Take Courage

Wealth lost-something lost; Honor lost-much lost; Courage lost-all lost.

~ Old German proverb

It takes courage To refrain from gossip when others about you delight in it. To stand up for an absent person who is being abused. To live honestly within your means and not dishonestly on the means of others. To be a real man, a true woman, by holding fast to your Christian ideals when it causes you to be looked upon as strange and peculiar. To be talked about and yet remain silent when a word would justify you in the yes of others, but which you cannot speak without injury to another. To refuse to do a thing which is wrong, though other do it. To dress according to you income and to deny yourself what you cannot afford to buy. To live always according to your convictions.

~ Anonymous

Wait and hope for and expect the Lord; be brave and of good courage and let your heart be stout and enduring. Yes, wait for and hope for and expect the Lord.

~ Psalm 27:14

I have told you these things, so that in Me you may have [perfect] peace and confidence. In the world you have tribulation and trials and distress and frustration; but be of good cheer [take courage; be confident, certain, undaunted]! For I have overcome the world. [I have deprived it of power to harm you and have conquered it for you.]

~ John 16:33

To Your Honor and Glory

God of our life, there are days when the burdens we carry chafe our shoulders and weigh us down; when the road seems dreary and endless, the skies grey and threatening; when our lives have no music in them, and our hearts are lonely, and our souls have lost their courage. Flood the path with light, run our eyes to where the skies are full of promise; tune our hearts to brave music; give us the sense of comradeship with heroes and saints of every age; and so quicken our spirits that we may be able to encourage the souls of all who journey with us on the road of life, to Your honour and glory.

~Augustine

Face it!

When you meet your antagonist, do everything in a mild and agreeable manner. Let your courage be as keen, but at the same time as polished, as your sword.

~ Richard Brinsley Sheridan

Courage is never to let your actions be influenced by your fears.  

~Arthur Koestler

He shall fare well who confronts circumstances aright.

~ Plutarch

Facing it-always facing it-that's the way to get through. Face it!

~ Joseph Conrad

Front Its Blows With Brave Hearts

Cowardice, as distinguished from panic, is almost always simply a lack of ability to suspend the functioning of the imagination.  

 ~Ernest Hemingway

A brave arm makes a short sword long. 

 ~Author Unknown

There is no such thing as bravery; only degrees of fear.  

~John Wainwright

Live as brave men; and if fortune is adverse, front its blows with brave hearts.

~ Cicero (106 BC - 43 BC)

Never give in--never, never, never, never, in nothing great or small, large or petty, never give in except to convictions of honour and good sense. Never yield to force; never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy.

                                                                                             ~ Sir Winston Churchill

Be Strong & Very Courageous

No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will not fail you or forsake you.

Be strong (confident) and of good courage, for you shall cause this people to inherit the land which I swore to their fathers to give them.
 
Only you be strong and very courageous, that you may do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you. Turn not from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may prosper wherever you go.
 
This Book of the Law shall not depart out of your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, that you may observe and do according to all that is written in it. For then you shall make your way prosperous, and then you shall deal wisely and have good success.
  
Have not I commanded you? Be strong, vigorous, and very courageous. Be not afraid, neither be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.

Joshua 1:5-9 (Amplified version)

Those who hope in God

have reason to be of good courage,

and let their hearts be strong,

for as nothing truly evil can befall them,

so nothing truly good for them shall be wanting to them. 

Matthew Henry

We can walk without fear, full of hope and courage and strength to do His will, waiting for the endless good which He is always giving as fast as He can get us able to take it in.

~ George Macdonald

The badge of courage does not require that we walk through something dangerous. It simply requires that we continue to share God's love whenever and wherever we are.

~ Tom White

Here I was worrying about my journey, while God was helping me all the way. I made me realize that I am very weak; my courage is only borrowed from Him, but, oh, the peace that flooded my soul... because I know that he never faileth. I would not, if I could, turn back now, because I believe that God is going to reveal Himself in a wonderful way.

~ Gladys Aylward

I choose patience... I will overlook the inconveniences of the world. Instead of cursing the one who takes my place, I'll invite him to do so. Rather than complaining that the wait is too long, I will thank God for a moment to pray. Instead of clinching my fist at new assignments, I will face them with joy and courage.

~ Max Lucado

Not to Be Shaken

 Do your worst, 

                  I am a Christian. 

              

 Christ is my help and supporter, 

                               

       and thus armed I will never serve your gods 

                         nor do I fear your authority 

                                     or that of your master, the Emperor. 

                                                    

       Commence your torments as soon as you please, 

and make use of every means that your malignity can invent, 

                and you shall find in the end that 

                   

I am not to be shaken from my resolution.

 -Andronicus, Christian martyr

Courage Does Not Equal Fearlessness

Courage is reckoned the greatest of all virtues; because, unless a man has that virtue, he has no security for preserving any other. 

~ Samuel Johnson

Keep your fears to yourself, but share your courage with others.

~Robert Louis Stevenson

Courage is almost a contradiction in terms.  It means a strong desire to live taking the form of readiness to die.  

~G.K. Chesterton

Courage is doing what you're afraid to do. There can be no courage unless you're scared.

~ Eddie Rickenbacker

"I'll Try Again Tomorrow"

Courage is the discovery that you may not win, and trying when you know you can lose.

~Tom Krause

If we're growing, we're always going to be out of our comfort zone.

~John Maxwell

Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgement that something else is more important than fear. 

 ~Ambrose Redmoon

Courage doesn't always roar.  Sometimes courage is the little voice at the end of the day that says, "I'll try again tomorrow."

~Mary Anne Radmacher

Daring Greatly

It is not the critic who counts;
not the man who points out how the strong man stumbled
or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. 
The credit belongs to the man 
who is actually in the arena, 
whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood;
who strives valiantly;
who errs and comes short again and again;
who knows great enthusiasms,
the great devotions; 
who spends himself in a worthy cause; 
who at the best, knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, 
and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while 
DARING GREATLY
so that his place shall never be
with those timid souls
who know neither victory or defeat.

~ Theodore Roosevelt

Daring to Fall

“Come to the edge.”

“We can't. We're afraid.”
“Come to the edge.”
“We can't. We will fall!”
“Come to the edge.” 
 And they came.
 And he pushed them. 
 And they flew.

 ~ Guillaume Apollinaire,   1880-1918

Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgement that something else is more important than fear.  

~Ambrose Redmoon

Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go.    

~ T. S. Eliot

Remembering Our Brothers and Sisters in Chains...

We do not value as we ought our inestimable privilege of being allowed to worship God. We do not prize our heavenly prerogative of being permitted to keep His commandments. We look at that as an obligation which is more properly a boon.

 ~ Frederick W. Faber

A Piece of Courage

The Lord redeemeth the souls of his servants: and none that trust in him, shall perish.

~ Psalm 34:22

Aslan's instructions always work, there are no exceptions.

~ Puddleglum Marshwiggle

(as quoted by C.S. Lewis)

The true follower of Christ will not ask, "If I embrace this truth, what will it cost me?" Rather he will say, "This is truth. God help me to walk in it, let come what may!"

~ A. W. Tozer