importance of moral courage essay

Essay About Courage: Top 5 Examples and 6 Prompts 

Courage covers a range of topics and meanings. Here are examples and prompts to help you write your essay about courage.

Many believe bravery and courage mean the same thing and even use them interchangeably. However, though both describe heroic acts, they are not the same. Where bravery is the lack of fear, courage is taking action despite it. 

Some argue that courage takes more strength because it means sharing your story even though you may be ridiculed, rejected, and misunderstood. It takes courage to admit when you’re hurt or feel lost, vulnerable, and need help. 

If you’re having problems channeling and describing what courage is, here are examples that will assist you in connecting with this subject:

1. My Opinion About Courage by Gary Collins

2. moral courage by fernando wood, 3. courage by benjamin patrick, 4. the importance of courage by saloni, 5. essay on courage by manasi shewale, 1. what does courage mean to you, 2. your most courageous act, 3. a courageous hero, 4. things you are most afraid of, 5. what creates doubt, 6. a time when you failed to show courage and regretted it.

“And even then, she had no grudge against the world. She doesn’t think the world owes her. She never takes money or even grains that she hasn’t earned.”

In this essay, Collins shares his experience with courage through someone named Sunita. Sunita told Collins about her life and what made her who she is. Such as at a very young age, she fought to support herself because no one would have done that for her, and many other tales. 

Her stories made Collins realize how lucky he is and how he should be grateful for the many opportunities that come his way without the need to suffer as she did. He also includes that Sunita lives on to inspire others with her courage.

Check out these essays about beliefs .

“Moral courage is standing up for values such as honesty, fairness, compassion, respect, and responsibility but just having these values are not enough we have to try to put them into practice, and we have to commit to moral principles as well…”

Moral courage is doing what’s right and following what your conscience dictates. Wood has three significant elements of moral courage: principle, endurance, and danger.

He explains moral courage through Geoge Norris, Nelson Mandela, and Malala Youssafzai. These people took risks even if their lives were in danger to follow their conscience and do the right things. Wood instills that moral courage is essential in making a critical move, especially when choosing the greater good.

“Courage is the only thing that gets us through the hard times, and the tempting opportunities. Courage is vital to the evolution of the human population. It is also an essential quality to becoming a successful person.”

Patrick discusses how courage helps a person succeed in life. He mentions that we all have courage, but some use it differently than others.

He gives an example of a girl who plays hockey, where the other members are all boys. They looked down on her because of her gender. But instead of giving up, she took it as a challenge and courageously showed them she could play at their level. She became friends with most of the team, but there was one boy who kept on bullying her. The boy misused his courage, but the girl used her courage to fight him off.

“Courage is mental and moral strength to venture, persevere, and withstand danger, fear, or difficulty. It is the firmness of mind and will in the face of danger or extreme difficulty.”

Saloni’s essay shows two kinds of courage: physical and moral. People who depend on physical strength show physical courage. They can protect and help others. If a person is weak, they are not physically courageous. 

On the other hand, one’s honesty connects to their moral courage. They are the ones with convictions and don’t support evil works. Even if you are a weak person, you can still be morally courageous. Unfortunately, this courage is rare nowadays because people are afraid of being attacked mentally and emotionally. To be morally courageous means to be a fighter to go against wrong-doings.

“It is very difficult to keep up your morals and therefore, gather up the necessary courage to fight against the wrong situations. Therefore, in today’s date, it is even rarer to find a person with the proper morals required to live a satisfactory life.”

Shewale shares little acts of courage in our everyday lives – such as a girl who loves to dance but is afraid of the stage or a person who’s readying themselves for a job interview. Courage is not only shown in grand scenes but in small acts that help us survive our daily lives.

The author further discusses events where courage helps in more controversial fields, such as injustices to farmers and students’ bullying. 

If you want to upgrade your writing style, check out these top essay writing tips to level up your essay.

