He who despairs over an event is a coward, but he who holds hope for the human condition is a fool.
Albert Camus (1913 - 1960), The Rebel (1951)
I would rather be a coward than brave because people hurt you when you are brave.
E. M. Forster (1879 - 1970), as a small child
A coward turns away, but a brave man's choice is danger.
Euripides (484 BC - 406 BC), Iphigenia in Tauris, circa 412 B.C.
None but a coward dares to boast that he has never known fear.
Ferdinand Foch (1851 - 1929)
Patience has its limits. Take it too far, and it's cowardice1.
George Jackson (1941 - 1971)
A timid person is frightened before a danger, a coward during the time, and a courageous2 person afterward3.
Jean Paul Richter (1763 - 1825)
There are several good protections against temptations, but the surest is cowardice.
Mark Twain (1835 - 1910), Following the Equator (1897)
A brave man dies but once, a coward many times.
Native American Proverb
Many would be cowards if they had courage enough.
Thomas Fuller (1608 - 1661)
The real hero is always a hero by mistake; he dreams of being an honest coward like everybody else.
Umberto Eco (1932 - ), Travels in Hyperreality (Harcourt)
Cowardice asks: Is it safe? Expediency4 asks: Is it politic5? But Conscience asks: Is it right?
William Punshon
A thought which, quarter'd, hath but one part wisdom and ever three parts coward.
William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616), Hamlet, Act IV, sc. 4
Conscience does make cowards of us all, and thus the native hue6 of resolution is sicklied o'er with the pale cast of thought.
William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616), Hamlet, Act III, sc. 1
Cowards die many times before their deaths;
The valiant7 never taste of death but once.
William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616), "Julius Caesar", Act II Scene 2
Cowards die many times before their deaths;
The valiant never taste of death but once.
Of all the wonders that I yet have heard,
It seems to me most strange that men should fear;
Seeing that death, a necessary end,
Will come when it will come.
William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616), "Julius Caesar", Act 2 scene 2
Cowards die many times before their deaths; the valiant never taste of death but once.
William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616), Julius Caesar, Act II, sc. 2
