--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: There is a peculiar strength that comes…" description: "\"“There is a peculiar strength that comes to one who is facing the final battle. That battle is not limited to war, nor the strength to warriors. I've s..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/35e/robin-hobb-489_courage_there-is-a-peculiar-strength-that-comes_2609332.jpg" --- # There is a peculiar strength that comes to one who is… ![“There is a peculiar strength that comes to one who is facing the final battle. That battle is not limited to war, nor the strength to warriors. I've seen this strength in old women with the coughing sickness and heard of it in families that are starving together. It drives one to go on, past hope…” quote by Robin Hobb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/35e/robin-hobb-489_courage_there-is-a-peculiar-strength-that-comes_2609332.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/35e/robin-hobb-489_courage_there-is-a-peculiar-strength-that-comes_2609332.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/35e/robin-hobb-489_courage_there-is-a-peculiar-strength-that-comes_2609332.jpg) > ““There is a peculiar strength that comes to one who is facing the final battle. That battle is not limited to war, nor the strength to warriors. I've seen this strength in old women with the coughing sickness and heard of it in families that are starving together. It drives one to go on, past hope or despair, past blood loss and gut wounds, past death itself in a final surge to save something that is cherished. It is courage without hope. During the Red-Ship Wars, I saw a man with blood gouting in spurts from where his left arm had once been yet swinging a sword with his right as he stood protecting a fallen comrade. During one encounter with Forged Ones, I saw a mother stumbling over her own entrails as she shrieked and clutched at a Forged man, trying to hold him away from her daughter. The OutIslanders have a word for that courage. "Finblead", they call it, the last blood, and they believe that a special fortitude resides in the final blood that remains in a man or a woman before they fall. According to their tales, only then can one find and use that sort of courage. It is a terrible bravery and at its strongest and worst, it goes on for months when one battles a final illness. Or, I believe, when one moves toward a duty that will result in death but is completely unavoidable. That "finblead" lights everything in one's life with a terrible radiance. All relationships are illuminated for what they are and for what they truly were in the past. All illusions melt away. The false is revealed as starkly as the true.”” [Robin Hobb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-hobb/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Extreme hardship can summon a fierce, hope‑less courage that fuels survival and reveals truth. **In simple terms:** Courage without hope appears in dire moments. Key Takeaway Tap inner fortitude when all seems lost. Themes courage sacrifice survival truth Mood somber intense Type philosophical literary When to use this quote - war - terminal illness - self‑sacrifice - protecting loved ones Key Concepts existential bravery psychological endurance Questions to Reflect On - When does perseverance become self‑harm? - How to balance hope with necessary resolve? A Different Perspective Such courage may lead to reckless self‑destruction. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Bravery Strongest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bravery-strongest-2013803/) [Cherished Courage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cherished-courage-2013805/) [Courage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/courage/) [Courage Finblead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/courage-finblead-2013804/) [Resilience](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/resilience/) [Strength](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/strength/) [Strength Old](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/strength-old-502328/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [War](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/war/) [Without hope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/without-hope/) ## Related quotes > [Exercise and temperance can preserve something of our early strength even in old age.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-tullius-cicero/exercise-and-temperance-can-preserve-something-of-our-early-strength/) [Marcus Tullius Cicero](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-tullius-cicero/) > [Though much is taken, much abides; and though we are not now that strength which in old days moved earth and heaven, that which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paullina-simons/though-much-is-taken-much-abides-and-though-we-are-not-now-that-2/) [Paullina Simons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paullina-simons/) > [Though much is taken, much abides; and though We are not now that strength which in old days Moved earth and heaven, that which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-lord-tennyson/though-much-is-taken-much-abides-and-though-we-are-not-now-that/) [Alfred Lord Tennyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-lord-tennyson/) > [There is nothing magnanimous in bearing misfortunes with fortitude, when the whole world is looking on… He who, without friends to encourage or even…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-goldsmith/there-is-nothing-magnanimous-in-bearing-misfortunes-with-fortitude/) [Oliver Goldsmith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-goldsmith/) > [Emily Dickinson did not like was one of the stated purposes of the college - to convert young women to the Christian cause, finding…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-benfey/emily-dickinson-did-not-like-was-one-of-the-stated-purposes-of-the/) [Christopher Benfey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-benfey/) > [Fear is vision without hope.