Clive was one of those exceedingly rare individuals who have never
known the sensation of physical fear. But I do not think he was
really so brave as those men, who, cursed with an imagination that
fills their minds with terror, nevertheless advance toward danger.
For your real hero is one who does not allow the desires of his body
to control his mind. The body, always eager for safety, comfort, and
pleasure, cries out against peril: but the mind, up in the
conning-tower of the brain, drives the protesting and shivering body
forward. Napoleon, who was a good judge of courage, called Ney the
bravest of the brave: and I admired Ney more intensely when I
learned that in battle he was in his heart always afraid.
The courage of soldiers in the mass seems sublime, but it is the
commonest thing on earth: all nations show it: it is probably an
inexplicable compound of discipline, pride, shame, and rage: but
individuals differ from one another as sharply in courage as they do
in mental ability.
Pages:
309
310
311
312
313
314
315
316
317
318
319
320
321
322
323
324
325
326
327
328
329
330
331
332
333