People say to me all the time, 'You have no fear.' I tell them, 'No, that's not true. I'm scared all the time. You have to have fear in order to have courage. I'm a courageous person because I'm a scared person.'
Interpretation
Courage involves acknowledging fear and acting despite it, not the absence of fear.
This quote emphasizes that fear is a natural part of the human experience and that true courage arises when one faces and overcomes that fear. Ronda Rousey highlights the importance of recognizing one's fear, suggesting that it is through fear that one finds the strength and determination to act courageously, thus redefining the traditional notion of bravery as a lack of fear.
In practice
In a motivational speech about facing challenges.
When I was in school, martial arts made you a dork, and I became self-conscious that I was too masculine. I was a 16-year-old girl with ringworm and cauliflower ears. People made fun of my arms and called me 'Miss Man.' It wasn't until I got older that I realized: These people are idiots. I'm fabulous.
I never really liked weightlifting because there is no problem solving, whereas when I am fighting, I am trying to solve a problem, so I don't think about being tired. I box, wrestle, do jujitsu, run up sand dunes; every single day is something different so that I am mentally engaged. That's what makes me want to train longer.
When I looked at the state of women's MMA, what I saw was that it was missing rivalries or anything theatrical about it. Everybody was trying to be Miss America, unwilling to go under any kind of criticism, and taking the safe answers. I thought I needed to do whatever I could to get attention.
A belt does nothing but hold your gi together. A belt has assigned significance, a belt is someone else saying you're good, you don't need other people saying that you're good in order to be good.
To other Canadians who are on journeys to defeat cancer and to live their lives, I say this: please don't be discouraged that my own journey hasn't gone as well as I had hoped. You must not lose your own hope.
First principle: never to let one's self be beaten down by persons or by events.
My friend Kurt Maix once described this diffidence as Fear's friendly sister, the right and necessary counterweight to that courage that urges men skyward, and protects them from self-destruction.
Burst down those closet doors once and for all, and stand up and start to fight.
I'm standing on a field full of landmines doing the moonwalk hoping i blow up in time
When there is oppression and dictatorship, by not speaking out, we lose our dignity.
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