6 Prompts on Essay About Courage

After reading relevant examples in essays about courage, it’s now your turn to try your hand at creating one. Below are prompts that can guide you in your essay writing:

There is no one definition of courage. It differs from each individual, and its meaning is affected by our experiences and knowledge. In this prompt, share the word “courage” and discuss what courage means to you. When do you feel courageous, and why? Then, describe personal experiences of being courageous or stories of courageous people who inspire you.

Think about a time when you were courageous. Create an essay based on this event and describe in detail what happened. Convey your thoughts and feelings, and show why you were courageous. 

Write an essay about a hero in your life. This could be a celebrity you admire, a relative or friend, or a teacher in school. Describe why this person is courageous, why you look up to them, and how they inspire you. Make sure to include fine details of their personality and how they act. This will make for an exciting and compelling essay.

The first step to being courageous is acknowledging you are afraid. Then, to get your fears out of the way, you need to identify what and why they exist. This prompt lets you connect with your readers who have the same worries. 

For example, you can share that you’re afraid of rejection, being alone, etc. Then, discuss why and what you plan to do to overcome them. You can also write about how you plan to be courageous while still afraid.

Our greatest challenge to succeeding in something is doubting ourselves. When we doubt ourselves, we start to think of all the things that can go wrong. So we show our courage by being afraid of these negative consequences but still trying and hoping for a good result. 

Share an experience when you still tried, even when you’re unsure. It doesn’t need to have the best ending. You only have to prove that it’s better to try and fail than fail without trying at all. 

There will always be times when we desperately want to be more courageous but fail to do so due to various factors. Write about that experience, share your feelings, and what you’ll do if you have the chance to repeat that situation. 

Do you want to write about another topic aside from courage? Check out this list of best writing topics for students !

Greater Good Science Center • Magazine • In Action • In Education

The Roots of Moral Courage

In a world that too frequently feels cruel and hostile, with so many engaged in a dog-eat-dog struggle, why do certain people perform heroic acts of altruism and compassion while others do nothing—or even contribute to the misery of their fellow man? In particular, how can we answer the questions posed by Paul Ekman in his Greater Good Science Center presentation : Where does this kind of heroic compassion come from? Is it something that can be taught?

These are the kind of questions I have explored over 20 years of research. In that time, I have studied different types of altruists, from philanthropists to rescuers of Jews during the Holocaust to recipients of the Carnegie Medal, awarded to civilians who perform exceptional acts of heroism. I have conducted both surveys and in-depth interviews with these people, asking them a wide variety of questions but mostly focusing on what made them do what they did. I then analyzed these interviews using a method of interpretation similar to the kind of psychological analysis a therapist does when listening to a patient talk.

I found that what drove such altruists is what I call the “altruistic perspective,” a particular way of looking at the world in which altruists see themselves as bound to others through their common humanity. Where the rest of us see a stranger, the altruist sees a fellow human being. This worldview is such a part of the altruist’s basic identity that it makes some actions—turning away from those in need, for example—simply unimaginable. It is analogous to the way we consider our options at a restaurant: It’s tough to get sushi at an Italian bistro; it’s just not on the menu. So it is with the altruistic perspective: It presents some of us with moral choices that differ significantly from the options available to others. Altruists simply have a different cognitive menu.

This is not to say that other people lack morals. Indeed, research suggests that most of us innately posses what I call an “ethical perspective.” For example, scientific evidence suggests we have an innate preference for fairness. We are offended and upset by acts that violate this sense. Research has found that people feel disgust for certain behaviors, such as incest, just as they’re disgusted by objects like rotten food. What’s more, experiments with dogs suggest this may be part of our animal nature.

In one experiment, for instance, researchers asked dogs to shake hands. When the dogs did so, they were given a pat on the head and a “Good dog.” The dogs wagged their tails and seemed pleased. The first group of dogs was then sent to the other side of the room and a second group was brought in. The experiment was repeated—except that the second group of dogs got a pat on the head, a “Good dog,” and a treat to eat. The first group of dogs observed this. When the experiment was then repeated with the first group, they refused to shake hands, suggesting they were not willing to perform in a situation in which they were given second-class treatment. It was not fair, and it offended them.

