Vices

"How many cowards, whose hearts are all as false As stairs of sand, wear yet upon their chins The beards of Hercules and frowning Mars, Who, inward search'd, have livers white as milk."

"Wouldst thou have that Which thou esteem'st the ornament of life, And live a coward in thine own esteem, Letting "I dare not" wait upon, "I would"; Like the poor cat i' the adage?"

"Milk-liver'd man! That bear'st a cheek for blows, a head for wrongs, Who hast not in thy brows an eye discerning Thine honor from thy suffering."

"Dost thou now fall over to my foes? Thou wear a lion's hide! doff it for shame, And hang a calf's skin on those recreant limbs."

"Thou slave, thou wretch, thou coward! Thou little valiant, great in villany! Thou ever strong upon the stronger side! Thou Fortune's champion, that dost never fight But when her humorous ladyship is by To teach thee safety!"

"I hold it cowardice To rest mistrustful where a noble heart Hath pawn'd an open hand in sign of love."

"So cowards fight when they can fly no further; As doves do peck the falcon's piercing talons; So desperate thieves, all hopeless of their lives, Breathe out invectives 'gainst the officers."

"Becomes it thee to taunt his valiant age And twit with cowardice a man half dead?"

"So bees with smoke and doves with noisome stench Are from their hives and houses driven away. They call'd us for our fierceness English dogs; Now like to whelps, we crying run away."

"I would give all my fame for a pot of ale and safety."

"I may speak it to my shame, I have a truant been to chivalry."

"What a slave art thou, to hack thy sword as thou hast done, and then say it was in fight!"

"You souls of geese, That bear the shapes of men, how have you run From slaves that apes would beat!"

"Who knows himself a braggart, Let him fear this, for it will come to pass That every braggart shall be found an ass."

"Muster your wits: stand in your own defence; Or hide your heads like cowards, and fly hence."

"Cowards die many times before their deaths; The valiant never taste of death but once."

"Cowards are nice, they're interesting, they're gentle, they wouldn't think of shooting down people in a parade from a tower. They want to live, so they can see their kids. They're very brave."

"Complete courage and absolute cowardice are extremes that very few men fall into. The vast middle space contains all the intermediate kinds and degrees of courage; and these differ as much from one another as men's faces or their humors do."

"Each man must not think only of himself, but also of his buddy fighting beside him. We don't want yellow cowards in this Army. They should be killed off like rats. If not, they will go home after this war and breed more cowards. The brave men will breed more brave men. Kill off the Goddamned cowards and we will have a nation of brave men."

"And cowards will have the reputation of bravery and the brave will be cheerless like cowards... men will cease to trust one another... full of avarice... sin will increase and prosper, while virtue will fade and cease to flourish."

"There's no way I'll back down, like a goddamn coward. I can't, how would I look? As a man bowing to his knees?"

"Only cowards kill the vanquished"

"And cowards will have the reputation of bravery and the brave will be cheerless like cowards..."

"Cowardice asks the question, 'Is it safe?' Expediency asks the question, 'Is it politic?' Vanity asks the question, 'Is it popular?' But, conscience asks the question, 'Is it right?' And there comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe or politic, nor popular but take it because one’s conscience tells one that it is right."

"Laziness and cowardice are the reasons why so great a proportion of men, long after nature has released them from alien guidance, nonetheless gladly remain in lifelong immaturity, and why it is so easy for others to establish themselves as their guardians. It is so easy to be immature. If I have a book to serve as my understanding, a pastor to serve as my conscience, a physician to determine my diet for me, and so on, I need not exert myself at all. I need not think, if only I can pay: others will readily undertake the irksome work for me. The guardians who have so benevolently taken over the supervision of men have carefully seen to it that the far greatest part of them (including the entire fair sex) regard taking the step to maturity as very dangerous, not to mention difficult. Having first made their domestic livestock dumb, and having carefully made sure that these docile creatures will not take a single step without the go-cart to which they are harnessed, these guardians then show them the danger that threatens them, should they attempt to walk alone. Now this danger is not actually so great, for after falling a few times they would in the end certainly learn to walk; but an example of this kind makes men timid and usually frightens them out of all further attempts."

"Dishonor waits on perfidy. A man should blush to think a falsehood; it is the crime of cowards."

