But courage in fighting is by no means the only form, nor perhaps even
the most important. There is courage in facing poverty, courage in
facing derision, courage in facing the hostility of one’s own herd. In
these, the bravest soldiers are often lamentably deficient. And above
all there is the courage to think calmly and rationally in the face
of danger, and to control the impulse of panic fear or panic rage.
These are certainly things which education can help to give. And the
teaching of every form of courage is rendered easier by good health,
good physique, adequate nourishment, and free play for fundamental
vital impulses. Perhaps the physiological sources of courage could
be discovered by comparing the blood of a cat with that of a rabbit.
In all likelihood there is no limit to what science could do in the
way of increasing courage, by example, experience of danger, an
athletic life, and a suitable diet. All these things our upper-class
boys to a great extent enjoy, but as yet they are in the main the
prerogative of wealth. The courage so far encouraged in the poorer
sections of the community is courage under orders, not the kind that
involves initiative and leadership. When the qualities that now confer
leadership have become universal, there will no longer be leaders and
followers, and democracy will have been realized at last.
But fear is not the only source of malevolence; envy and disappointment
also have their share. The envy of cripples and hunchbacks is
proverbial as a source of malignity, but other misfortunes than
theirs produce similar results. A man or woman who has been thwarted
sexually is apt to be full of envy; this generally takes the form of
moral condemnation of the more fortunate. Much of the driving force
of revolutionary movement is due to envy of the rich. Jealousy is, of
course, a special form of envy: envy of love. The old often envy the
young; when they do, they are apt to treat them cruelly.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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