But why do some of us build on this moral foundation more than others? If we think of this universal (or nearly universal) ethical perspective as a yardstick, then it seems as if the altruists’ cognitive framework corresponds to the last part of the yardstick—inches 30 to 36, perhaps—while others fall at different points on the stick. What sets the altruists apart?

To answer that question, I returned to my World War II rescuers and compared them with people who were bystanders or even Nazi supporters during the war. I found clear differences in worldview, self-image, and the way the different groups classified themselves in relation to others.

Rescuers have self-images that are inclusive and broadly based, with a strong sense of agency; bystanders see themselves as people who are weak on agency, with little control over their lives and little they can do to affect outside events. They think in terms of group identity more than do rescuers, seeing themselves as members of exclusive groups while rescuers see themselves as members of a common humanity.

Finally and ironically, Nazis have a victim mentality, seeing themselves as members of a group that had been treated badly and threatened by Jews, Social Democrats, homosexuals, etc. Their sense of agency was strong but only insofar as they felt connected with the winds of history. Nazis were the strongest communitarians, feeling close ties for members of their own self-defined group but having little (if any regard) for those who fell outside their group.

Based on these findings, I conclude that everyone does have an innate ethical perspective, but the details are guided by immediate factors, such as the individual’s background and life situation, much as an innate propensity for language is guided by the specific linguistic context of the country and society into which one is born and raised.

This brings me to the second question Paul Ekman poses : Can heroic compassion be taught? Of course, it would be impossible to conduct controlled research that provides a definitive answer to this question because that would require simulating the kind of situation that World War II rescuers faced. But I have studied whether developing empathy for another person encourages more humane treatment of them.

For several years I taught a class that used an interview technique meant to foster empathy for “the other,” in the hope that it would foster more tolerant attitudes and compassionate treatment of others. Students in the class were given verbal and written tests to gauge their attitudes toward diverse groups; they also took Implicit Association Tests (IAT), designed to measure a person’s underlying, subconscious prejudice. (For example, students view photographs of old and young people on a computer, and are told to press a button labeling the young people as “good” and another labeling the elderly as “bad.” Then they take the test again, reversing the labels. Because most people in Western society view youth more positively than old age, they respond more quickly and accurately when they have to label the photos of young people as the “good” ones.)

In the class, we discussed many types of difference—race, ethnicity, religion—but zeroed in on age, and asked the students to conduct a detailed interview with an elderly person, preferably one in their own family. Since our intervention focused on the elderly, we expected a shift in attitudes toward old people.

After their interviews, we again measured the students’ attitudes toward other groups. We compared the results with those of a control group, which hadn’t interviewed an elderly person.

We found mixed results. Students’ verbal and written assessment of their overall attitudes toward the elderly suggested a clear change, but the IAT results showed no statistically meaningful shift in attitudes toward old people. This discrepancy may be due to the effect of power dynamics in the classroom. In order to please the professor, students may have verbally expressed a change in their attitudes toward the elderly. Nonetheless, the IAT scores, which reflect unconscious attitudes, showed no change of these attitudes.

But those IAT measurements did offer a pleasant surprise: They revealed a strong and significant shift in attitudes toward women with careers. We hadn’t expected to see changes toward this group at all. The fact that both the professor and the teaching assistant were female, in an intense and well-received seminar setting where students had extensive faculty involvement, might have inadvertently served to foster empathy toward members of a group—in this case, career women—that was heretofore unknown to most students, many of whose mothers were immigrants who stayed at home or had jobs with low status. If so, this would suggest that our initial hypothesis is correct: Empathic involvement with a member of a group that is discriminated against can shift attitudes toward such group members. But the involvement needs to be more extensive than simply a short (one-to-three-hour) interview.

While this is but one small experiment, even our tentative, initial results shed light on the possible factors that may influence a positive change in attitudes toward a group initially judged to be “different,” and it represent an important step toward developing classroom-based programs that promote ethics. Whether this kind of limited intervention will foster the kind of heroic altruism found in World War II rescuers is another issue, but the initial results suggest empathizing with another does encourage more humane treatment of that person’s group.

