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Courage is Being Scared to Death But Saddling Up Anyway
“I Learned That Courage Was Not The Absence of Fear, But The Triumph Over It. The Brave Man Is Not He Who Does Not Feel Afraid, But He Who Conquers That Fear"
Great men and women throughout history have understood courage:
I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.”
– Nelson Mandela
Courage is being scared to death but saddling up anyway.
- John Wayne
Courage is doing what your afraid to do. There can be no courage unless you’re scared.
- Eddie Rickenbacker
Courage is fear holding on a minute longer.
- George Patton
Courage Is Contagious
Courage is also contagious. And studies show that even a single dissenter speaking their mind empowers others to think for themselves.
Here’s an example … of a navy sailor standing tall in the middle of last year’s Oakland tear gas attack holding the constitution and a veterans for peace flag … moments after Scott Olsen was hit in the head.
Here he is a couple of minutes before, standing with marine veteran Scott Olsen before Olsen was hit in the head and nearly killed by a projectile:
Whether you agree with Occupy or not, you have to admire his courage.
Here’s a more stunning example. This is the iconic picture of the brave protester facing down tanks in Tiananmen Square:
But this newly-surfaced image with a much wider view shows that he didn’t face 4 tanks … but scores of tanks:
And watch this incredible video of the man getting in front of the tank as it tries to maneuver around him, and then climbing on top of the tank:
His courage inspired people worldwide.
Courage is contagious.
Can you understand now why tyrants are so desperate to keep images of courage away from the general public … and instead to promote fear and cowardice?
Graphic by Anthony Freda: www.AnthonyFreda.com
The Secret to Courage … Love
There is a real misunderstanding of what it means to be courageous. In America, courage is often thought of as a testosterone-driven toughness. There’s nothing the matter with testosterone. Masculinity is a great thing. But many American men secretly fear that they don’t have sufficient testosterone to really be brave when the chips are down. Even those of us who think of ourselves as brave men usually only act like that when we know it is within the bounds of safety, within the limits of what we can handle.
We might jump into a bar room brawl to protect our buddy, but that’s because we know we’re only going to get knocked around a little bit — nothing but bruises that will go away in a little while. The stakes just aren’t that high.
But most American men secretly doubt whether they are macho enough to pull it off under fire. They may watch alot of action movies, and talk tough, and stand up when its not really dangerous (or when they clearly outgun the other guy), but they are secretly terrified that they don’t have quite enough backbone to pull it off against the big boys, such as tyrants.
I would argue that this view fundamentally misunderstands the nature of courage, and ensures that we will never have true courage when it counts.
By way of analogy, the word “discipline” comes from “disciple”. If you are a true “disciple” of an idea of a plan or a strategy or a religion, then you will stick to it and “have discipline” to reach your goal. It is not just a matter of willpower; it is also devotion to something bigger than ourselves.
Similarly, the word “courage” comes from the French “with heart”. Why does it have this root meaning? Because it takes heart to act bravely. That’s how my childhood Karate teacher used the word: when I was practicing with courage, power and focus, he would say “you have alot of heart today” (indeed, many old-school warriors use the phrase “fighting with heart” in that way).
If courage is acting “with heart”, we’ve lost heart. And without heart, we cannot face the truth.
So how do we regain our heart? Well, let’s start with what gets our hearts beating.
Remember that the mother bear is one of the fiercest animals of all. Just get between a mother bear and her cub and you’ll see what I mean. It is her love of her cub which gives her the heart to face any enemy when her cub is threatened. It is not her level of testosterone, but rather her love for her cub which makes her so fierce.
Just as discipline is more than just willpower, courage stems from something bigger than just cajones. In fact, the strongest courage comes from the love of something we care about, since our heart will sustain us even when the chips are really down and we are really up against a tyrant. As the ancient Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu said: “Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage. “
In addition, we’re no longer living in the old west. Individualism is very important in numerous ways, but we can only win against the tyrants as a team, as a community, as a nation. And only by opening our hearts to what matters will we be able to work together, to fight for all of our kids, and all of our freedom. Only then will we be able to put the crooks and the looters and the tyrants back in the box.
Do we care about our kids, our significant others, our parents, our friends? Do we care about the freedom to choose what we want, instead of having our “great leader” choose for us?
If not, what DO we care about? Because if that is where your heart is, that is what will give you courage.
I care too much about my kids and their future to be afraid. I care enough about them that it gets my heart beating, connects me to something bigger than myself, and that gives me courage, even when the chips are down.
