The Amazing Things & Ideas - #95 – On Courage
Courage is not the absence of fear. Courage is maintaining integrity in the face of fear. Far from being blind and thoughtless bravado, courage generally entails knowing the consequences of your actions. People who act courageously know that the consequences of inaction are worse than the consequences of their courageous acts. Sacrifice and courage cannot co-exist. Courage is a deeply selfish thing. That, of course, does not make it bad in any way. You cannot really care about someone else before caring about yourself and what you value. Maintaining integrity requires living up to your own ideals. Not someone else’s. It is not sacrifice. Sacrifice is a lowly act. It requires you to surrender a greater value for a lesser one. Sacrifice is the opposite of courage. It is cowardice.
Indeed, courage is about being yourself. Courage is not caring what other people think. It is not about the “greater good”. It is about what you think is good. Some live their lives escaping from pain. Very few seek the achievement of happiness. Some are guided by threats, their only incentive is fear. Very few are driven by love. Being truly selfish is one of the noblest pursuits there is. The weekly roundup1. Book I’m readingThe Richest Man in Babylon by George S. Clayson
2. Other book I’m readingAtlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand 3. What grades reflect
4. Libertarian Leonard E. Read on prosperity and wealth
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