Certainly, the rescuers I have interviewed demonstrated tremendous empathy toward all groups—Jews, Allied airmen, political resistors to the Nazis, even Nazis themselves—so their ethical treatment of others seems related to this sense of connection fostered by empathy. This connection is also supported by research by Samuel and Pearl Oliner of Humboldt State University, who questioned people who rescued Jews during the Holocaust and found that empathy was key to their motivations, as well as by many experimental studies by psychologist Daniel Batson.

Without a doubt, the importance of empathy in our treatment of others seems worthy of further investigation. I encourage other scholars to pursue these findings in future work as we attempt to understand the roots of the “altruistic perspective”—both for our daily lives and for those events that require acts of moral courage.

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About the Author

Kristen renwick monroe.

Kristen Renwick Monroe, Ph.D. , is a professor of political science and philosophy at the University of California, Irvine, where she is the founder and director of the Interdisciplinary Center for the Scientific Study of Ethics and Morality and the associate director of the program in political psychology. She is the author of The Heart of Altruism , which was a Pulitzer Prize nominee, and The Hand of Compassion , which was nominated for a National Book Award. She is also a co-editor of the volume On Behalf of Others: The Psychology of Benevolence in a Global World .

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We Are All Bystanders

Many years ago, for my Master’s thesis, I researched altruism by looking at the winners of the Carnegie Medal for Heroism.  I had a small sample, only about 30 people, but had some interesting results.  Contrary to what I had expected based on demographics in the US, Methodists outnumbered all other religions.  Following up on this, I discovered that Methodists are asked to sign a “social contract” encouraging them to help others.  The other interesting finding was also counter-intuitive.  When responding to the question about birth order, more Carnegie recipients identified themselves as youngest children, rather than oldest which is what I had hypothesized.  Looking further, I hypothesized that this group of youngest children were “well loved” thereby instilling in them a sense of efficacy.  I would be curious to know if you have looked at either birth order or religion in your research on altruism.

Barbara Luby | 9:00 am, June 25, 2010 | Link

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The Importance of Moral Courage

This is an excerpt from Ch 14, “Trust: The Key to Combat Leadership” by Colonel (Retired) Patrick Sweeney, Ph.D., from the book “Leadership Lessons from West Point”.  The chapter delves into the top ten attributes of a leader who can be trusted in combat as determined by Sweeney’s research on trust and leadership in an actual combat environment during Operation Iraqi Freedom in May 2003.  Those attributes, in order of importance, are: competent, loyal, honesty/good integrity, leads by example, self-control (stress management), confident, courageous (physical and moral), shares information, personal connection with subordinates and strong sense of duty.

The second dimension of leader courage deals with leaders’ moral strength to do the right thing in all situations.  Moral courage entails a leader’s strength of character to be willing to incur risk in order to act according to his or her values and beliefs and stand up to authority to protect his or her soldiers’ welfare or defend his or her decisions.  Thus, moral courage enables leaders to live with integrity, act to uphold the loyalty to their subordinates, and execute their duties with confidence.  Subordinates can trust leaders who have the courage to act in accordance with their values because they know the directives they issue will be honest and based on values.  Subordinates will not depend on or trust a leader who possesses good job knowledge, has a good set of values and beliefs, and has loyalty to subordinates but lacks the moral courage to put these skills, values, and beliefs into action.  Therefore, a leader’s moral courage provides the force of will to do what is right regardless of the situation and the costs the leader must incur.  In combat, this is critical because leaders’ moral courage and integrity define the moral and ethical boundaries that subordinates must operate within.

