Courage

Courage (also called bravery or valour) is the choice and willingness to confront agony, pain, danger, uncertainty or intimidation. Physical courage is bravery in the face of physical pain, hardship, death or threat of death, while moral courage is the ability to act rightly in the face of popular opposition, shame, scandal, discouragement, or personal loss.

In some traditions, fortitude holds approximately the same meaning. In the Western tradition, notable thoughts on courage have come from philosophers, Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Aquinas and Kierkegaard; in the Eastern tradition, some thoughts on courage were offered by the Tao Te Ching. More recently, courage has been explored by the discipline of psychology.

There is a tradition moving back to Ancient Greek philosophy for counting courage or fortitude as one of the four cardinal virtues, along with prudence, justice, and temperance. ("Cardinal" in this sense means "pivotal"; it is one of the four cardinal virtues because to possess any virtue, a person must be able to sustain it in the face of difficulty.)

An early Greek philosopher, Plato (c. 428 BCE – c. 348 BCE), set the groundwork for how courage would be viewed to future philosophers. Plato’s early writings found in Laches show a discussion on courage, but they fail to come to a satisfactory conclusion on what courage is. During the debate between three leaders, including Socrates, many definitions of courage are mentioned.

"…a man willing to remain at his post and to defend himself against the enemy without running away…"

...
Wikipedia