The Courage to Differ Essay example

Many years ago during biblical times the Philistine lined up to fight Israel. A man standing over nine feet tall dressed in full armor came out of his camp every day to find a challenger. For forty days there was no one willing to challenge Goliath until David volunteered. David was a young teenager who wasn’t even a part of the war, but was delivering stuff to his brothers, so it took some convincing to the king to let him be the challenger. In 1 Samuel 17 more of the story is told. “45 David said to the Philistine, “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the LORD Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. 46 This day the LORD will deliver you into my hands, and I’ll

Stephen Ambrose’s Undaunted Courage is a remarkable piece of nonfiction literature. His work is so thorough that one wonders how he has time to do much more. Yet he has created time in his life to go west and go camping and hiking and canoeing in the summers with his family. Which possibly shows that anything can be raw material to the open mind, for it was on those trips that he developed a great fascination with the Lewis and Clark expedition that explored the West when the country was twenty-five years old. Ambrose creates a precise and true story of the expedition in witch most readers would be enthralled. His style is smooth, readable and enjoyable, unlike many historical nonfiction of the day.

Ordinary courage is a book that tells the story of an ordinary man who is inlisted in the continental army in the revolutionary war. Joseph Plumb Martin is the young man fighting in this war, at the time he entered he was just a mere 16 year old kid but by the time his time in the continental army was up he became a man. This is a first person memoir of what it was like for a regular person living in a war zone, and dealing with the everyday fears of food shortage, low morale, and danger of attack. This is something that many people in todays world could not handle because even some of the old guys in the

Lack of authority and diffidence is a major theme in the novel, “The Bomb” by Theodore Taylor. In this essay, I will write about this struggle that several of the main characters are confronted with throughout the story. One of the main characters in particular, Abram Makaoliej, is a strong activist against meekness and self-doubt. He encourages the rest of the village people of Bikini to stand for what they believe in, and he even delivers a message to me to never give up.

King David wrestled with sin, such as adultery, family disorder, and rebellion on a national level, however he also experienced great accomplishments as well. One great achievement was the unification of Israel. "Then all the tribes of Israel went to David at Hebron and told him, "We are all members of your family. For a long time, even while Saul was our King, you were the one who really led Israel. And the Lord has told you, "You will be the shepherd of my people Israel. You will be their leader" (2 Samuel 5:3). It is here that David makes a covenant with the leaders and becomes anointed as the

Moving forward, at the root of it all lies conformity. These separate roads are the difference between the majority versus the minority.

After defeating Goliath, whose head lies at David's feet, he rests his sword by his side. It seems almost impossible that such a young boy as David could have accomplished such a task. The look portrayed on David himself too seems doubtful of the deed, as he glances down towards Goliath?s head at his feet.

“The opposite of courage in our society is not cowardice, it is conformity.” This powerful quote comes from Rollo May, an American psychologist. This quote acts as a huge indicator as to how hard it is to break norms. Subsequently, it also reveals that society tends to reject or make it difficult for those who go against the grain. A few examples of society having adverse reactions to deviation can be found throughout the world.

In the story David and Goliath there is a great lesson to be learned. The story shows that you should never underestimate your opponent and be prepared for anything. David’s own intellect and knowledge of his own abilities enabled him to become the smaller, but stronger opponent. It all comes down to who is the better leader.

American psychologist, Rollo May, once said, “the opposite of courage in our society is not cowardice, it is conformity.” This philosophy is supported by Solomon E.Asch’s in his article, “The Opinions and Social Pressure.” In the article, Asch conducts a series of experiments that centralize on the influences of social pressure and the extent to which an individual, when confronted by the differing opinions of a majority, will surrender their perceptions to others. Asch argues that although humans believe they’re independent in their decision-making, they tend to pay heed to the majority because they fear the scrutiny of others and being an outcast in the group.

When we conform we belong, when we rebel we doubt. Two sides to the spectrum. Two paths to figure out. An hour, a minute, a split second… What path will you choose? Will you choose to take a risk and stand out? Or doubt yourself and conform to society’s norms? Or will you even have a choice.

King David is known as one of the greatest kings that ever lived. He started out as lowly Sheppard boy to become one of the greatest kings of biblical times. Before David became King of Israel he herded his father’s sheep with his life in the fields; and was said to have killed a lion and a bear protecting them. The Old Testament prophet Samuel anointed David to become King Israel while Saul was still the king of Israel; because Saul was the King that the people wanted and he disobeyed God. David raise to fame began with him stepping up to face the giant Philistine Goliath; when King Saul seems to be fear of the giant. Smith (1933) tell us that,

. Morris explains, “I believe it matters not where you and what you are going through. There is always a way out. All you have to do is keep looking for it.’’ Girt is a way to be successful, but it’s full of disappointing moments, we have to have hope and keep the hard working. Indeed, this is the only way to your goal to become accessible. In our way to become successes we have to consider the idea of accept things and change things. Like Mark Olmsted in his essay, “The Courage to Change the Things I Can” point out that, “I believe in picking up trash because it’s taught me that you can’t assume to know the difference between the things you most accept and things that you can change- you have to think about it.” Although we have to keep going

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,

Saul chased the Philistines away, and he was told that David was in the Desert of En Gedi. Then, he chose 3,000 men from all Israel and began looking for David and his men. Saul came to the sheep pens beside the road and he went into a cave and relieved himself there. David and his men were hiding far back in the same cave, and his men said “The Lord will give you enemy to you and you can do anything you want to him.” David crawled near Saul and cut off a corner of Saul’s robe, and Saul did not notice. David felt guilty, and said “May the Lord keep me from doing such thing to my master! I should not do anything against him because he is the Lord’s appointed king.” David did not let his men attack Saul. Then Saul left the cave and went his way.