You can be brave by deciding to physically fight someone or you can be brave by standing up in a group and voicing an unpopular opinion. On the one hand you will be exercising physical courage and on the other hand you will be exercising moral courage.
Just go to the movies over a period of time and you will easily see that physical courage is a much more popular and common theme than moral courage.
Yet to be successful in life, moral courage is so much more relevant. How often do you think you are going to have to get into a physical fight in order to achieve success in life?
“Common experience shows how much rarer is moral courage than physical bravery. A thousand men will march to the mouth of the cannon where one man will dare espouse an unpopular cause . . . True courage and manhood come from the consciousness of the right attitude toward the world, the faith in one’s purpose, and the sufficiency of one’s own approval as a justification for one’s own acts.” Clarence Darrow
“Moral courage is more a rare commodity than bravery in a battle or great intelligence.” John F. Kennedy
“The right way is not always the popular and easy way. Standing for right when it is unpopular is a true test of moral character.” Margaret Chase Smith
Getting Personal
Have you ever exercised moral courage? What was involved?
Have you ever lacked moral courage in a situation? What was involved?
