The opposite of courage in our society is not cowardice, it is conformity.
Related quotes
The opposite for courage is not cowardice, it is conformity. Even a dead fish can go with the flow.
quote by Jim Hightower
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
The opposite of bravery is not cowardice but conformity.
quote by Robert Anthony
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
The nail that sticks out is hammered down. [More about the need for conformity than about tools, although conformity is a tool of society.]
That's Our Society
Cries,
Screams,
Tears,
Anarchy.
That's our society.
Pure hate,
Heartless souls,
Numb,
Prejudice.
That's our society.
Unwanted,
Vacant,
Deserted,
Plain.
That's our society.
Conformity,
Pain,
Death,
War.
That's our society.
It makes it seem like it's
Not where you'd want to
Be placed, doesn't it?
poem by Melissa Joy Chesky
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
To be one's self, and unafraid whether right or wrong, is more admirable than the easy cowardice of surrender to conformity.
quote by Irving Wallace
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
Courage stands halfway between cowardice and rashness, one of which is a lack, the other an excess of courage.
Coffee Courage
The bitter coffee kicked;
I shook and then I licked
My lips and gave a sigh.
Shattered eyes encouraged,
I nearly had envisaged
Waking up an eye.
Another sip; a jolt –
Not unlike a bolt
Of wattage from the mains.
My sockets under strain,
I tried it once again:
Aha! The light, the searing white –
My God, the bloody pain!
Copyright © Mark R Slaughter 2009
Courage, courage, coffee courage,
Courage, courage, courage,
Courage, courage, coffee courage,
Courage, courage, courage,
Courage, courage, coffee courage,
Courage, courage, courage,
Courage, courage, coffee courage,
Courage, courage, courage,
poem by Mark R Slaughter
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
I listen to people talking about this universal breakdown we are in and I marvel at their stupid cowardice. It is so obvious that they deliberately cheat themselves because their fear of change won't let them face the truth. They don't want to understand what has happened to them. All they want is to start the merry-go-round of blind greed all over again. They no longer know what they want this country to be, what they want it to become, where they want it to go. It has lost all meaning for them except as pig-wallow. And so their lives as citizens have no beginnings, no ends. They have lost the ideal of the Land of the Free. Freedom demands initiative, courage, the need to decide what life must mean to oneself. To them, that is terror. They explain away their spiritual cowardice by whining that the time for individualism is past, when it is their courage to possess their own souls which is dead — and stinking! No, they don't want to be free. Slavery means security — of a kind, the only kind they have courage for. It means they need not to think. They have only to obey orders from owners who are, in turn, their slaves!
quote by Eugene O'Neill
Submitted by Veronica Serbanoiu
Vote! | Copy!
Liquid Courage (2)
liquid courage you said
with a condescending smile
not understanding
it wasn't courage
but an expulsion
born of cowardice
the thought heartbreaking
the option breaking my heart
so I broke my heart
in a gasp
let my blood run cold
out to cover
my screaming mind
as something died
poem by Alex Haywood
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Falsehood is cowardice, the truth courage.
quote by Hosea Ballou
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
Conversation with an American Writer
'You have courage, ' they tell me.
It's not true. I was never courageous.
I simply felt it unbecoming
to stoop to the cowardice of my colleagues.
I've shaken no foundations.
I simply mocked at pretense and inflation.
Wrote articles. Scribbled no denunciations.
And tried to speak all on my mind.
Yes, I defended men of talent,
branding the hacks, the would-be writers.
But this, in general, we should always do;
and yet they keep stressing my courage.
Oh, our descendants will burn with bitter shame
to remember, when punishing vile acts,
that most peculiar time, when
plain honesty was labeled 'courage'...
poem by Yevgeny Yevtushenko
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
I find the earth to be a place of misery in which I am surrounded by the conformity that kills society.
quote by Matt LeBlanc
Submitted by Veronica Serbanoiu
Vote! | Copy! | In Romanian
Avoiding danger is not cowardice. Courage without discretion is no good.
In any free society, the conflict between social conformity and individual liberty is permanent, unresolvable, and necessary.
quote by Kathleen Norris
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
The Opposite Begins
When one has had it,
With a havoc that misfits...
That one agitated,
Finds an exit and splits.
People known to create conflict,
Seek an attention they don't get...
Until,
The opposite begins.
Opposition steps in.
They pretend a trust to believe,
To have others perceive but...
The opposite begins,
For them.
Wake up and take notice,
That the opposite begins for them.
Those who charade innocence.
The opposite begins for them.
Those masking evil intent.
The opposite begins for them.
When one has had it,
With a havoc that misfits...
Well,
The opposite begins.
The opposite begins.
And...
That one agitated,
Finds an exit and splits.
But then,
The opposite begins.
The opposite begins.
That one who's had it,
Splits and runs into love...
To know the opposite begins,
When someone genuine comes in...
To view.
When one has had it,
With a havoc that misfits...
Well,
The opposite begins.
The opposite begins.
And...
That one who's had it,
Splits and runs into love...
To know the opposite begins,
When someone genuine comes in...
To view.
They want it quick.
And...
When one has had it,
With a havoc that misfits...
To then see someone who genuinely fits,
Well...
The opposite begins pursued.
Oh yes it does.
An opposite begins pursued.
poem by Lawrence S. Pertillar
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
In Courage
In courage-you find
no fear
and in courage-no weakness
does appear
In courage-steps toward
danger taken
and in courage-strength
within awaken
In courage- a hero
takes shape
and in courage- the villain
can't escape
In courage-there is a call
to duty
and in courage-out of ugliness
comes beauty
poem by Dorsey Baker
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Courage is often lack of insight, whereas cowardice in many cases is based on good information.
quote by Peter Ustinov
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
Cowardice and courage are never without a measure of affectation. Nor is love. Feelings are never true. They play with their mirrors.
quote by Jean Baudrillard
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
I believe that writers, unless they consider themselves terribly exquisite, are at heart people who live by night, a little bit outside society, moving between delinquency and conformity.
quote by Guillermo Cabrera Infante
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
What Gives You Courage
Without fear there cannot be courage
Fear drives the unthinkable out of us
What gives you courage when there is none?
What gives you courage to get out of bed?
What gives you courage to drive when you know it's dangerous?
What gives you courage to succeed?
What gives you courage to survive?
What gives you courage to strive?
People have courage to live for their children
People have courage to live for themselves
People have courage to live for hope
People have courage because they believe
People have courage to not give up
Fear is not the essence of life
But a free soul not tamed
Courage is the journey of your heart
Guided by strength
On a path of untamed obstacles
Let courage guide you
As you begin your quest
poem by Alisha Ricks
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!