I Have Seen
Men's Courage Tried Under Fire, And In Many Other Ways Since;
Yet I Have Never Known But One Case Similar To This, When A
Friend Of My Own, A Rich And Prosperous Man, Shot Himself To
Avoid Death!
So that there are men like 'Monsieur
Grenouille, qui se cachait dans l'eau pour eviter la pluie.'
Often have I seen timid and nervous men, who were thought to
be cowards, get so excited in action that their timidity has
turned to rashness.
In truth 'on est souvent ferme par
faiblesse, et audacieux par timidite.'
Partly for this reason, and partly because I look upon it as
a remnant of our predatory antecedents and of animal
pugnacity, I have no extravagant admiration for mere
combativeness or physical courage. Honoured and rewarded as
one of the noblest of manly attributes, it is one of the
commonest of qualities, - one which there is not a mammal, a
bird, a fish, or an insect even, that does not share with us.
Such is the esteem in which it is held, such the ignominy
which punishes the want of it, that the most cautious and the
most timid by nature will rather face the uncertain risks of
a fight than the certain infamy of imputed cowardice.
Is it likely that courage should be rare under such
circumstances, especially amongst professional fighters, who
in England at least have chosen their trade? That there are
poltroons, and plenty of them, amongst our soldiers and
sailors, I do not dispute.
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