Courage is the strength to stand up
When it's easier to fall down and lose hold.

It is the conviction to explore new horizons
When it's easier to believe what we've been told.

Courage is the desire to maintain our integrity
When it's easier to look the other way.

It is feeling happy and alive, and moving forward
When it's easier to feel sorry for ourselves and stay.

Courage is the will to shape our world
When it's easier to let someone else do it for us.

It is the recognition that none of us are perfect
When it's easier to criticize others and fuss.

Courage is the power to step forward and lead
When it's easier to follow the crowd; their pleas resound.

It is the spirit that places you on top of the mountain
When it's easier to never leave the ground.

The foundation of courage is solid,
The rock that doesn't roll.

Courage is the freedom
Of our mind, body, and soul!

~~ Author Unknown ~~

It takes courage

To refrain from gossip
When others delight in it,

To stand up for the absent person
Who is being abused.

It takes courage

To live honestly
Within your means,

And not dishonestly
On the means of others.

It takes courage

To be a real man or a true woman,

To hold fast to your ideals
When it causes you

To be looked upon
As strange and peculiar.

It takes courage

To be talked about,
And remain silent;

When a word would justify you
In the eyes of others,

But which you dare not speak
Because it would injure another.

It takes courage

To refuse to do something
That is wrong

Although everyone else
May be doing it

With attitudes as carefree
As a summer song.

It takes courage

To live according
To your own convictions,

To deny yourself
What you cannot afford.

To love your neighbor
As yourself!

~~ Author Unknown ~~

Courage

"Freedom is the sure possession of those alone who have the courage to defend it."

Presidential Courage:
Brave Leaders and How They Changed America 1789-1989