40 Courageous Quotes

In moments of doubt and adversity, a few carefully chosen words can ignite our inner strength and propel us forward. Courage, that unwavering force pushing us to confront our fears and persevere, has been eloquently captured by thinkers, leaders, and visionaries throughout history. In this curated collection of the top 40 Courageous Quotes, you'll find timeless insights that inspire bravery and resilience. Whether you're seeking motivation for a personal challenge or a boost in your daily life, these powerful words will serve as a guiding light, encouraging you to face whatever comes your way with unwavering determination.

1. “I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand. It's when you know you're licked before you begin, but you begin anyway and see it through no matter what.” - Harper Lee

2. “God surely did not create us, and cause us to live, with the sole end of wishing always to die. I believe, in my heart, we were intended to prize life and enjoy it, so long as we retain it. Existence never was originally meant to be that useless, blank, pale, slow-trailing thing it often becomes to many, and is becoming to me, among the rest.” - Charlotte Brontë

3. “Courage is the price that life exacts for granting peace.” - Amelia Earhart

4. “Whatever course you decide upon there is always someone to tell you that you are wrong. There are always difficulties arising which tempt you to believe that your critics are right. To map out a course of action and follow it to an end requires....courage.” - Ralph Waldo Emerson

5. “Without fear there cannot be courage.” - Christopher Paolini

6. “Courage is fear that has said its prayers.” - Dorothy Bernard

7. “All happiness depends on courage and work.” - Honoré de Balzac

8. “Playing the part of a charitable soul was only for those who were afraid of taking a stand in life. It is always far easier to have faith in your own goodness than to confront others and fight for your rights. It is always easier to hear an insult and not retaliate than have the courage to fight back against someone stronger than yourself; we can always say we're not hurt by the stones others throw at us, and it's only at night - when we're alone and our wife or our husband or our school friend is asleep - that we can silently grieve over our own cowardice.” - Paulo Coelho

9. “Go back?" he thought. "No good at all! Go sideways? Impossible! Go forward? Only thing to do! On we go!" So up he got, and trotted along with his little sword held in front of him and one hand feeling the wall, and his heart all of a patter and a pitter.” - J.R.R. Tolkien

10. “I am not a courageous person by nature. I have simply discovered that, at certain key moments in this life, you must find courage in yourself, in order to move forward and live. It is like a muscle and it must be exercised, first a little, and then more and more. All the really exciting things possible during the course of a lifetime require a little more courage than we currently have. A deep breath and a leap.” - John Patrick Shanley

11. “Knowledge without courage is sterile.” - Balthasar Gracian

12. “Quests always have their ups and downs,' rumbled the giant. 'The point is never to give up, even if you're falling off a cliff. You never know what might happen on the way to the bottom.” - Nancy Farmer

13. “Courage is knowing what not to fear.” - Plato

14. “The secret of happiness is freedom, the secret of freedom is courage.” - Carrie Jones

15. “Sometimes, the things They say, the laws They make, the way the world spins doesn't make any sense at all...Which is exactly why you have to ask "Why?" and keep on asking until you get the TRUTH...” - Joe Kelly

16. “In these downbeat times, we need as much hope and courage as we do vision and analysis; we must accent the best of each other even as we point out the vicious effects of our racial divide and pernicious consequences of our maldistribution of wealth and power. We simply cannot enter the twenty-first century at each other's throats, even as we acknowledge the weighty forces of racism, patriarchy, economic inequality, homophobia, and ecological abuse on our necks. We are at a crucial crossroad in the history of this nation--and we either hang together by combating these forces that divide and degrade us or we hang separately. Do we have the intelligence, humor, imagination, courage, tolerance, love, respect, and will to meet the challenge? Time will tell. None of us alone can save the nation or world. But each of us can make a positive difference if we commit ourselves to do so.” - Cornel West

17. “Question.""Yes," Candace asked expectantly, eyes fixed on the dark street ahead."Have you ever had to chose sides between a friend and a boyfriend?"Candace nodded."Which side are you suppose to pick?""The right one.""What if they're both right?""They're not.""But they are," Melody insisted. "That's the problem.""No." Candace slowly rolled past a police cruiser. "They both think they're right. But who do you think is right? Which side represents the thing you think is worth fighting for?"Melody glanced out the window as though she was expecting the answer to be revealed on a neighbor's lawn. Every house except hers had the lights turned off. "I dunno.""You do," Candace insisted. "You just don't have the courage to be honest with yourself. Because then you'd have to do the thing you don't want to do, and you hate doing anything that's hard. Which is why you gave up singing and why you have no life and why you've always been a -""Um okay! Can we get back to the part where you were sounding like Oprah?""I'm just saying, Melly, what would you do if you weren't afraid? That's your answer. That's your side." She turned into the circular driveway and put the SUV in PARK. "And if you don't choose it, you're lying to yourself and everyone around you." She opened the door and grabbed her purse. "Oprah out!"The door slammed behind her.” - Lisi Harrison

