Cowardice Quotes - Page 16

• All around me is cowardice and deceit.

  Nicholas II of Russia

  Deceit

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• But, if we explore the literature of Heroism, we shall quickly come to Plutarch, who is its Doctor and historian. To him we owe the Brasidas, the Dion, the Epaminodas, the Scipio of old, and I must think we are more deeply indebted to him than to all the ancient writers. Each of his "Lives" is a refutation to the despondency and cowardice of our religious and political theorists. A wild courage, a Stoicism not of the schools, but of the blood, shines in every anecdote, and had given that book immense fame.

  Ralph Waldo Emerson

  Religious, Book, School

  Ralph Waldo Emerson (2000). “Selected Writings of Ralph Waldo Emerson: (A Modern Library E-Book)”, p.281, Modern Library

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• The coward wants resolution, which the brave man can do without. He recognizes no faith above a creed, thinking this straw by which he is moored does him good service, because his sheet anchor does not drag.

  Henry David Thoreau

  Faith, Men, Thinking

  Henry David Thoreau, Bradford Torrey, Franklin Benjamin Sanborn (1906). “Cape Cod and Miscellanies”

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• Cowardice is not a sign of belief in God.

  Mahatma Gandhi

  God, Belief, Belief In God

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• This surface good-nature which captivates a new acquaintance and is no bar to treachery, which knows no scruple and is never at fault for an excuse, which makes an outcry at the wound which it condones, is one of the most distinctive features of the journalist. This camaraderie (the word is a stroke of genius) corrodes the noblest minds; it eats into their pride like rust, kills the germ of great deeds, and lends a sanction to moral cowardice.

  Honore de Balzac

  Work, Pride, Mind

  "A Daughter of Eve". Book by Honoré de Balzac, 1839.

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• Between cowardice and despair, valour is gendred.

  John Donne

  Courage, Despair, Valour

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• It is better to be charged with cowardice and weakness than to be guilty of denial of our oath and sin against God.

  Mahatma Gandhi

  God, Weakness, Denial

  Mahatma Gandhi, Rudrangshu Mukherjee (1993). “The Penguin Gandhi Reader”, p.153, Penguin Books India

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• If you are black, the only roads into the mainland of American life are through subservience, cowardice, and loss of manhood. These are the white man's roads.

  Amiri Baraka

  Loss, Men, White Man

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• When will the state of the country be sound?... When its people believe that the end result of cowardice is more disastrous than that of behaving with integrity.

  Naguib Mahfouz

  Country, Integrity, Believe

  Naguib Mahfouz (2016). “Echoes of an Autobiography”, p.17, Anchor

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• Coercion created slavery, the cowardice of the slaves perpetuated it.

  Jean-Baptiste Rousseau

  Slavery, Coercion, Servitude

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• What if there are children who will suffer somehow because I failed to obey God? What if my cowardice costs even one child somewhere in the world his or her life?

  Richard Stearns

  Children, What If, Suffering

  Richard Stearns (2009). “The Hole in Our Gospel: What does God expect of Us? The Answer that Changed my Life and Might Just Change the World”, p.49, Thomas Nelson Inc

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• Despair and postponement are cowardice and defeat. Men were born to succeed, not to fail.

  Henry David Thoreau

  Procrastination, Men, Despair

  Henry David Thoreau, Odell Shepard (1961). “The Heart of Thoreau's Journals”, p.109, Courier Corporation

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• It needs fanatical faith to rationalize our cowardice.

  Eric Hoffer

  Needs, Rationalize

  Eric Hoffer (1980). “The True Believer”

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• Nonviolence and cowardice go ill together. True nonviolence is an impossibility without the possession of unadulterated fearlessness.

  Mahatma Gandhi

  Together, Possession, Ill

  Mahatma Gandhi (1980). “All Men are Brothers: Autobiographical Reflections”, p.92, A&C Black

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• To change one's religion under the threat of force is no conversion but rather cowardice.

  Mahatma Gandhi

  Religion, Force, Threat

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• For thousands to do to death a few hundreds is no bravery. It is worse than cowardice. It is unworthy of nationalism, of any religion.

  Mahatma Gandhi

  Bravery, Unworthy, Nationalism

  Mahatma Gandhi (1958). “Collected Works”

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• Cowardice is incompatible with divine wisdom.

  Mahatma Gandhi

  Divine Wisdom, Coward, Divine

  Mahatma Gandhi (1965). “None High: None Low”

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• I hate liberality - nine times out of ten it is cowardice, and the tenth time lack of principle.

  Henry Addington, 1st Viscount Sidmouth

  Hate, Political, Principles

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• There is a certain cowardice, a certain weakness, rather, among respectable folk. Only brigands are convinced-of what? That they must succeed. And so they do succeed.

  Charles Baudelaire

  Inspirational, Weakness, Succeed

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• Bravery is knowledge of the cowardice of the enemy.

  E. W. Howe

  Courage, Bravery, Enemy

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• No police or military in the world can protect people who are cowards.

  Mahatma Gandhi

  Military, People, Police

  Mohandas Karmchand Gandhi, Mahatma Gandhi, V. Geetha (2004). “Soul Force: Gandhi's Writings on Peace”, p.401, Tara Publishing

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• It was the cowards who died many times before their death.

  Mahatma Gandhi

  Coward, Died

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• Nonviolence and cowardice go ill together.

  Mahatma Gandhi

  Coward, Together, Ill

  Mahatma Gandhi (2005). “All Men Are Brothers”, p.97, A&C Black

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• Maybe any action becomes cowardly once you stop to reason about it.

  Mary McCarthy

  Action, Reason, Cowardly

  Mary McCarthy (2017). “Mary McCarthy: Novels 1963-1979”, p.409, Library of America

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• There is nothing so depressing as a constant contemplation of one's self, and the greatest moral cowardice in the world's opinion comes from consulting one's own personal convenience.

  Marie Corelli

  Depressing, Self, World

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