QuoteProject
If any man has left us for fear of Nero, I shall not account him a coward; but I shall hail as a philosopher any man who has been superior to this fear, and I shall teach him all I know.
Apollonius Of Tyana
ShareWTF𝕏

Interpretation

What this quote means

True courage is not the absence of fear, but the ability to overcome it.

In this quote, Apollonius of Tyana highlights the distinction between those who flee from fear and those who confront it. He argues that while escaping danger may not be seen as cowardice, true merit lies in the individual who rises above their fears, earning respect and wisdom in the process. This perspective sheds light on the essence of courage and philosophical thought.

Themes

CourageFearPhilosophyOvercomingStrength

In practice

Example use cases

During a motivational speech about resilience and facing adversity.

More from Apollonius Of Tyana

I delight to lodge in such temples as are not regularly kept closed. None of the gods reject me; they make me partner of their roof.
Apollonius Of TyanaRead
Just as an individual of pre-eminent worth transforms democracy into a monarchy of the best man, even so the rule of one man, if in all things it has an eye to the common welfare, is democracy.
Apollonius Of TyanaRead
A man must fortify himself and understand that a wise man who yields to laziness or anger or passion or love of drink, or who commits any other action prompted by impulse and inopportune, will probably find his fault condoned; but if he stoops to greed, he will not be pardoned, but render himself odious as a combination of all vices at once.
Apollonius Of TyanaRead
Never may a man prone to believe scandal be a despot or a popular leader! Under his guidance, democracy itself will be despotism.
Apollonius Of TyanaRead
If you have problems of conduct that are difficult and hard to settle, I will furnish you with solutions, for I not only know matters of practice and duty, but I even know them beforehand.
Apollonius Of TyanaRead
O ye gods, grant unto me to have little and to want nothing.
Apollonius Of TyanaRead

Similar quotes

If parents snicker at racial and gender jokes, another generation will pass on the poison adults still have not had the courage to snuff out.
Marian Wright EdelmanRead
There is no meeting of minds, no point of understanding with such terror. Just a choice: Defeat it or be defeated by it. And defeat it we must.
Tony BlairRead
Simply having the courage to say senseless things made me euphoric. I was free, with no need to seek or to give explanations for what I was doing. This freedom lifted me to the heavens - where greater love, one that forgives everything and never allows you to feel abandoned, once again enveloped me.
Paulo CoelhoRead
What people don't understand when you've already been a suicide and pulled through is that after the sadness comes fear: Where is my mind going with this? I don't want to die. I do not want to die. When you don't have so much control over your own thoughts, over the myriad voices in your head, you don't know where they could go.
Emma ForrestRead
We rarely get to prepare ourselves in meadows or on graveled walks; we do it on short notice in places without windows, hospital corridors, rooms like this lounge with its cracked plastic sofa and Cinzano ashtrays, where the cafe curtains cover blank concrete. In rooms like this, with so little time, we prepare our gestures, get them by heart so we can do them when we're frightened in the face of Doom.
Thomas HarrisRead
My goal is not getting hit and to knock the other guy out. Some people might complain because they want to see boxers beat up on each other, but you cannot last long in professional boxing if you take a lot of punches.
Wladimir KlitschkoRead

A little wisdom, now and then

Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.