Courage vs. Common Sense By Michael A. Black

I must admit that I found this blog topic more than a bit challenging. I guess that was due to the conflicting emotions I have about the two subjects. I’ve been inspired by witnessing both courage and common sense in action, and I’ve also been upset when I’ve been in situations where they were both noticeably absent.

Defining courage sent me to my old friend, the dictionary. The definition was short and accurate: The attitude of facing and dealing with anything recognized as dangerous difficult, or painful, instead of withdrawing from it; quality of being fearless or brave. Common sense, on the other hand, was defined as: Ordinary good sense or sound practical judgment.

As I said, I’ve been in a lot of situations where I’ve witnessed both.

The title suggests that the two are at loggerheads, which I don’t necessarily believe is true. I think at times they must be used in tandem. Courage is something that’s measured in different ways and by different degrees. It isn’t always having the fortitude to charge up the hill. If there’s a machine gun nest at the top, and you stand no chance of making it, perhaps common sense should tell you to hunker down and call for an airstrike so you can get to the ultimate objective. I’m reminded of that scene in Patton where George C. Scott utters words to the effect, “No sorry son-of-a-bitch ever won a war by dying for his country. He won it by making the other sorry son-of-a-bitch die for his country.” If there was ever a clearer statement of the blending of courage and common sense, I’ve yet to hear it.

Being both a military vet and a former police officer, I’ve witnessed tremendous courage on the part of individuals. Whether it’s running toward the sound of gunfire, or feeling a bullet whiz by your head, courage can never be underrated. Tempering you actions with common sense is also necessary to complement courage. Some bean-counters cutting corners and ordering men into harm’s way without considering the consequences or giving them the equipment and resources they need is all too common in today’s world. I guess I should have said “men and women” in the previous sentence, given that things have changed... I’ve certainly witnessed courage on the part of both genders and know it’s not exclusive to either one. But as far as those bean counters go, for me, courage should also entail holding yourself accountable for your mistakes―something else that has unfortunately changed in recent times. Remember that sign President Harry S. Truman had on his desk: THE BUCK STOPS HERE. Like him or not, the man had guts and accountability.

I scanned long list of quotes about courage to try and find a good one to cap things off, and I was amazed at how many of them were duplicates. I’m not talking about similarities in meaning, but rather a kissing cousin to flat-out plagiarism. I won’t mention any names, but I found the following quote almost word for word being attributed to at least three different historical figures:

“Courage isn’t having the strength to go on, it is going on when you don’t have the strength.”

I couldn’t have said it better myself. Hey, wait a minute… I think I did say that once.

<Grin>

This week’s blog topic also reminded me of the whimsical tale of The Wizard of Oz, where the cowardly Lion and the brainless Scarecrow both accompany Dorothy to the Emerald City to see the Wizard. (The Tin Man doesn’t really count in this one.) The Lion is seeking courage and the Scarecrow wisdom (or common sense). Turns out they both had the qualities they sought all along. L. Frank Baum really had something there. When the chips are down, you have to look inside yourself and hopefully find that reservoir of courage, tempered by a bit of common sense, to do what you know has to be done.

Let me finish up by sharing a few of those inspiring quotes I found:

Courage is being scared to death, but saddling up anyway. – John Wayne

Courage is the most important of all virtues, because without courage you cannot practice any other virtue consistently. – Maya Angelou

Courage is stepping forward when all you can see is darkness. – Toni Sorenson

Courage is grace under pressure. – Ernest Hemingway

Comments

[camille minichino]

It's hard for me to imagine having anything close to the courage it takes for police, firefighters, military personnel and all the categories of first responders to do their jobs.

[Ellen Kirschman]

Excellent post. Made me think about my former professor, Charles Hampden-Turner, Ph.D. He used to talk about the danger of bifurcating values (in fact, he wrote a wonderful book on the subject titled Maps of the Mind. Here's one example: courage without caution equals recklessness while caution without courage equals cowardice.

[Ann]

Very thoughtful post, Mike, and I love the quotes. And Ellen, that's a great quote too!
Egads, now to think of something to say for my post tomorrow!

[Staci]

Great post, Mike. I love the quote from Patton!