A Quote by William Slim

Moral courage is higher and a rarer virtue than physical courage.

William Slim

Quote Topics

Courage Higher Moral Moral Courage Physical Physical Courage Rarer Than Virtue

Quote Author

William Slim
British - Soldier
August 6, 1891 - December 14, 1970

[Intellectual courage is] the quality that allows one to believe in one's judgement in the face of disappointment and widespread skepticism. Intellectual courage is even rarer than physical courage.

John Charles Polanyi

Everybody Moral courage is a virtue of higher cast and nobler origin than physical. It springs from a consciousness of virtue and renders a man, in the pursuit or defense of right, superior to the fear of reproach, opposition, or contempt.

Samuel Griswold Goodrich

Courage was America's watchword, but a courage of the body rather than of the soul - physical courage, not moral.

Mary Roberts Rinehart

I have reached the conclusion that those who have physical courage also have moral courage. Physical courage is a great test.

Oriana Fallaci

Common experience shows how much rarer is moral courage than physical bravery. A thousand men will march to the mouth of the cannon where one man will dare espouse an unpopular cause . . . True courage and manhood come from the consciousness of the right attitude toward the world, the faith in one's purpose, and the sufficiency of one's own approval as a justification for one's own acts.

Clarence Darrow

Moral courage, to me, is much more demanding than physical courage.

Leon L. Van Autreve

I learned that moral courage is harder than physical courage.

Tim O'Brien

Let us have the courage to defy the consensus, the courage to stand for principle. Courage, not compromise, brings the smile of God’s approval. Courage becomes a living and an attractive virtue when it is regarded not only as a willingness to die manfully, but also as a determination to live decently. A moral coward is one who is afraid to do what he thinks is right because others will disapprove or laugh. Remember that all men have their fears, but those who face their fears with dignity have courage as well.

Thomas S. Monson

Without courage, you cannot practice any other virtue. You have to have courage - courage of different kinds: first, intellectual courage, to sort out different values and make up your mind about which is the one which is right for you to follow. You have to have moral courage to stick up to that - no matter what comes in your way, no matter what the obstacle and the opposition is.

Indira Gandhi

It is a tragedy that we live in a world where physical courage is so common, and moral courage is so rare.

Claude Monet

It is curious that physical courage should be so common in the world and moral courage so rare.

Mark Twain

It seemed incredible to me, that physical courage should be so commonplace and revered, while moral courage . . . is so rare and despised.

Albert Schweitzer

It is a great thing to see physical courage, and greater still to see moral courage, but the greatest to see of all is spiritual courage; oh, to see a person who will stand true to the integrity of Jesus Christ no matter what he or she goes through!

Oswald Chambers

Successful or not, acts of physical courage always bring honor. It is the smaller forms of valor - standing up for principle at the risk of social disapproval, economic loss or injury to career - that require the greatest moral will power. Since there is usually little upside to winning and a significant and often lasting downside to losing, moral courage often requires as much character as physical bravery.

Michael Josephson

For the men and women of the FBI, bravery is reflected not only in the physical courage often necessary in the job. It can be seen in the courage of conviction, in the courage to act with wisdom in the face of fear, and in the courage it takes to admit mistakes and move forward.