The Virtue of Courage

Intelligent human action is goal-directed, but when pain, fear, or danger intrude, it is difficult to sustain the mental equilibrium to follow through, even if the goal is very important and the action critical. Hence, the need for courage. As Aquinas put it, the virtue of courage is "to remove any obstacle that withdraws the will from following the reason." Such overcoming of dangers, pain, and obstacles is well illustrated by the following incident.