Skip to content

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

— François de La Rochefoucauld

On ne peut répondre de son courage quand on n'a jamais été dans le péril.

Original text (French)

Another quote →

Topics

Courage

More quotes by François de La Rochefoucauld

To succeed in the world we do everything we can to appear successful already.

Reflections; or Sentences and Moral Maxims (1665)

We hardly find any persons of good sense save those who agree with us.

Reflections; or Sentences and Moral Maxims (1665)

We all have strength enough to endure the misfortunes of others.

Reflections; or Sentences and Moral Maxims (1665)

One must listen if one wishes to be listened to.

Truth does not do so much good in the world, as the appearance of it does evil.

All François de La Rochefoucauld quotes →

You may also like

Cowards die many times before their deaths;
The valiant never taste of death but once.

William Shakespeare Julius Caesar (1599)

All doubt is cowardice — all trust is brave.

Edward Bulwer-Lytton

Courage is never born with a person; time and circumstances inject it into a person and bring it forth from within.

Sanu Sharma

Christianity offers reasons for not fearing death or the universe, and in so doing it fails to teach adequately the virtue of courage.

Bertrand Russell Education and the Social Order (1932)

Attribution

Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: François de La Rochefoucauld (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.