are special and definitely don’t lack courage. Sergeant Dakota Meyer was an American soldier in 2009 deployed in Afghanistan. He is a true representation of courage and what it means to challenge your fears. Meyer put himself in harm’s way to save 36 people. “I didn’t think I was going to die. I knew I was.” Here Meyer was ready to die for his country. He wasn’t scared of anything. Meyer shows bravery in the heart of fear, but still performing under great pressure. He when back to save people five times, all times he was under fire. He got shot in the arm and kept on moving on. Through all the acts of courage and bravery Meyer didn’t do it to be a hero, nor to get the Medal of Honor, he did it because it was the right thing to do and those were his brothers. He was willing to die for his brothers and that shows how he wasn’t afraid of anything, he didn't care if he lived or died he only cared about the lives of others. Being fearless doesn’t have to be out on the battlefield though, also you don’t have to be an American soldier. In today’s society, coming out as gay is big as it takes a lot of courage and many hide and act as straight because they don’t have the courage to stand up to

Humans have come a long way from physical bravery to psychological bravery, but we still value the courage as a

In the novel “To Kill a Mockingbird” There are many demonstrations of courage. Harper Lee really seems to capture what the real idea of courage is in all of his characters, but there are a few who seem to stick out the most; Scout, Atticus, Jem, Boo, and Tom Robinson. In this paper I would like to touch base on most, if not all of these courageous characters.

We have all seen it in movies, the big muscle guy in a cape swopes down, and saves the day. May of us might think “wow he is so brave.” When talking about courage most people associate it with physical features. However, courage is defined, as an act of braver in a frightening situation. In the book, Beautiful Souls by Eyal Press, he shows that there is more to courage, than just physical features. The book shows how people test their limits. By risking their own lives to save those around them. All while disobeying stick laws that could lead to death.

Courage is a necessity to overcome fears and achieve a desired goal. Fear is something that exists in all of us. There is no hero or any particular courageous figure that is without fear. Being fearless is not required to be courageous, one simply has to look past or overcome their fears to possess this great quality. When overcoming fears and going against the norm, there are always risks involved. There are different types of risks that come about. Someone could risk life or limb, while others risk their reputation. Either risk is serious enough that a person must have courage to endure that particular risk. Courage can occur anytime, anywhere, and often in our everyday lives. Everyone will experience courage no matter how young,