"At best, courage is self-sacrificing, non-violent, modest and based on universal principles — and immensely powerful. Think Mahatma Gandhi or Martin Luther King Jr. Regrettably, courage is also rare... Look at today’s politicians... keen to be viewed as the virile leaders of their respective countries; eager to inflate their image by harming migrants and refugees, the most vulnerable in society. If there is courage in that, I fail to see it. Authoritarian leaders, or elected leaders inclined toward it, are bullies, deceivers, selfish cowards. If they are growing in number it is because (with exceptions) many other politicians are mediocre... focused on their own image... too afraid to stand up... If we do not change course quickly, we will inevitably encounter an incident where that first domino is tipped—triggering a sequence of unstoppable events that will mark the end of our time on this tiny planet..."

"Lie not, neither to thyself nor men nor God. Let mouth and heart be one — beat and speak together, and make both felt in action. It is for cowards to lie."

"Wonder Woman: Where I come from, generals don't hide in their offices like cowards. They fight alongside their soldiers. They die with them on the battlefield!"

"Cowards are cruel, but the brave Love mercy, and delight to save."

"My own experience confirms the opinion that the Mussalman as a rule is a bully, and the Hindu as a rule is a coward. I have noticed this in railway trains, on public roads, and in the quar­rels which I had the privilege of settling. Need the Hindu blame the Mussalman for his cowardice? Where there are cowards, there will always be bullies... But I, as a Hindu, am more ashamed of Hindu cowardice than I am angry at the Mussalman bullying.... My non-violence does not admit of running away from danger and leaving dear ones unprotected. Between violence and cowardly flight, I can only prefer violence to cowardice."

"Criminals are a superstitious cowardly lot. So my disguise must be able to strike terror into their hearts. I must be a creature of the night, black, terrible..."

"Courage is defined as: the ability to face danger, difficulty, uncertainty, or pain without being overcome by fear or being deflected from a chosen course of action. Many of today’s world leaders have great courage: I wonder... would we be better off with cowardice?"

"Be scared. You can’t help that. But don’t be afraid. Ain’t nothing in the woods going to hurt you unless you corner it, or it smells that you are afraid. A bear or a deer, too, has got to be scared of a coward the same as a brave man has got to be."

"Folly such as yours, Grac'd with a sword, and worthier of a fan, Has made what enemies could ne'er have done. Our arch of empire, stedfast but for you, A mutilated structure, soon to fall."

"Questions at home and school should be decided in the light of the future. It is a process of toughening, but not the sort of false physical thing that we have called toughening. Our boys and girls ought to know that the bully type, the false "tough," has been the first to break down under the actual fire of battle. The quiet, the calm, the determined have made the best soldiers. Why? Obviously the bully is insecure in himself- he blusters to muster his own courage. Children ought to know that. They ought to be taught to retort to the bully, "You're a coward or you wouldn't make such a noise about being brave. The really brave man simply acts brave- he doesn't have to talk about it.""

"Walk on with courage and bravery. Go on working to improve humankind and establish the Path of Truth. (…) Fight for truth! To face life you must have great courage every day.... Now people with courage are needed. It is better to die, facing life with courage. To live as a coward is shameful – it is better that the coward drown himself in the river."

"True courage… has so little to do with Anger, that there lies always the strongest Suspicion against it, where this Passion is highest. The true Courage is the cool and calm. The bravest of Men have the least of a brutal bullying Insolence; and in the very time of Danger are found the most serene, pleasant, and free. Rage, we know, can make a Coward forget himself and fight. But what is done in Fury, or Anger, can never be plac'd to the account of Courage."

"All doubt is cowardice — all trust is brave."

"COWARD, n. One who in a perilous emergency thinks with his legs."

"To defend oneself by alliance is proof of cowardice."

"An army of trumpeters would give as great a strength to a cause, as this confederacy of tongue-warriors; who, like those military musicians, content themselves with animating their friends to battle, and run out of the engagement upon the first onset. No. 28. Monday, March 26, 1716"

"I question not but the more virtuous and considerate parts of our malcontents are now stung with a very just remorse, for this their manner of proceeding, which has so visibly tended to the destruction of their friends, and the sufferings of their country. This may, at the same time, prove an instructive lesson to the boldest and bravest among the disaffected, not to build any hopes upon the talkative zealots of their party; who have shown, by their whole behaviour, that their hearts are equally filled with treason and cowardice. No. 28. Monday, March 26, 1716"

"When their lordships asked Bacon How many bribes he had taken He had at least the grace To get very red in the face."

"Few men have virtue to withstand the highest bidder."

"Every man has his price."

"No mortal thing can bear so high a price, But that with mortal thing it may be bought."

"Auro pulsa fides, auro venalia jura, Aurum lex sequitur, mox sine lege pudor."

"Alas! the small discredit of a bribe Scarce hurts the lawyer, but undoes the scribe."

"Our supple tribes repress their patriot throats, And ask no questions but the price of votes."