Let the cowards explain. Bravery is inexplicable. This is an act that speaks for itself, rash wisdom. Philosopher and journalist Raphael Enthoven talks about courage as a return to oneself.
In the beginning there was courage. Unlike cowardice, which always finds itself with brilliant excuses, courage is inexplicable. A man for the first time in his life copes with fright, tastes beets, jumps with a parachute, hits Goliath, hides Jews in his house – in short, does some kind of super-deed that exceeds his capabilities, looks into the face of danger instead of looking away. To be brave is simply to act, despite the temptation to bend (always so “understandable” and “explainable”).
After all, courage does not need a reason – only a reason. Courage is not an abstract concept, but the sum of deeds, whose nature emerges only with time. This is a sudden and inexplicable insight, a return to oneself and to a world where actions triumph over inaction. Here is what the French philosopher Vladimir Yankelevich writes: “To defeat confusion and stupor, stop the fall, turn the earth’s gravity into free levitation, escape into an assault; to oppose inertia with courage, to “senselessly” and “accidentally” sacrifice oneself. Fear is a premonition of reality; courage is its spontaneous acceptance.
Those who reduce courage to pride are greatly mistaken. Courage and calculation are incompatible. Hector’s sacrifice cannot be reduced to the salvation of Troy. Intention only partially explains the act of bravery: the hope of recovery, of course, gives strength to the one undergoing chemotherapy, and a beam of light helps the bedridden patient to believe that he will be saved. Roman Gary wrote: “Life is in great need of encouragement,” but still, when it comes to courage, the reason that caused it is not so important. Having no proof of the immortality of the soul, Socrates fearlessly swallows the deadly kokoryshka – a noble risk, that’s what gave him determination.
Read more:
- H. Marina “Anatomy of Fear: A Treatise on Courage”
“We are so arrogant,” writes Pascal, “that we crave fame, we hope that it will outlive us.” And what? How quickly any intention fades before a bold act! So why do we need a laurel wreath? Achilles is brave not because he hopes to become famous, but gains glory because he is fearless.
To reduce courage to conscience or to vanity is to take the effect for the cause. Philosopher Cynthia Fleury writes that “courage knows no other victories than victory over oneself.”
Read more:
- The power to overcome
Often, instead of doing something well, we once again do it the old way badly, making excuses that being brave is always impossible. Yankelevich: “Courage is a patient continuation of what has been started; thanks to the courage of constancy, the moment of beginning is prolonged. After all, the concept of the beginning contains the finiteness of the action, and courage should strive for fidelity to itself, that is, always “begin for the first time.”
Read more:
- The new courage to be yourself
Having courage is one thing, not losing it is quite another. Courage is a character, a courageous rejection of despondency, standing on the other side of desire, a prohibition to think only about yourself. There is courage that pushes a person to jump into the water, and there is courage to swim against the current. Resist the enemy or continue to perform their duties after a victory. Commit suicide or continue to live in spite of everything. To be brave means to live despite all the reasons to commit suicide. To be brave is to learn how to die.
Pass the tests
- What kind of hero are you?