A hero is no braver than an ordinary man, but he is brave five minutes longer.
Interpretation
Courage is not the absence of fear, but the willingness to endure it longer than others.
This quote suggests that what truly distinguishes a hero is not an innate bravery that makes them fearless, but rather their ability to confront fear and persevere even when others would falter. It highlights the value of persistence and the strength that comes from enduring challenging situations beyond what is typical.
In practice
Motivational speeches during leadership training sessions.
It is plain that there is no separate essence called courage, no cup or cell in the brain, no vessel in the heart containing drops or atoms that make or give this virtue; but it is the right or healthy state of every man, when he is free to do that which is constitutional to him to do.
Few people have any next, they live from hand to mouth without a plan, and are always at the end of their line.
Men cease to interest us when we find their limitations
Tis the good reader that makes the good book; a good head cannot read amiss: in every book he finds passages which seem confidences or asides hidden from all else and unmistakeably meant for his ear.
The world belongs to the energetic.
Hast thou named all the birds without a gun?
I miss singing every day. I can't sing anymore. My voice doesn't work. I have Parkinson's disease, and it sometimes takes my words away from me.
Let me alone: I have yet my legs and one arm. Tell the surgeon to make haste and his instruments. I know I must lose my right arm, so the sooner it's off the better.
To cowards what advice shall I offer? - nothing whatsoever have I to say.
Hong Kong people do not keep silent and I urge people around the world to keep their eyes on Hong Kong and the passion with which people are fighting for basic rights. We never give up and we will not be silenced.
They tell us, sir, that we are weak; unable to cope with so formidable an adversary. But when shall we be stronger? Will it be the next week, or the next year? Will it be when we are totally disarmed, and when a British guard shall be stationed in every house?
It takes courage, of course, to step out of the fray, as it takes courage to do anything that's necessary, whether tending to a loved one on her deathbed or turning away from that sugarcoated doughnut.
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