Courage is an innate human quality. It is within each of us, waiting to reveal itself when we open our hearts. When we act with heart, by definition, we are courageous.
Humor Gives Perspective … So Laugh a Little
Humor is important, because it helps us laugh at – instead of giving into – our fears.
Wise people in cultures around the world have understood the power of humor to melt fear and to let people gain perspective on what is or isn’t really a threat.
See this for a great example of humor about the threat of terror
Fear Is Not a Christian Value
The vast majority of Americans who are Christians should remember that fear is not a Christian value.
Jesus repeatedly told his disciples and other people not to be afraid. For example, in the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus:
- Speaks these words to the disciples during a storm (14:27)
- To Peter, James and John during the Transfiguration (17:7)
- To the women outside the empty tomb (28:10)
- To the disciples he is about to send out to teach, preach and heal, he says, “Have no fear” of those who have called the master of the house Beelzebul and will surely also malign those of his household (10:25)
- “Do not be afraid,” Jesus says, reminding those he is sending out of the One whose eye is on the sparrow. “You are of more value than many sparrows” (10:31)
(In other sections of the Bible, Jesus said do not be afraid another 10 times.)
Jesus told his flock not to be afraid. Christians that succumb to fear are not following Christ’s teachings. Those of us who succumb to fear are following those who would manipulate – instead of free – us.
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Usually those of the "statist" condemning persuasion see both the sheeple and TPTB as "statist."
If you're correct about OWS being "statist," why were they mercilessly beaten down by that very system?
Mercilessly beaten down!? Like in the video above? Yeah, that was real hard to watch.
And yes, the sheeple and TPTB are statist.
George Washington
"The Occupy Wall Street and Tea Party movements both stood for the same basic things (before both were coopted by the powers-that-be)."
Are you claiming that the movement was co-opted or the individuals themselves?
Every movement has a core of true believers, and a shitload of hangers on trying to be cool.
OWS was more hangers on than Tea Party was.
In the end everyone elected by the Tea Party sold out.
That says a lot for their character as individuals.
For true co-option look at how the Buchanans were sent to destroy the Reform Party. Perot was a viable candidate even with his supposed meltdown. Ventura was elected.
That scared TPTB.
Thus the Buchanan scenario.
Good points. While you can compare OWS and the Tea Party and find common threads easily enough, the defining feature of OWS--non-hierarchical structure and refusal to align with established political parties, for better and worse--puts them in a different class, imo.
Not that the Dimocrats haven't tried, but in terms of independence (notions about Soros and the rest notwithstanding) they were clearly different, as demonstrated by the absence of candidates running under their banner. Very much unlike the Tea Party.
This was clearly a weakness in terms of electoral or other tangible impact, but those hippies seemed to understand something about the established system that the Tea Party only recently seemed to discover with their perceived betrayal by Rand Paul.
As to fear demonstrated by TPTB, there were tens of thousands of people arrested and beaten down by cops nationwide with no real sympathy (much less outrage) expressed by the Corporate Media or establishment politicians.
Unlike the Tea Party.
That's a pretty big "tell." It's what happens when you really threaten TPTB.
Van Jones is a radical marxist and spokesman for the occutards. That tells most people all they need to know.
Van Jones is a mediocre opportunist and operative of the Dimocrat Party. He didn't speak for OWS.
He tried to pretend he did. It was bogus. Likewise for Michael Moore, Richard Simmons and others.
Even Dylan Ratigan attempted to work them into his gig, but they would have none of it.
One problem for OWS was that they had no spokesman. Of course, when you see how far having spokesmen gets you with TPTB, maybe it really makes no difference.
You did not answer my question.
Have you personally or through an intermediary received money from a George Soros organization?
You like to present yourself as a really patriotic guy but you always go back to OWS which stands for violence.
You should join the Tea Party and work for the ouster of Big Government politicians through the ballot box.
This controlled opposition has allowed lawmakers to enact the necessary laws so that when the SHTF, there will be the capability of identifying individuals most apt to organize an assembly of people who are without food and housing to demand that the govt stop the spending, raises taxes, and explain why a 60 billion dollar highspeed rail is being showed down the throats of Californians when the state budget is cutting critical services.
You have not seen the footage obviously, livestreaming coverage gave us all an idea of who the participants in this OWS movement is. Many who are unemployed as a consequence of a bad economy. The rowdy were in the street before ows got there. Street gangs are not a myth, and if there is a party, they show up, and they are not carrying signs and singing songs.
