Full Idea
Mere courage, or contempt of danger, if we conceive it to have no regard to the defence of the innocent, or repairing of wrongs or self-interest, would only entitle its possessor to bedlam.
Clarification
'Bedlam' is the insane asylum
Gist of Idea
Contempt of danger is just madness if it is not in some worthy cause
Source
Francis Hutcheson (Treatise 2: Virtue or Moral Good [1725], §II.I)
Book Reference
'British Moralists 1650-1800 Vol. 1', ed/tr. Raphael,D.D. [Hackett 1991], p.271
A Reaction
If many criminals would love to rob a bank, but only a few have the nerve to attempt it, we can hardly deny that the latter exhibit a sort of courage. The Greeks say that good sense must be involved, but few of them were so moral about courage.