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The brave man seeks not popular applause,
Nor, overpower'd with arms, deserts his cause;
Unsham'd, though foil'd, he does the best he can,
Force is of brutes, but honor is of man.

— John Dryden

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Source and credibility

Wikiquote does not flag this quote as disputed or misattributed.

Source: Palamon and Arcite, Book III, line 2,015. (1700)
Source quality: Precise citation Points to a specific work with a page, chapter, date or similar locator, so you can look it up.

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Soon taught the sweet civilities of life.

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Your ignorance is the mother of your devotion to me.

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A knockdown argument: 'tis but a word and a blow.

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Whistling to keep myself from being afraid.

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This is the porcelain clay of humankind.

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Topics

Courage

More quotes by John Dryden

Death in itself is nothing; but we fear
To be we know not what, we know not where.

Aureng-Zebe (1676)

Whate’er he did, was done with so much ease,
In him alone 'twas natural to please.

Absalom and Achitophel (1681)

Love conquers all, and we must yield to Love.

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What passion cannot Music raise and quell?

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Whatever is, is in its causes just.

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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.

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

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Attribution

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