25 million foreclosures since 2006, one-half of home equity disappeared in a nation that based its economy on the housing market (right after it was used as collateral for loans), 12,8 million unemployed (for longer than 6 mo) - oh, yeah...the govt should be worried. 16 trillion of debt, much of which the banking cartel own, is ever looming. Govt should be worried in a country "for, by and of the people."
Main Stream Media's lack of continual urgent updated coverage only adds to the inability to grasp the situation (that the middle and lower class Americans have been fleeced and are now being entirely left out of the equation, and the lower class may disintegrate).
You are wrong.
Consider the MSM response to JPM recent London losses and what has been offered by all parties.
1. whales will be whales
2. Jaime the gambler
3. it was a hedge
4. doubling down is a hedge
5. too few regulators
6. regulators asleep
7. regulators complicit
8. sophisticated insider trading theft by loss
These are all fine explanations and of course contain some truths. It would appear that overlooked in the chatter was the "why" of these bets. It is assumed that profit both personal and company, which of course aligns perfectly with our expectations, would explain JPM bets. Though I personally see sophisticated insider theft as the reason for the losses no one is exploring further the motivation of such destructive betting. Since it is no doubt accurate to attribute a high skill level and market knowledge to all involved from traders to regulators I submit we have witnessed desperate acts undertaken by terrified organizations.
Desperation. Pure and simple desperate trades by JPM fighting for its life trying to stave off bankruptcy that is the inevitable conclusion of this entire charade. Oh, they will once again be saved by a bailout they really don't need, but make no mistake JPM is desperate and bankrupt.
Desperation = imminent failure = bank run which of course is an opinion quite verboten in polite media.
Thank you for the thought provoking posts as always George.
Of course not ... I have not received a cent from Soros or any other wealthy individual or any group. I do not advocate violence.
GW...you do a good job here. You're writings are usually right on target.
Fogive the OWS-heads...they know not for what they are used. Stalin called them useful idiots.
Do you pay ZH to appear at the top of the page?
try analyzing content
"The typical OWS protester is a "Womens Studies" or "Sociology" or "Anthropology" loser that can't find a job in the real world because serious people think that he or she is a moron and incapable of their trust."
from the looks of it, you need practice
wow, where do you get your information from? Have you talked to many of them? I can't believe this post has more than 1 upvote... glad to see the majority are to the downside.
Yup.
The typical OWS protester is a "Womens Studies" or "Sociology" or "Anthropology" loser that can't find a job in the real world because serious people think that he or she is a moron and incapable of their trust.
They want a free tit to suck on because mommy will no longer support them.
Your thoughts?
+1 courage my ass. These people are sitting in front of a barricade of cops that don't pass the barricade.
Wow, that does bring to mind Audie Murphy and Alvin York.
That squid(sailor) is a disgrace. First of all, assuming he is active duty, he is using his uniform as a prop for political reasons. This violates the UCMJ which he swore an oath to abide. Second, he is wearing the latest fashion African hoop (or whatever) earing. This too violates the uniform regs he swore to abide.
If the kid wants to protest, he should take off his uniform and join the crowd, but don't use cheap theatrics to try and make your point.
And don't call it courage.
Tienenmen Square guy- courage.
Spoiled, over-entitled american brats protesting because they don't get their way- just spoiled american brats protesting to get their way.
Yeah, asshole, I will share my thoughts with you.
Do you know why that often times the crowd doesn't include the rest of us at the marches or assemblies or protests? Because whoever schedules the events must take weekends off. We have had a 3 day weekend, a perfect time for a rally but not a word from the ows FB page.
The events are announced at the last minute, an anniversary date of some kind that happens to always be on a weekday so those of us who do work, or have appointments or must travel, or have to find babysitters don't have the necessary time to get away for a one day even unless you are right in the city and are very organized.
No, the events are announced far enough in advance for the law enforcement officials to be prepared but not far enough in advance so that people in outlying areas can get to the event. Small town events get no coverage. The one spontaneous event that happened when Mr. Scott Olsen was injuried drew tens of thousands of people --- and these same people would attend an ows event if it were on a Sat or Sun or better yet, a 3 day weekend. You'd see families in attendance, including grandparents, then.
This is a maneuver, I believe. I see a march on Washington in the works for November, a Monday. Again, this is a work day, a school day, appointments, business. Expect young unemployed people to show up for the most part because we dare not take a day off work.
In other words;
"I'm too busy working FOR the system to protest it".
Get real. Admit that you're pathetic.
