I agree with Twain whole-heartily. For me I have no problem standing up for the little guy. Maybe it’s because I’m 6′6, but I have physical courage in excess. Moral courage, however, is a different matter.

As I was reading this post I was thinking why that is. I think it comes down to this: The spotlight is on you with physical courage. Other people are watching you, and they’ll see if you have this physical courage or not. With moral courage you’re all on your own. It’s a battle fought within you, and independent on other people. Will you be strong morally or not? Only you have that choice, only you can make that choice, and most of the time other people won’t know if your moral courage is a chicken.

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Awesome thoughts, Derek! I agree, it does seem like moral courage is often an internal battle.

I also think that physical courage is generally pretty acceptable by peers. Moral courage, however, can be controversial if your morals differ from those of the people around you. It may even be the cause of ridicule. That could be one reason moral courage is rare to see.

Well, first define moral courage, please. Whether it’s standing up for your morals and beliefs to others, or having the courage to stop your immoral thoughts and whatnot.

So if someone would answer my question then I can answer the question from above!

hey Katie! Well, Mark Twain didn’t really define moral courage so I guess I would ask, what do you think it is? I don’t think there’s one specific definition.

Since the definition of courage is basically the strength to withstand danger, fear, or difficulty, I guess it depends on what is dangerous, scary, or difficult for you.

For example, someone who is incredibly shy may find it scary to talk to someone they don’t know, thus it would take courage. Someone who loves talking to people would find it much less difficult and therefore it would not be considered courageous.

So since courage varies from person to person, moral courage probably does, as well. That’s my take, anyway.

Interesting… Well, for me it’s hard to have physical courage then moral…but I’ve always been in a stable moral-environment…so yeah…