Full Idea
The man who faces or fears the right things for the right reason and in the right way and at the right time is courageous.
Gist of Idea
True courage is an appropriate response to a dangerous situation
Source
Aristotle (Nicomachean Ethics [c.334 BCE], 1115b18)
Book Reference
Aristotle: 'Ethics (Nicomachean)', ed/tr. ThomsonJ A K/TredennickH [Penguin 1976], p.128
A Reaction
This is the consistent view of Socrates, Plato and Aristotle. Their concept is much broader and more value-laden than ours. We are inclined to see courage as simply being undeterred by pain, and place the morality elsewhere.
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