One cannot answer for his courage when he has never been in danger.

What we take for virtue is often but an assemblage of various ambitions and activities that chance, or our own astuteness, have arranged in a certain manner; and it is not always out of courage or purity that men are brave, and women chaste.

We can never be certain of our courage until we have faced danger....

True bravery is shown by performing without witness what one might be capable of doing before all the world.

Love of fame, fear of disgrace, schemes for advancement, desire to make life comfortable and pleasant, and the urge to humiliate others are often at the root of the valour men hold in such high esteem.

Perfect Valor is to do, without a witness, all that we could do before the whole world.