GRACE UNDER PRESSURE

People have always celebrated the importance of courage. The word itself means “heart,” from the French coeur, although we sometimes say fortitude, bravery, gallantry, or will to express the same concept. Many people believe that courage is the absence of fear, but this is not true. Rather, courage is the ability to act in spite of great fear or, as Hemingway memorably said, courage is the ability to act with “grace under pressure.”

To fear we should also add risk, danger, intimidation, or ambiguity. People who exercise courage are aware—sometimes even terrified—of the weighty circumstances they are confronting. Yet they still find a way to march on. Physical courage is courage in the face of physical pain, hardship, death, or threat of death; moral courage is the ability to act correctly in the face of popular opposition, personal sacrifice, scandal, or shame.