They're ugly, but those are the facts of life.
Harper LeeRead
Real courage is when you know you're licked before you begin, but you begin anyway and see it through no matter what.
Interpretation
What this quote means
True courage is acting in the face of inevitable failure.
This quote by Harper Lee emphasizes that real courage is not the absence of fear or the certainty of success, but rather the decision to take action despite knowing the odds are stacked against you. It illustrates the virtue of perseverance and determination, suggesting that one should pursue their goals with resolve, even when the outcome seems predetermined.
Themes
CouragePerseveranceDeterminationActionBravery
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used in a motivational speech to inspire people to face challenges head-on.
More from Harper Lee
All quotes →It's better to be silent than to be a fool.
Harper LeeRead
Don’t talk like that, Dill,” said Aunt Alexandra. “It’s not becoming to a child. It’s – cynical.” “I ain’t cynical, Miss Alexandra. Tellin’ the truth’s not cynical, is it?” “The way you tell it, it is.
Harper LeeRead
With him, life was routine; without him, life was unbearable.
Harper LeeRead
He turned out the light and went into Jem's room. He would be there all night, and he would be there when Jem waked up in the morning.
Harper LeeRead
You can choose your friends but you sho' can't choose your family, an' they're still kin to you no matter whether you acknowledge 'em or not, and it makes you look right silly when you don't.
Harper LeeRead
Similar quotes
It is plain that there is no separate essence called courage, no cup or cell in the brain, no vessel in the heart containing drops or atoms that make or give this virtue; but it is the right or healthy state of every man, when he is free to do that which is constitutional to him to do.
Ralph Waldo EmersonRead
Don’t wait to be hunted to hide, that was always my motto.
Samuel BeckettRead
The miracle isn't that I finished. The miracle is that I had the courage to start.
John BinghamRead
If we define risk as 'the likelihood of an irreversible negative outcome,' inaction is the greatest risk of all.
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I often laugh at Satan, and there is nothing that makes him so angry as when I attack him to his face, and tell him that through God I am more than a match for him
Martin LutherRead
When the Nobel Committee chose to honor me, the road I had chosen of my own free will became a less lonely path to follow.
Aung San Suu KyiRead