True Courage: The Firm Resolve of Virtue and Reason against the Brutality

Have you encountered a situation where you have been scared but pulled off the event with your virtue and wisdom?

Well, everybody in life at least once goes through such type of situation. Whether to stand by your morals or be courageous enough to face adversities, we humans are in a dilemma.

But what do you understand by True Courage?

Courage originated from the Latin Cor, meaning “The heart”.

In simple words, courage can be defined as speaking honestly and acting with integrity, holding onto your virtues. It is more of a mental strength against physical bravery.

Here we will look upon how courage, with the firm resolve of virtue, stands against brutality.

“True courage is more a matter of intellect than of feeling.”
― Steve Pavlina

Table of Contents: hide

1) Being Vulnerable and yet Moving Ahead

2) True Courage in the History of Mankind

3) Be Courageous – Take a Risk

4) Physical or Moral Courage: Reason Against the Brutality

5) The Firm Resolve of Virtue being Ethical and Right

Being Vulnerable and yet Moving Ahead

The most dreaded thing for any human being is to be vulnerable. It is difficult to ask for help, admit you are at your lowest and expose yourself to potential threats.

We are not confident enough to be embraced for who and what we are. But why do we need anybody’s acceptance?

Our instinctive mode to either fight back or go into a shell defines how courageous we are.

Remember, it takes courage to be vulnerable; not everybody can do so. It’s great to keep our guard down and hold back the authenticity without keeping any barriers or shields.

True Courage in the History of Mankind

Whenever we go down the lane in history, two names pop up when we talk about courage: Mahatma Gandhi and Adolf Hitler.

Yes, as contrasting as it may sound, both ideologies were poles apart. Both of them are termed courageous but in two different aspects.

- Mahatma Gandhi had his ideologies with non-violence and truth as his weapon, whereas Hitler had all the means of violence in his approach. It takes courage to be on either end, but if we talk about true courage, then it strikes hard.
- Adolf Hitler was successful in his mission till the time he lost it, but Mahatma Gandhi lost it initially due to his own set of virtues but gained significant independence for India with his courage.

So it does not require an army to propagate courage, but a single man without being misled by his morals will never get influenced or be weak at heart.

Be Courageous – Take a Risk

People who want to jump into their careers take bold decisions and steps and have the courage to do so.

Imagine two candidates being offered a job role in a different country, but only one is ready to grab it.

The reason being the one who took it was ready to take a risk in his stagnant life and be courageous enough to move to another country, while the other was overpowered with fear of leaving loved ones and his country.

Thus true courage is like a testing point where you cannot achieve your goals without taking risks.

All the safe play would be the reason against brutality in your life which will hamper your own growth and success.

Physical or Moral Courage: Reason Against the Brutality

William Slim, a British military officer, categorised courage in two broad aspects- Physical and Moral Courage.

Physical courage requires strength to face physical danger like a war, overcoming a fire situation, robbery or a fight.

At the same time, moral courage requires the person’s intellectual and brain to move forward morally. It highly depends on the moral virtues of the person.

“Courage is not just one of the virtues but the form of every virtue at the testing point.”
― C.S. Lewis

Certain times we need to choose between Moral and Physical Courage. It’s in our hands to go with our values and be courageous.

So, whether we decide to go with it or not is in our hands. To act upon anything with integrity and without selfish intentions is called Moral Courage.

Imagine travelling in a local bus and seeing a goon trying to misbehave with a lady. As per your life’s values and virtues, you must take a stand against the goon and respect the lady, but that requires a lot of courage. In this situation, both physical and moral courage comes to play. But if your moral conscious is not allowing you to be courageous, physical courage would not be used.

The Firm Resolve of Virtue being Ethical and Right

Every human knows right and wrong, what is ethical and unethical and what can be done to resolve the issue. But does everybody do so?

The ones who can identify and act upon it are called courageous. This important virtue is the true courage that we need to work upon.

We are often left to make tough choices or decisions, but only courageous people will act, even if it is against their will.

Having a reason against brutality is not enough to claim for injustice; working on it and ensuring your moral actions have a positive impact is necessary.