--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Fear is not cowardice. Acting in a wrong…" description: "\"“Fear is not cowardice. Acting in a wrong and contemptible manner because of our fear is cowardice.”\" — R.M. Ballantyne" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e71/r-m-ballantyne-51172_cowardice_fear-is-not-cowardice-acting-in-a-wrong_177285.jpg" --- # Fear is not cowardice. Acting in a wrong and contemptible… ![“Fear is not cowardice. Acting in a wrong and contemptible manner because of our fear is cowardice.” quote by R.M. Ballantyne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e71/r-m-ballantyne-51172_cowardice_fear-is-not-cowardice-acting-in-a-wrong_177285.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e71/r-m-ballantyne-51172_cowardice_fear-is-not-cowardice-acting-in-a-wrong_177285.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e71/r-m-ballantyne-51172_cowardice_fear-is-not-cowardice-acting-in-a-wrong_177285.jpg) > ““Fear is not cowardice. Acting in a wrong and contemptible manner because of our fear is cowardice.”” [R.M. Ballantyne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-m-ballantyne/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Fear itself is not cowardice; it is the failure to act morally despite fear that is cowardice. **In simple terms:** Fear isn’t cowardice; acting wrongly because of fear is. Key Takeaway Act ethically even when afraid. Themes ethics fear courage Mood thoughtful serious Type philosophical ethical When to use this quote - justice - personal dilemmas - leadership Key Concepts moral philosophy psychology Questions to Reflect On - How do you distinguish fear from cowardice? - What actions uphold integrity under fear? A Different Perspective Fear can paralyze even the brave. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Cowardice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cowardice/) [Fear](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fear/) ## Related quotes > [“She had been born knowing that boldness erased fear, while cowardice invited it and earned her only more ill treatment. No matter how she…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeane-westin/she-had-been-born-knowing-that-boldness-erased-fear-while-cowardice/) [Jeane Westin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeane-westin/) > [But then, is there cowardice in the acknowledgment of fear? Is there cowardice in being glad that you lived?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/markus-zusak/but-then-is-there-cowardice-in-the-acknowledgment-of-fear-is-there/) [Markus Zusak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/markus-zusak/) > [I told myself that I would not go back to the camps as an actor ever again, that I was very frightened of wearing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-kingsley/i-told-myself-that-i-would-not-go-back-to-the-camps-as-an-actor-ever/) [Ben Kingsley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-kingsley/) > [It is fear and terror that make all men brave, except the philosophers. Yet it is illogical to be brave through fear and cowardice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/plato/it-is-fear-and-terror-that-make-all-men-brave-except-the-philosophers/) [Plato](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/plato/) > [Our own selfishness makes us the most arrant cowards; our own selfishness is the great cause of fear and cowardice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/swami-vivekananda/our-own-selfishness-makes-us-the-most-arrant-cowards-our-own/) [Swami Vivekananda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/swami-vivekananda/) > [Possession of arms implies an element of fear, if not of cowardice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/possession-of-arms-implies-an-element-of-fear-if-not-of-cowardice/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [Fear has nothing to do with cowardice. A fellow is only yellow when he lets his fear make him quit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerome-cady/fear-has-nothing-to-do-with-cowardice-a-fellow-is-only-yellow-when-he/) [Jerome Cady](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerome-cady/) > [Lies come from fear, from cowardice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jenny-sanford/lies-come-from-fear-from-cowardice/) [Jenny Sanford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jenny-sanford/) > [“I would like to say that what I fear are the challenges that stand in front of me, when in reality what I fear…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/craig-d-lounsbrough/i-would-like-to-say-that-what-i-fear-are-the-challenges-that-stand-in/) [Craig D. Lounsbrough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/craig-d-lounsbrough/) > [“The situations of fear that exist in our lives provide us with stepping stones to step over our fear. On the other side of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chogyam-trungpa/the-situations-of-fear-that-exist-in-our-lives-provide-us-with/) [Chögyam Trungpa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chogyam-trungpa/) > [“if you are willing to reflect on the courage and moderation of other people, you will find them strange...they all consider death a great…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/plato/if-you-are-willing-to-reflect-on-the-courage-and-moderation-of-other/) [Plato](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/plato/) > [Man alone mesures time. And because of this, man alone suffers a paralyzing fear that no other creature endures. A fear of time running…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/man-alone-mesures-time-and-because-of-this-man-alone-suffers-a/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Is there cowardice with the acknowledgement of fear?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/markus-zusak/is-there-cowardice-with-the-acknowledgement-of-fear/) [Markus Zusak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/markus-zusak/) > [“To stand at the very moment when all seems lost is the point of insanity for the coward, but it is the home of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/craig-d-lounsbrough/to-stand-at-the-very-moment-when-all-seems-lost-is-the-point-of/) [Craig D. Lounsbrough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/craig-d-lounsbrough/) > [“What is cowardice in the young is wisdom in the old, but all the same one can be ashamed of wisdom.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/what-is-cowardice-in-the-young-is-wisdom-in-the-old-but-all-the-same/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) ## More by R.M. Ballantyne > [“When a bad shot points a bad gun at you, your best plan is to stand still and take your chance. In such a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-m-ballantyne/when-a-bad-shot-points-a-bad-gun-at-you-your-best-plan-is-to-stand/) [R.M. Ballantyne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-m-ballantyne/) > [“A feathered arrow without a barb,” said he, “is a good weapon, but a barbed arrow without feathers is utterly useless.