Courage: A Misunderstood Virtue

At my Substack I’ve been publishing my lectures on ethics, and in my most recent one, “Learning to Love the Good,” I discussed how the virtue of courage is often misunderstood.

In the classical Christian tradition, I explained, courage and fortitude are synonymous, but in English courage has come to have a restricted meaning that often blocks our ability to understand this important cardinal virtue. We often think of courage as being brave when we venture into something, when we initiate an attack. It’s like going into battle, or driving in a challenging part of the city, or initiating a difficult conversation. That’s certainly an important aspect of courage. But there is another side of courage that we don’t tend to think about as much in the modern world, but which is probably even more relevant to us. That aspect of courage is enduring difficulties with patience and fortitude.

Imagine maintaining inner calm in the midst of a besieged city. This type of courage is something we can all practice, even if we haven’t been called to go on the offensive and attack. God might call us to exercise patient fortitude in the face of ill health, or when observing the sickness of a loved one, or when experiencing uncertainty about a job. It could be remaining patient and strong in the face of uncertainty about a relationship, theological confusion, or when struggling to discern God’s will about an important life choice. When we face these challenges, the virtue of courage is what enables us to approach the circumstances with patience, resilience, and inner strength.

Again, the range of the English word “courage” doesn’t capture this side of the virtue so well, and that’s why it’s important to always pair courage with fortitude.

We exercise this virtue by not going to pieces when things go wrong. We exercise this virtue by being able to face great obstacles and uncertainties with an inner calm, even joy. Think of Paul and Silas singing hymns at night when imprisoned in Philippi. Would you have enough fortitude and courage to sing praises in prison? What about singing praises during times of confusion, anxiety, or being overwhelmed? What about remaining grateful during sickness, or in life’s trenches?

You can begin to see why patience is a sub-virtue of fortitude/courage. Patience helps us bear sorrow well, not just the sorrow of waiting for something, but any type of sorrow. Here’s how

Here’s how Edward Sri describes this in his book The Art of Living.

Patience is the virtue that moderates our sorrow, safeguarding a clear mind in the midst of life’s difficulties. Patience helps us bear sadness in such a way that we do not abandon whatever good we should be doing in our lives….

Though in modern use the word “patience” is usually limited to the sorrow of waiting, the virtue of patience itself is about all kinds of sadness; sorrow over a dating relationship that ended, sadness about not getting a job, disappointment over something not turning out well, regret over something you said. Life is full of times when things don’t go the way we hope. We need patience to help moderate these sorrows so that we can continue giving the best of ourselves to the people in our lives and to our daily responsibilities.

Further Reading