Courage: The Heart of All Virtues
Courage is the one thing that makes all other virtues possible. Without it, we can't consistently practice kindness, honesty, or love.
But what is courage, really? And why is it so important?
Courage Means Facing Fear
Courage comes from the same stem as the French word coeur, meaning “heart.”
Courage isn't about being fearless. It's about feeling scared and acting anyway. Imagine a superhero racing to save people from a collapsing bridge. She's just seconds away from saving the day, but doubts from her past suddenly flood her mind. Memories of failure and negative comments slow her down, and instead of acting, she gives up. This shows what happens when courage is missing.
Without it, even heroes can fail.
Courage is not to be confused with rashness. What might seem like courage may turn out to be simply a pretentiousness used to compensate for unconscious fear and to prove one’s hollow power.
The Power of Courage in Our Lives
Courage is the foundation for everything we do.
Courage is not simply one of the virtues, but the form of every virtue at the testing point, which means at the point of highest reality.
C.S. Lewis
Without courage, love becomes dependence, and honesty turns into conformity.
Courage is the most important of all the virtues, because without courage you can’t practice any other virtue consistently. You can practice any virtue erratically, but nothing consistently without courage.”
Maya Angelou
Maya Angelou emphasized that courage is the most important virtue because it allows us to consistently practice all other virtues.
The Courage to Create
Rollo May, a well-known psychologist, wrote about the importance of courage in creativity. He believed that creativity requires us to step into the unknown, take risks, and express our true selves. Without courage, we might hold back our ideas, fearing judgment or failure.
May also explored the concept of "learned helplessness," which happens when someone feels they have no control over their situation. In a famous study by Martin Seligman, two dogs were given electric shocks. One dog could stop the shocks, but the other couldn't. Later, when both dogs were put in a situation where they could escape the shocks, only the dog who had control before tried to escape. The other dog had learned to be helpless.
This study shows how important it is to feel we have control over our lives. But control alone isn't enough. May argues that while control is essential, it's not the most essential thing.
What really matters is having the courage to face challenges and push through difficulties.
If we do not express our original ideas or listen to our own being, we will have betrayed ourselves and our community. When we do not embody courage, we fail to contribute to the whole.
Wisdom in Facing the Unknown
Rollo May believed that courage is essential in times of change. We live in a world where things are constantly shifting—whether it's technology, relationships, or even our own beliefs. It takes courage to navigate this uncertain world and to keep moving forward even when we don't know what lies ahead.
May also discussed the paradox of courage: it's not about having no doubts but about acting despite them.
True courage allows us to embrace our doubts and move forward, knowing that truth is always more complex than it seems.
Social Courage
Courage isn't just about big, heroic acts. It also shows up in our relationships and how we interact with others. May described "social courage" as the ability to open up to others, to risk intimacy, and to be vulnerable. This courage is about being honest and authentic in our connections with people.
Social courage can also be “perceptual courage” because it depends on our capacity to perceive and let ourselves see other people's suffering. As a result, one of the most prevalent forms of cowardice in our day lies in the statement, “I did not want to become involved.”
According to Otto Rank, an Austrian psychoanalyst and one of Sigmund Freud's closest colleagues, social courage is challenging to embrace because it involves facing two distinct fears.
The first is known as "life fear." This fear stems from the anxiety of living independently, the fear of being abandoned, and the deep need to depend on someone else. It often leads us to immerse ourselves so completely in a relationship that we lose our identity, becoming only a reflection of the person we love. This dynamic eventually becomes unfulfilling for both partners. Rank notes that this fear of self-actualization was more common among women.
On the other hand, Rank identified the "death fear," which is the fear of being completely engulfed by another person, losing one's sense of self and autonomy, and having one's independence stripped away.
Physical Courage
Physical courage isn't just about being strong or brave in facing danger. As a psychoanalyst, May often encountered men who, as sensitive boys, struggled with the societal expectation to dominate others, leading them to feel like cowards throughout their lives.
May proposed that we need a new kind of physical courage that neither resorts to violence nor demands egocentric power over others. Instead, this courage should focus on cultivating sensitivity, empathy, and the ability to listen with our bodies. Nietzsche called this "learning to think with the body," where the body becomes a means of expressing beauty and empathy, not just a tool for physical strength.
May argued that in a society moving towards greater understanding and connection, the body should be valued as a source of justified pride, not condemned or used merely for exerting control. He believed that this new form of physical courage is essential for the compassionate society we need, where moral courage shines through our sensitivity to the suffering of others. This kind of courage reveres the innate worth of every human being, regardless of their background or beliefs.
The Paradox of Courage
People who believe their perspective is the only correct one can be dangerous. This kind of rigid certainty isn't just dogmatism; it's a form of fanaticism that shuts down the ability to learn and grow. This firm conviction is often a sign of unconscious doubt, leading the person to defend their stance even more aggressively to silence external opposition and internal uncertainties.
In contrast, it's much safer and healthier to have a leader who, like the rest of us, experiences doubts yet has the courage to move forward despite them. This kind of courage—acknowledging doubts while still making decisions—shows flexibility and openness to new truths.
Genuine commitment isn't about being free of doubt but staying committed even when doubts arise. Fully believing in something while also accepting that there might be more to learn is not a contradiction. Instead, it reflects a deep respect for the complexity of truth, recognizing that it always extends beyond what we can fully grasp at any given moment.
The Creative Act: A Struggle for Immortality
According to May, creativity is a battle with the gods—a struggle against the forces that try to keep us ordinary and conforming. This struggle requires immense courage because creativity involves pushing boundaries, breaking rules, and daring to be different.
The myth of Prometheus, who stole fire from the gods to give to humanity, is a powerful symbol of this creative courage. Prometheus was punished for his rebellion, but his defiance sparked civilization's growth. In the same way, artists and creators challenge the status quo, bringing new ideas and perspectives into the world.
Courage as the Path Forward
Courage is not just a single act of bravery. It's a way of living that underlies everything we do. Whether we're creating art, building relationships, or facing our fears, courage is the force that drives us forward. It's the heart of every virtue, the foundation of a meaningful life, and the key to navigating the challenges of our ever-changing world.
So, as we move through life, let's remember that courage is not about the absence of fear but about facing our fears head-on and taking action anyway.