Furthermore, soldiers’ responses indicated they would trust combat leaders who were not afraid to take a stand for what they believed in, the decisions they made, or what is the proper way to conduct business.  Leaders must have the moral courage to handle the consequences of taking a stand with the chain of command to fight for what they believe is right.  The following statements illustrate qualities of moral courage that lead to the development of trust:

“[I place a high value on a leader’s] strength when it comes to standing up to the company commander, so that fire-support team members were used properly and not as machine gunners.” – Staff sergeant, infantry company fire support noncommissioned office, Qayyarah West Airbase, northern Iraq

“Courage [is important because] a leader must be able to take risks and not back down from confrontation.” – Private first class, infantry company forward observer radio operator, Qayyarah West Airbase, northern Iraq

Moral courage is equally important to leadership in business, nonprofit, political, or any other type of organization.  Group members always expect their leaders to have the moral courage to act in accordance with their own and the organization’s values.  Thus, leaders’ moral courage provides group members with a sense of confidence that leaders will behave in a moral and ethical manner and take action to promote the best interests of the organization and its members.  This confidence that leaders have the strength to act morally and ethically leads to the development of trust, which increases group members’ willingness to follow.

Enron’s, Tyco’s, and Adelphi’s senior business leaders lacked the moral courage to act in accordance with their own and their organization’s values.  The consequences of this leadership failure were devastating to the companies, the employees, retirees, and shareholders.  Employees lost their jobs, retirees lost their pensions and sense of security, shareholders lost their equity, and the public lost trust in the companies.  Whether these senior leaders actively participated in the fraud or tolerated it by not coming forward, they all lacked moral courage to do the right thing.  Thus, the agency that comes with moral courage helps ensure group members that leaders do the right thing by the organization and all people associated with it. 

Colonel Patrick Sweeney, Ph.D.

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Essay on Is Moral Courage Important than Physical Courage

We all have heard about these lines in the advertisements that “Dar ke aage jeet hai”. Have you ever thought that what is the thing that brings victory after the fear? It is the courage that fosters us for getting victory over our fears. Without being courageous we cannot avail that victory. In the advertisement, the role of courage is compared to the soft drink. In real life, it is the physical and moral courage that makes us successful.

Short and Long Essay on Is Moral Courage Important than Physical Courage in English

Short and long essay provided below will help you in understanding courage, the importance of physical and moral courage. This will enable you to make out the difference between moral and physical courage. I hope that these essays might be beneficial for students and readers.

10 Lines Essay on Is Moral Courage Important than Physical Courage (100-120 Words)

1) We all know that moral courage is more important than physical courage.

2) Physical courage has only limited application.

3) Mental courage is more powerful and impactful than physical courage.

4) Mental courage can help you to fight even if you are having a bad physique.

5) People with great mental power can achieve moral courage easily.

6) Moral courage makes you stronger from the inside.

7) Moral courage helps you to make decisions wisely.

8) People with moral courage are respected everywhere.

9) Great fights and wars can be won through moral courage.

10) Moral courage gives us the power to distinguish between right and wrong.

Short Essay – 250 Words

Introduction

Courage is defined as the power in us to overcome any kind of fear. It inculcates in us the ability to stand for something that is right and oppose wrong deeds. Physical and moral courage are the two types of courage that are possessed by human beings. Both types of courage are important and have their own significance.

Moral Courage is scarcely used

Physical courage means that courage that is represented by the body. It is the power of the people who have great physical strength. They try to defend themselves by using their physical strength. The use of physical courage is not good every time. It results in war, bloodshed, and destruction. Moral courage is mainly the strength of people who have wider thinking capability. This is the virtue of wise people who live their life according to their own principles and values.

Moral courage instills power in us to oppose any wrong deed. We have observed that people mostly apply physical courage to tackle difficult situations in life. It is because this seems easy to make others fearful by our physical power. The use of moral courage by people is very rare in the world. People are easily involved in fights and taking revenge rather than thinking of solutions to any of the problems by using moral courage.

Physical strength loses when the body is weakened

Physical courage is developed by strengthening our body while mental courage is attained by exercising our mental capability. Physical courage declines after the body strength are weakened in old age while this is not applicable to moral courage. Moral courage never declines and remains with us till death.

Moral courage is therefore regarded as more important than physical courage. The use of moral courage can only ensure the peaceful living of human beings on the planet.

How Moral Courage is Important than Physical Courage – Long Essay

The word ‘courage’ is about doing anything bravely. Courage is an important virtue that is required by us to tackle different situations in our life either it is physical or moral courage. It totally depends upon us that what we have to apply at that time. It is the potential of doing something rather than boasting. There are very few people in this world who opt to show this virtue.