18. “For my part, whatever anguish of spirit it may cost, I am willing to know the whole truth; to know the worst and to provide for it.” - Patrick Henry

19. “I lacked the courage to investigate the weaknesses of the wicked, because I discovered they are the same as the weaknesses of the saintly.” - Umberto Eco

20. “Nearly all men have weak hearts, in one way or another.” - Steven J. Carroll

21. “I am not sure I can.""Become sure," said the cat, his eyes flashing green in the firelight. "Once you leap on a boar's back, you can't sheath your claws.” - Erin Bow

22. “The world is before you, and you need not take it or leave it as it was when you came in.” - James Baldwin

23. “But there were worse things than disappointment, and I'd lived through several of them already.” - R.J. Anderson

24. “[at CMC West Coast 2011, on 1 Samuel 14] If just a few of you would step up and be like Jonathan ... as you step out in faith, you know what's going to happen? There'll be people like Saul who'll say, "God's doing something through that guy, God's doing something through that girl. I want to be a part of that.” - Francis Chan

25. “I cannot have a man who is afraid of everything, I don't have the time to soothe insecurities and fears, I cannot have a man who is standing on a stone by a creek, watching for the fish to swim by and every time he sees a fish he says "Oh look, this fish scares me, I wonder what this fish means, this fish might mean- this, or this fish might mean- that" for God's sake, they are just fish, and they don't mean anything! Such a sad thing, so many fine, strong men standing on top of little stones, pointing at fish all the time! Such a waste! Such a waste of time! I can only have a man who will leap into the water, not minding the damn fish and whatever other little things that scare him. I need to have someone who is braver than me; if I am a pirate, he has to be the pirate Captain, if I am a pirate Captain he has to be the flying dragon.” - C. JoyBell C.

26. “Then, in spite of everything, he began to smile. So much of his existence in Everlost had been full of despair. Despair, and a fear of losing what he had. But Allie was not lost, she was just there across the river, waiting for him to find her. Nick was not lost either--not entirely.It was then that Mikey McGill realized something. It must have been his sister who first called this place Everlost, because by naming it so, it stripped away all hope except for a faith in her, and the "safety" she could provide. Well, Mary was wrong on all counts, because nothing in Everlost was lost forever, if one had the courage to search for it.Mikey held tightly on to this shining truth as he and the golem sunk into the earth. Then with all the force of his heart, his mind, and his soul, Mikey McGill began to dig.” - Neal Shusterman

27. “Courage is stepping forward when all you can see is darkness.” - Toni Sorenson

28. “I'll get there, if I leave everything but my bones behind," said Sam. "And I'll carry Mr. Frodo up myself, if it breaks my back and heart.” - J.R.R. Tolkien

29. “Every great day has a story and a song!” - Faith Reese Martin

30. “If a man isn't willing to take some risk for his opinions, either his opinions are no good or he's no good” - Ezra Pound

31. “You cannot wish for happiness but you can work towards your life goals and create lasting happiness.” - Dr Roopleen

32. “To turn your dreams into reality, all your resources, efforts and concentration should be aligned in the same direction.” - Dr Roopleen

33. “It's about risking everything. Putting your heart on the line, even when you don't know what's going to happen. It's risking having the person you love rip it out and stomp all over it in public.” - Susan Mallery

34. “​Courage is a virtue appreciated in a male but considered a defect in our gender. Bold women are a threat to a world that is badly out of balance, in favor of men.” - Isabel Allende

35. “Here and there and not just in books we catch glimpses of a world of once upon a time and they lived happily ever after, of a world where there is a wizard to give courage and a heart, an angel with a white stone that has written on it our true and secret name, and it is so easy to dismiss it all that it is hardly worth bothering to do. ... But if the world of the fairy tale and our glimpses of it here and there are only a dream, they are one of the most haunting and powerful dreams that the world has ever dreamed...” - Frederick Buechner

36. “There's no alternative to being yourself. Accept it, honour it, value it - and get on with it.” - Rasheed Ogunlaru

37. “Courage is an angel which makes the difference between a good life and a great life.” - Kate Reed

38. “It's not about having an absence of fear, it's about having dominance over it.” - Steve Maraboli

39. “You will find that people will always have opinions about your decisions. Don’t take it personally, it’s simply because they're not courageous enough to take action in their own lives. Be a leader in your life and pay no mind to those who lack the courage to do the same in theirs.” - Steve Maraboli

40. “People don't stop being bullies when they grow up. They just dress differently to fool you.” - Patti Digh