To dare

To dare is to lose your footing momentarily. To not dare is to lose yourself.

~ Kierkegaard

The right thing to do

In a moment of decision, the best thing to do is the right thing to do. The worst thing to do is nothing.

~ Theodore Roosevelt

Think wrongly

Think wrongly if you please, but in all cases, think for yourself.

~ Louisa May Alcott

If we are afraid to be different

If we are afraid to be different from the world, how can we make a difference in the world?

~ Rev. John Jenkins, President of Notre Dame University

Truman family motto

To do the right thing, to do the best we could, never complain, never take advantage, don't give up, don't be afraid. 

~ Family motto of Harry S. Truman, 33rd U.S. President

Tenacity

Tenacity is a pretty fair substitute for bravery. 

~ Eric Sevareid

A good anvil

A good anvil does not fear the hammer. 

~ Italian proverb

A man must do as he can when he cannot do as he would.

~ Thomas Draxe

One isn’t necessarily born with courage, but one is born with potential.

~ Maya Angelou

Men learn to do ill by doing nothing.

~ Cato

I look forward to a great future for America - a future in which our country will match its military strength with our moral restraint, its wealth with our wisdom, its power with our purpose.

~ John F. Kennedy

I propose to fight it out on this line if it takes all summer.

~ Ulysses S. Grant

The occasion is piled high with difficulty, and we must rise to the occasion. 

~ Abraham Lincoln

If the sky falls, hold up your hands.

~ Spanish proverb

Without courage, we cannot practice any other virtue with consistency.

~ Maya Angelou

Do not follow where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.

~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out — because I was not a Socialist. 

Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out — because I was not a Trade Unionist. 

Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out — because I was not a Jew. 

Then they came for me — and there was no one left to speak for me.

~ Martin Niemoller (1892-1984)
Protestant pastor who opposed the Nazi regime
and spent the last 7 years of Nazi rule in concentration camps

Go as far as the eye can see, and when you get there, look farther. 

~ Dag Hammarskjöld

In skating over thin ice our safety is in our speed.

~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

Have courage for the great sorrows in life and patience for the small ones; and when you have laboriously accomplished your daily task, go to sleep in peace. God is awake.

~ Victor Hugo