What is Courage?

There is a word called fear. I hope that every one of us experiences this at different times in their life. The power to overcome this fear is called courage. Courage is an ability that instills in us to do something that is difficult for us but is right. It is the quality of brave people as everyone does not have the power to show this quality.

It is an attribute that develops willingness in us to do something to protect our interest. Courage is the power that prevents us from doing those things that pleases someone and provides us discomfort. It is a quality of facing any distressing situation in life. It is a virtue that brings us into action and stands for anything wrong. We can say that it is the potential to stand for the right thing and prevent the happening of anything wrong.

Physical Courage v/s Moral Courage

Have you ever felt the difference between physical and moral courage? Yes, these are the two different types of courage.

• Physical Courage – Physical courage as the name itself implies that it is related to physical strength. This type of courage depends upon strengthening of the body that is possible by strenuous exercises. It is courage that is represented by a strong body. It can be attained by everyone by becoming them strong physically. The sportsperson, wrestlers, boxers, soldiers, etc. are the examples of possessing this type of courage.

Physical courage is required at different times to fight from the difficult situations of life. The wars by the people in history for getting their rights are a great example of using physical strength. This strength has its limited application as it does not work well in every situation in our life.

• Moral Courage – Moral courage is the virtue of the people who have great mental strength. It is the quality that is irrespective of body strength and can be possed by anyone who has great mental power. There are very few people who have strong moral courage. They are a source of inspiration and respected by everyone in society. The people abiding the moral values and some principles in life show the moral courage in them to speak for protecting their moral values from being violated. It is an act of thinking wisely about the consequences before acting.

We have seen people following their leaders or higher authority in different sectors even if they are wrong. They are ready to accept anything that is said by the boss. It may because of the fear of losing a job or reputation. Moral courage is most required at that time to face the situation by overcoming our fear. It is then we are respected by others because of our courageous behavior. Moral courage requires great power to support the right thing and stand against the wrong irrespective of the consequences.

• Physical v/s Moral courage – Physical courage cannot be applied every time in our life. Moral courage is required most of the time to tackle the problems. But it is sad to state that moral courage is lacking in our society and everybody needs revenge. Suppose there is a war declared between two countries. One is having a sufficient number of soldiers to fight the war while the other is devoid of the number of soldiers. The only way to get out of this problem is to apply moral courage and find out the solution to get rid of the idea of war. The physical courage in this situation will only lead to destruction and pain.

How Moral Courage is Important than Physical Courage?

Physical and moral courage are two types of courage possed by human beings. It depends upon the situation that which type of courage has to be used. Moral courage is not the virtue that can be possed by all. It is the quality of people who abide by some values and principles in their life.

There are very less people in our society with moral courage. It is the power that helps us to speak us for anything wrong with us and of course every one of us does not have this courage. It is the virtue of people who does not have greed for the wealth of powerful position in life. The main thing they care is of doing the right thing in life. They are the great souls with a great potential to forgive instead of taking revenge. One can take the help of physical courage to get a high position in life but would not be able to attain the same and respect for longer duration without applying moral courage.

The great examples of people with moral courage are Swami Vivekananda, Mahatma Gandhi, Mother Teresa, Nelson Mandela, etc. It was because of the moral courage that Mahatma Gandhi was able to make India free from British rule. He fought bravely against them without the use of any weapon by presenting great moral courage. In this way, he also became a great exemplar for the people of the whole world. It is not that we remember Gandhiji because of his body or beauty. We remember him because of the great ideas and principles of his life. He always stood courageously for making his principles never go down. The potential of showing moral courage has the power of changing the world. Even the application of physical courage requires the use of moral courage before acting. Thus moral courage is considered more important than physical courage.

Moral courage makes us stronger and enriches us with the ability to stand for anything that harms us. Physical courage is easy to attain and there are many people that are having physical courage but at the same time, moral courage is also necessary to distinguish between right and wrong. We must try to develop the power of moral courage that will surely help in ending injustice and wrong and grant us a better world.