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-m-ballantyne/a-feathered-arrow-without-a-barb-said-he-is-a-good-weapon-but-a/) [R.M. Ballantyne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-m-ballantyne/) > [“...in all my writings I have always tried — how far successfully I know not — to advance the cause of Truth and Right…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-m-ballantyne/in-all-my-writings-i-have-always-tried-how-far-successfully-i-know/) [R.M. Ballantyne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-m-ballantyne/) > [“It is of no use mincing the matter; Dr John Marsh, after being regarded by his friends at home as hopelessly unimpressible—in short, an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-m-ballantyne/it-is-of-no-use-mincing-the-matter-dr-john-marsh-after-being-regarded/) [R.M. Ballantyne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-m-ballantyne/) > [“and I have always found, though I am unable to account for it, that daylight banishes many of the fears that are apt to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-m-ballantyne/and-i-have-always-found-though-i-am-unable-to-account-for-it-that/) [R.M. Ballantyne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-m-ballantyne/) > [“I began my tale in the hope that I might produce something to interest the young (perchance, also, the old) in a most momentous…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-m-ballantyne/i-began-my-tale-in-the-hope-that-i-might-produce-something-to/) [R.M. Ballantyne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-m-ballantyne/) [Explore all 7 R.M. Ballantyne quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-m-ballantyne/) ## More Cowardice quotes > [“What is cowardice in the young is wisdom in the old, but all the same one can be ashamed of wisdom.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/what-is-cowardice-in-the-young-is-wisdom-in-the-old-but-all-the-same/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [The unpreparedness of the educated classes, the lack of practical links between them and the mass of the people, their laziness, and, let it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frantz-fanon/the-unpreparedness-of-the-educated-classes-the-lack-of-practical/) [Frantz Fanon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frantz-fanon/) > [ \[D\]on't grow old. With age comes caution, which is another name for cowardice… Whatever else you do in life, don't cultivate a conscience. Without… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hesketh-pearson/d-on-t-grow-old-with-age-comes-caution-which-is-another-name-for/) [Hesketh Pearson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hesketh-pearson/) > [Heckling is an act of cowardice. If you want to speak, get up in front of the microphone and speak, don't sit in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billy-connolly/heckling-is-an-act-of-cowardice-if-you-want-to-speak-get-up-in-front/) [Billy Connolly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/billy-connolly/) > [“To stand at the very moment when all seems lost is the point of insanity for the coward, but it is the home of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/craig-d-lounsbrough/to-stand-at-the-very-moment-when-all-seems-lost-is-the-point-of/) [Craig D. Lounsbrough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/craig-d-lounsbrough/) > [The biggest obstacles to our progress exist within our own lives in the form of cowardice and the tendency to give up. Breaking through…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/senora-roy/the-biggest-obstacles-to-our-progress-exist-within-our-own-lives-in/) [Senora Roy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/senora-roy/) > [“I once knew a man who was heir to the throne of a great kingdom, he lived as a ranger and fought his destiny…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-joybell-c/i-once-knew-a-man-who-was-heir-to-the-throne-of-a-great-kingdom-he/) [C. JoyBell C](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-joybell-c/) > [Is there cowardice with the acknowledgement of fear?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/markus-zusak/is-there-cowardice-with-the-acknowledgement-of-fear/) [Markus Zusak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/markus-zusak/) > [Man alone mesures time. And because of this, man alone suffers a paralyzing fear that no other creature endures. A fear of time running…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/man-alone-mesures-time-and-because-of-this-man-alone-suffers-a/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [With how many things are we on the brink of becoming acquainted, if cowardice or carelessness did not restrain our inquiries.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/with-how-many-things-are-we-on-the-brink-of-becoming-acquainted-if/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“They are not brave, the days when we are twenty-one. They are full of little cowardices, little fears without foundation, and one is so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daphne-du-maurier/they-are-not-brave-the-days-when-we-are-twenty-one-they-are-full-of/) [Daphne du Maurier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daphne-du-maurier/) > [Survival, with honor, that outmoded and all-important word, is as difficult as ever and as all-important to a writer. Those who do not last…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/survival-with-honor-that-outmoded-and-all-important-word-is-as/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [“People run away from the love game because they know they won't win the race.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-bassey-johnson/people-run-away-from-the-love-game-because-they-know-they-won-t-win/) [Michael Bassey Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-bassey-johnson/) > [A man may be accused of cowardice for fleeing away from all manner of physical dangers but when things supernatural, insubstantial and inexplicable threaten…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-hill/a-man-may-be-accused-of-cowardice-for-fleeing-away-from-all-manner-of/) [Susan Hill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-hill/) > [“Preparation eradicates cowardice, which we define as the failure to act in the midst of fear…”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/four-from-divergent/preparation-eradicates-cowardice-which-we-define-as-the-failure-to/) Four from Divergent [Browse all 900 Cowardice quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cowardice/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Fear is not cowardice. 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