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-driscoll/fear-is-vision-without-hope/) [Mark Driscoll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-driscoll/) > [“amazing? If it is, then you are not without hope. Hope is not gone.       Faith that Stands   It’s not easy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cherie-hill/amazing-if-it-is-then-you-are-not-without-hope-hope-is-not-gone-faith/) [Cherie Hill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cherie-hill/) > [We may live without poetry, music and art; We may live without conscience, and live without heart; We may live without friends; we may…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/we-may-live-without-poetry-music-and-art-we-may-live-without/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [When you stop hoping you start settling.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/valorie-burton/when-you-stop-hoping-you-start-settling/) [Valorie Burton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/valorie-burton/) > [“Did hope help us to survive, or not? 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When the conception of change is beyond the limits of the possible, there are no words to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sheila-rowbotham/the-oppressed-without-hope-are-mysteriously-quiet-when-the-conception/) [Sheila Rowbotham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sheila-rowbotham/) > [When we fall utterly, something gathers us up. But our falling must be without reservation, without expectation, without hope, though not hopeless. You cant…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-housden/when-we-fall-utterly-something-gathers-us-up-but-our-falling-must-be/) [Roger Housden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-housden/) > [“Here is a man who by all conventions should have been a denizen of the lower depths of society: ignored, illiterate, disfigured, limping, penniless,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-sugich/here-is-a-man-who-by-all-conventions-should-have-been-a-denizen-of/) [Michael Sugich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-sugich/) ## More by Robin Hobb > [Boredom is vastly underrated. Boredom means that nothing is trying to kill you every day.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-hobb/boredom-is-vastly-underrated-boredom-means-that-nothing-is-trying-to/) [Robin Hobb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-hobb/) > [“But that is not true for all folk. Some folk are meant to argue with fate. And win.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-hobb/but-that-is-not-true-for-all-folk-some-folk-are-meant-to-argue-with/) [Robin Hobb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-hobb/) > [“I tried to leave you alone, Fitz. To find what peace you could, even if it excluded me from your life.” Ten years ago,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-hobb/i-tried-to-leave-you-alone-fitz-to-find-what-peace-you-could-even-if/) [Robin Hobb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-hobb/) > [“Do you think you're taking Etta out of here?" "Yes," Kennit called over his shoulder up the sairs. "What about all these dead men?"…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-hobb/do-you-think-you-re-taking-etta-out-of-here-yes-kennit-called-over/) [Robin Hobb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-hobb/) > [“A way out is a way in. 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That battle is not limited to war, nor the strength to warriors. I've seen this strength in old women with the coughing sickness and heard of it in families that are starving together. It drives one to go on, past hope or despair, past blood loss and gut wounds, past death itself in a final surge to save something that is cherished. It is courage without hope. During the Red-Ship Wars, I saw a man with blood gouting in spurts from where his left arm had once been yet swinging a sword with his right as he stood protecting a fallen comrade. During one encounter with Forged Ones, I saw a mother stumbling over her own entrails as she shrieked and clutched at a Forged man, trying to hold him away from her daughter. The OutIslanders have a word for that courage. \"Finblead\", they call it, the last blood, and they believe that a special fortitude resides in the final blood that remains in a man or a woman before they fall. According to their tales, only then can one find and use that sort of courage. It is a terrible bravery and at its strongest and worst, it goes on for months when one battles a final illness. Or, I believe, when one moves toward a duty that will result in death but is completely unavoidable. That \"finblead\" lights everything in one's life with a terrible radiance. All relationships are illuminated for what they are and for what they truly were in the past. All illusions melt away. 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