FAQs: Frequently Asked Questions

Ans. It is a potential to withstand fear and difficulties.

Ans. Lion is an animal that represents deathless courage and strength .

Ans. The ability to do something that is full of risk or doing anything for the first time is an example of courage.

Related information:

Essay on Mahatma Gandhi

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Courage Essay - Nuts and Bolts

By: Angelina Grin

The Merriam-Webster dictionary gives the following definition of courage: it is mental or moral strength to venture, persevere, and withstand danger, fear, or difficulty. As if a fairly clear explanation, however, for many people this concept has different manifestations. Courage, bravery, boldness are synonymous words. They are associated with manifestations of human nature in any emergency situation, and sometimes in everyday life. That is why this topic is quite common for essays in high schools.

Courage Essay Example for You

Essay on courage: historical figures as the best example.

Our article will give you all the answers to the question of "How to write my essay on courage?"

Courage is a very important human trait. Some people think that brave people are exclusively soldiers, rescuers, firefighters and do not consider themselves as such. But I do not agree with this opinion, I believe that everyone can be courageous.

Courage, in my opinion, is a characteristic of a person that complements his boldness. Courageous people are not afraid of responsibility, do not shy away from actions, they have a sense of duty and will always come to the rescue. It may sound a little exaggerated and festive, but in everyday life, courage can be manifested in different ways.

You can often see students at school, having received bad grades, tearing pages from the diary, trying to hide this fact. But there are other students: they go home, show their parents the diary and are responsible for their grades. I can call these children courageous, because even such an act requires moral courage.

Someone will disagree with me and say that it is empty, that it is not the case at all. But everything in life starts small: the responsibility for evaluation in the future can lead to the responsibility for greater actions.

How to become courageous? You need to believe in yourself, look around and ask yourself the question "What can I do?". Maybe someone needs help? You do not have to go far - you can help your mother, grandmother. You can reach out to them for help on the first request, without referring to school workload or headaches. Furthermore, you can protect the weaker when the opportunity arises. You can confess to bad deeds and endure punishment. Courage comes from within and it begins with boldness.

As people grow older, each of their characteristics becomes stronger. Love - in relation to their own children, courage - in more important courageous act for society. One of the best examples of courage is Nelson Mandela. Mandela began his adult life as an underground resistance leader, grew up as a political prisoner, and became a symbol of his country's transition to a multinational and multiracial democracy when he became its president. He is a great example of a man with incredible moral strength. In addition to political victories, he committed other acts worthy of respect. After the death of his eldest son from AIDS, he struggled with the spread of the disease. Thus, he once again showed courage when he spoke publicly about this loss at a time when the topic of AIDS was almost taboo. Mandela died as a great man - in the eyes of many as great as his hero Gandhi, as a man who changed the country, using not the force of arms, but a moral example.

Courageous are the teachers who spend their nights checking our notebooks and putting all their best into us, courageous are the pilots of the planes that take to the skies every day. Doctors, saving people's lives every day, also show courage, because the decision to take this path already requires determination and courage. Salesmen, janitors, educators, police officers - all people in life at least once find themselves in a situation where they have to show courage.

Everyone is courageous in their own way, someone does their daily work without thinking about the fact that in someone's eyes he appears as a hero and a daredevil. You just have to look around and think about the surrounding people, and then you can be surprised: how different everyone is! How many brave and courageous people there are in the world!

The Best Tips for Writing a Courage Essay

The following tips guide students in the right direction when working on a courage essay.

• Your essay will be a reflection on the concept of courage. So it is worth starting with the main thing - how do you understand this human virtue.
• Argue your point in the body of the essay - give as many examples from life as possible. Have you met brave people? Where and under what circumstances did they show their courage? Think of examples from literature and movies - there are many worthy characters.
• Finally, describe once again your vision of the concept of courage. In what it is shown most of all?
• If you want to get high-quality homework help on the subject of courage, contact a good writing service. Professional authors will write you a unique essay, check it for plagiarism and provide an essay editing service.