Did the Thai protestors worry about all that crap you just said? Those people LIVED at the protest site with their families.
Keep making excuses weekend warrior.
Spot on. But what else would you expect from a duplicitous neo-Trotskyite whose claim to "fame" is fatuous drivel interspersed between YouTube clips?
keep using trite allegories - they provide a deep and complex impression
Claiming "Liberty" absolutely legitimizes any belief or action, it would appear.
Good faith debate is futile because the mutual tolerance and respect required is impossible to establish.
I don't think you can even define "liberty". Want to give it a shot?
Since so much bullshit is covered up by liars using the right words, I can't see that it's the meaning of the words that is important.
In fact, it's irrelevant. Surely you can see that in people who use the "wrong" words, like the communists who long for a worker's paradise? What could be so bad about that . . . for workers?
People who are claiming "Liberty" appear to be as blindly self-righteous as Stalin, who also had a great idea.
The beauty of it is they take pride in it. Was it conveniently a Founding Father who exclaimed "Fanatacism in the pursuit of Liberty is not a vice!"
Liberty is the absence of coercion.
And so I was proven right, again.
Can you define "fascism"?
Perfect love casteth out all fear.
That guy at Tienanmen,is what Courage is about,and what this world lack of!
A man/woman,who stands by his/hers beives,of values in life,beyound economics,cares for others,not their wealth,cares for others even it means suffer for him/her.
Courage is not to shoot somebody in the head, at a Distance of five kilometers,or sit in a central command center and drone whoever,mostly innocents,for what ever reason, given by a commander,who dont care about who dies.
Cowards,is the one who obey,without thinking,machine mind reaction,i think its called i layman terms,a damn goood soldier,who always ends up dead,and rest in the line of croses.
Courage is the builder,balancing at a beam hundred feet above ground to weld,even driven by the greed of others,like the guy cleaning their windows so they can se down at the massdrive,hanging in two lines and a platform:
One can use a lot of famos peoples words,but the real heros,a the litle man trying every day,to give his/hers family a dissent life,knowing the Sharks is takeing the better part of his/hers sweat.
Libety,it lives in the mind,if the mind is free,liberty is the feeling,that gives strenght,to cary on,against all ods.
And love,the big question,is when you bend down to the poor guy/girl who sits without direction or future,and gives what ever you can spear,to ease at the least,and these few things is what the world(humans ) has lost,if we ever had it:Hope?is that it will come to anyone:Fredoom,is the frend of all this:Words,my own,straight from the heart,to everyone it concern:If i as an atteist,should use a frase from the book of scrable,it must be:
Thy shall not kill,and if you dont follow this,you didnt even understand your own religion,might take an other:Love thy neighbor??????If ,i say if,these two were followed,this world would look a lot differnt,thats all!
And G.W:Courage is writing what you meen,ill respect that so;All Respect to you!
George,
God bless you and yours, my friend.
Those of the Unholy Alliance of "leadership" impose their will by cowadice and force,
because they fear and lack competence; They are the Poor,
for Poverty is the Signature of Failure; It is from the Hearts of man
that civilzation is built. This is the Royale Science from Ancient Egypt.
"All that needs to be said, has been said."
http://tinyurl.com/cqfj44u
A link to an interesting post that you might like GW. The thought behind it is very similar to your post. A shift in the matrix?
"We’re weary and we’re discouraged, but it will accomplish nothing to allow fear’s whisper that we cannot break through this density, that ignorance will prevail and humankind implode long before we can stop this assault on democracy."
"We need every open heart to speak its truth, every willing citizen to perform acts of courage and activism and provide encouragement to a world standing at a crossroads in history."
http://planetwaves.net/pagetwo/by-judith-gayle-2/get-a-grip-america/#more-58010
Not to derail your intent, but this quote from that article is something I've been trying to express convincingly for so long.
"...unable (and largely unwilling) to hold Wall Street accountable for criminal misdeeds, we are holding Main Street responsible for asking too big a share of what’s left."
This is the problem. Stop the madness.
For an occutard sympathizer to use the pseudonym "George Washington" is rather insulting. Occupy Pyongyang, doofus. And take Alex Jones with you.
Alex Jones is a great man.
Criticizing GW on one of his own posts while knowing the history of his followers ...
Now, THAT'S courage.
Maybe it's just me, I haven't seen GWs bio, but I don't get the impression from his contrived lectures that he knows the first thing about courage.
At least GW has the courage to create. May I suggest some Rollo May from the 70s as an instructional guide?
