Courage is an excellent quality that allows us to face whatever life throws at us with relentless determination. Unfortunately, however, sometimes we lack bravery and give in to fear. Look, I know, taking risks is never easy, but you’ll never achieve greatness without having the guts to follow your dreams.
The good news is you can find courage whenever you need it, for it always lies within you. To access your most daring self, you’ll need to get comfortable with the uncomfortable. So start with small challenges that just require you to take a small step out of your comfort zone. Then, as you get used to taking risks, challenge yourself with scarier situations. Eventually, you’ll find yourself leaping out of your comfort zone with no hesitation.
While on the path to fearlessness, you can find encouragement in words of wisdom. We’ve compiled the best courage quotes from some of the most famous and influential risk-takers in history. These motivational sayings will give you the confidence and spirit you need to take that first step.
1. A timid person is frightened before a danger, a coward during the time, and a courageous person afterward. ― Jean Paul
2. Your heart’s strength is measured by how hard it holds on. Your self worth and faith is measured by finally letting go. However, your peace is measured by how long you don’t look back. ― Shannon L. Alder
3. Have enough courage to trust love one more time and always one more time. ― Maya Angelou
4. And one has to understand that braveness is not the absence of fear but rather the strength to keep on going forward despite the fear. ― Paulo Coelho
5. Nobody can discover the world for somebody else. Only when we discover it for ourselves does it become common ground and a common bond and we cease to be alone. ― Wendell Berry
6. Each mistake teaches you something new about yourself. There is no failure, remember, except in no longer trying. It is the courage to continue that counts. ― Chris Bradford
7. How few there are who have courage enough to own their faults, or resolution enough to mend them. ― Benjamin Franklin
8. The greatest test of courage on earth is to bear defeat without losing heart. ― Robert Green Ingersoll
9. Courage and conviction are powerful weapons against an enemy who depends only on fists or guns. Animals know when you are afraid; a coward knows when you are not. ― David Seabury
10. Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage. ― Lao Tzu
11. Courage is the most important of all the virtues because without courage, you can’t practice any other virtue consistently. ― Maya Angelou
12. The bravest thing I ever did was continuing my life when I wanted to die. ― Juliette Lewis
13. When I dare to be powerful, to use my strength in the service of my vision, then it becomes less and less important whether I am afraid. ― Audre Lorde
14. All of us have moments in out lives that test our courage. Taking children into a house with a white carpet is one of them. ― Erma Bombeck
15. It is hard to be brave, when you’re only a Very Small Animal. ― A.A. Milne
16. Courage doesn’t happen when you have all the answers. It happens when you are ready to face the questions you have been avoiding your whole life. ― Shannon L. Alder
17. I am not angry or sad or happy to see you. I could not give a shit. You don’t even ripple. ― Gillian Flynn
18. You must learn to be strong in the dark as well as in the day, else you will always be only half brave. ― George MacDonald
19. Courage is doing what you are afraid to do. There can be no courage unless you are scared. ― Eddie Rickenbacker
20. In case you never get a second chance: don’t be afraid! And what if you do get a second chance? You take it! ― C. JoyBell C.
21. I told myself, Malala, you have already faced death. This is your second life. Don’t be afraid — if you are afraid, you can’t move forward. ― Malala Yousafzai
22. Courage is not having the strength to go on; it is going on when you don’t have the strength. ― Teddy Roosevelt
23. You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, ‘I lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along. ― Eleanor Roosevelt
24. If you’re waiting until you feel talented enough to make it, you’ll never make it. ― Criss Jami
25. Courageous people do not fear forgiving, for the sake of peace. ― Nelson Mandela
26. But there were worse things than disappointment, and I’d lived through several of them already. ― R.J. Anderson
27. Sometimes, making the wrong choice is better than making no choice. You have the courage to go forward, that is rare. A person who stands at the fork, unable to pick, will never get anywhere. ― Terry Goodkind
28. It is curious that physical courage should be so common in the world and moral courage so rare. ― Mark Twain
29. Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one’s courage. ― Anais Nin
30. The simple step of a courageous individual is not to take part in the lie. “One word of truth outweighs the world. ― Aleksandr I. Solzhenitsyn
31. Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear – not absence of fear. ― Mark Twain
32. Inaction breeds doubt and fear. Action breeds confidence and courage. If you want to conquer fear, do not sit home and think about it. Go out and get busy. ― Dale Carnegie
33. It takes a great deal of bravery to stand up to our enemies, but just as much to stand up to our friends. ― J. K. Rowling
34. It takes a great deal of bravery to stand up to our enemies, but just as much to stand up to our friends. ― J.K. Rowling
35. We have to be braver than we think we can be, because God is constantly calling us to be more than we are. ― Madeleine L’Engle
36. But she wished she had had the guts to go up to him and say hello. Or possibly break his legs, she wasn’t sure which. ― Stieg Larsson
37. The key to life is accepting challenges. Once someone stops doing this, he’s dead. ― Bette Davis
38. Of all forms of caution, caution in love is perhaps the most fatal to true happiness. ― Bertrand Russell
39. Keep your fears to yourself, but share your courage with others. ― Robert Louis Stevenson
40. There is a stubbornness about me that never can bear to be frightened at the will of others. My courage always rises at every attempt to intimidate me. ― Jane Austen
41. Before I knew you, I thought brave was not being afraid. You’ve taught me that bravery is being terrified and doing it anyway. ― Laurell K. Hamilton
42. To live a creative life, we must lose our fear of being wrong. ― Joseph Chilton Pearce
43. To live a creative life, we must lose our fear of being wrong. ― Joseph Chilton Pearce
44. What would life be if we had no courage to attempt anything? ― Vincent Van Gogh
45. Everyone pretends to be ‘free thinkers’, but few individuals pass the line into expressive territories that may be detrimental to their own social well-being. ― Criss Jami
46. Courage does not always roar. Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying, ‘I will try again tomorrow. ― Mary Anne Radmacher
47. Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go. ― T. S. Eliot
48. Even in the mud and scum of things, something always, always sings. ― Ralph Waldo Emerson
49. To be heroic is to be courageous enough to die for something; to be inspirational is to be crazy enough to live a little. ― Criss Jami
50. You will have to make up for the smallness of your size by your courage and selfless devotion to duty, for it is not life that matters, but the courage, fortitude and determination you bring to it. ― Muhammad Ali Jinnah
We hope these courage quotes have inspired you to do more things that scare you. While you’re making being brave a habit, implement mindfulness practices like guided meditations and positive affirmations to keep your confidence high. You may even consider getting a mentor who can hold you accountable and set you challenges.
Whatever tools you use to become a fearless badass, save these courage quotes and return to them whenever you need them. Better yet, write your favorites on your bathroom mirror and read them out loud every morning. Good luck!