I don't know who wrote this, but it's pretty good. I've taken the liberty of adding #11 in relation to GW.
1. Only in America could politicians talk about the greed of the rich at a $40,000 a plate campaign fund raising event.
2. Only in America could people claim that the government still discriminates against black Americans when we have a black President, a black Attorney General, and roughly 18% of the federal workforce is black. 12% of the population is black.
3. Only in America could we have had the two people most responsible for our tax code, Timothy Geithner, the head of the Treasury Department and Charles Rangel, who once ran the Ways and Means Committee, BOTH turn out to be tax dodgers who are in favor of higher taxes.
4. Only in America can we have terrorists kill people in the name of Allah and have the media primarily react by fretting that Muslims might be harmed by the backlash.
5. Only in America would we make people who want to legally become American citizens wait for years in their home countries and pay tens of thousands of dollars for the privilege while we discuss letting anyone who sneaks into the country illegally just become American citizens.
6. Only in America could the people who believe in balancing the budget and sticking by the country’s Constitution be thought of as”extremists.”
7. Only in America could you need to present a driver’s license to cash a check or buy alcohol, but not to vote.
8. Only in America could people demand the government investigate whether oil companies are gouging the public because the price of gas went up when the return on equity invested in a major U.S. oil company (Marathon Oil) is less than half of a company making tennis shoes (Nike).
9. Only in America could the government collect more tax dollars from the people than any nation in recorded history, still spend a trillion dollars more than it has per year for total spending of $7 million PER MINUTE, and complain that it doesn’t have nearly enough money.
10. Only in America could the rich people who pay 86% of all income taxes be accused of not paying their “fair share” by people who don’t pay any income taxes at all.
11. Only in America could an anonymous Leftist sympathizer assume the name of a Founding Father and become branded as a Top 40 Conservative Blog (GW is #39 ahead of such Fox-Doofus, right leaning "luminaries" like Sean Hannity and Bill O'Reilly http://deathby1000papercuts.com/dbkpreport/ ), because said Leftist Sympathizer routinely paid money to be a "featured" writer on a high-ranking blog about capital markets...while lecturing anonymously about courage(!)...only to receive praise for his (or her?) courage simply because he (or she?) wrote about courage...evidently his (or her?) risk being that the anonymous Leftist Sympathizer might receive some negative comments or critical tweets.
+1
Best response of the day.
You will receive many down arrows from the "savvy(as George himself says)" readers of ZH.
You admit knowing nothing about the writer, call his words "contrived," and judge him on his "courage" --
all in one very short breath.
A courageous move?
I've read his "work"; it doesn't provide the impression that he's ever subdued fear with courage. That's an observation, not a judgement.
Will his next post be used to enlighten us regarding his own courageous travails?
Somehow I doubt it.
anyone who places Alex Jones and George on the same cargo ship needs the courage to improve their reading skills
Use the strawman fallacy much?
True. Telling people what they want to hear is not courage.
You know, if people really want to read about courage, David McCullough's "1776" is a good place to start.
What ever it takes to piss you off will be delivered without cessation.
I'm not sure how to interpret your comment. Are you saying that you and others will do what you can to shut FB down unless he conforms?
Actually, Tool, George Washington fought the status quo. He would have been hanged had he lost. I suggest you brush up on your history before making a fool of yourself again.
No, George Washington didn't fight against vague generalities like "the status quo". George Washington, along with the other founding fathers, fought for independence from an oppressive central government.
The occutards are fighting *for* an oppressive central government; typically in the name of "fairness", "fair shot", "green jobs", or whatever the superstition du jour happens to be.
Occupy Pyongyang, dummies.
whatever happened to "the enemy of my enemy"?
occupy is a lot of enraged people looking to take action who are under the direction of marxists while the majority sits slack jawed and drooling over US idol and Kim Cardoucian
At this moment, who is the most immediate threat to America, marxists on their hundred plan, or banksters who are destroying everything in their path right this moment?
If they are to be stopped, then by who? Team Red? perhaps Team Blue? they are both on the payroll. Or perhaps you and what army? well, here is an army. either find a way to work together and maybe accomplish something, or fling stones and call names and watch as Amerika either goes up on a foreclosure sale or turns into a fascist tyranny.
The greatest threats to America are those who attack morality, liberty, and prosperity from within. Off the top of my head, those would at least include Andrew Stern, Giorgy Schwartz, and Van Jones.
The liberties of the Constitution don't imply the freedom to attack it.