Many plots of classical literature are devoted to brave people. It is literature that allows us not to forget about the great feats, many of which are based on real events. Even more examples of brave people exist in real life. Next, we will talk about people of great courage in history and literature, that you can use as an example in your essay.

• Beowulf is a kind of ideal courageous hero. His battle with Grendel is an allegorical description of the warrior's struggle against evil in himself. He defeated Grendel, which means both evil in himself and his fears. This is a manifestation of true courage.
• "Profiles in Courage" is a work written by John F. Kennedy, President of the United States, who died for his advanced views on the reconstruction of America and world relations. The 35th President of the United States remained in world memory as one of the country's brightest political figures. His tragic death continues to arouse genuine interest in the personality and views of the great man. The book was written by him personally long before his election to the presidency. This is a historical and biographical story written in simple language. The author talks about the general traits of the outstanding Americans, famous for their steadfastness and loyalty to great goals. Reveals Kennedy's secret and his personality - political courage. Today, students from various schools and universities compete for the title of best author in The Profile in Courage Essay Contest.
• "Courage is when you know in advance that you have lost, and yet you get down to business and in spite of everything in the world you go to the end. You rarely win, but sometimes you still win." Harper Lee, "To kill a Mockingbird" . Atticus taught his children to really think and ask the right questions, and to walk with their heads held high when everyone around them thinks you are different.
• Stephen Crane's "The Red Badge of Courage" is a story about growing up. It was written 30 years after the Civil War, but has not lost its relevance. The work answers the question of what courage is. Sometimes we have to face our fears to know ourselves in a new way. It is in this case that we show our courage. The story of Henry Fleming and his journey from a frightened, young man to a courageous soldier illuminates important themes many students encounter in their lives, including overcoming fear, soldiering duty and honor, definition of courage, and seeking redemption.

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Moral Courage

Nursing continues to be the most trusted of professions (Norman, 2016, cited in DeSimone 2019).  As a profession, nursing cannot separate itself from moral/ethical intent and behavior.  Nursing educators therefore have a huge responsibility for building a strong moral and ethical foundation upon which future nurses will build their practice.  

Moral courage is the ability to stand up for and practice that which one considers ethical, moral behavior when faced with a dilemma, even if it means going against countervailing pressure to do otherwise.  Those with moral courage resolve to “do the right thing” even if it puts them at personal risk of losing employment, isolation from peers and other negative consequences. One should stand up for what is right even if it means standing alone (Murray, 2010). According to former Senator from Maine Margaret Chase Smith: The right way is not always the popular and easy way. Standing for right when it is unpopular is a true test of moral character.

One should not confuse moral courage with moral arrogance or moral certitude. Individual, social, and cultural values may differ, so it is important to have open, respectful communication (Murray, 2010) While the values of honesty, integrity, fairness, compassion and respect seem to be universal, different cultures might prioritize them differently.

Nurses need moral courage to assure quality care and safety of patients, to interact with other healthcare professionals and to advocate for consistent universal care with healthcare and community organizations (Pajakoski, 2021).  Moral courage is needed to deal with unethical, unsafe or discriminatory practices (Murray, 2010).

To clarify the elements of moral courage, Numminen et al. (2016) analyzed literature and arrived at these attributes:  true presence, moral integrity, responsibility, honesty, advocacy, commitment and perseverance, and personal risk. Antecedents were ethical sensitivity, conscience, and experience. Consequences included personal and professional development and empowerment (Numminen et al., 2016)

(Adapted from  Kidder, 2005 )

He further makes us aware of impediments to exercising moral courage:

Lachman (2010) has written extensively about the virtue of moral courage.  To bolster the teaching and ability to act with moral courage, she suggests the following using the acronym CODE:

• C ourage to be moral requires:
• O bligations to honor (What is the right thing to do?)
• D anger management (What do I need to handle my fear?)
• E xpression and action (What action do I need to take to maintain my integrity?)

She discusses strategies for overcoming risk-aversion and fear in order to speak out and “do what’s right.”

Reflections:

Questions and exercises to consider with classmates and/or colleagues:

• Courage means overcoming fear - fear of failure, fear of ostracism, fear of being wrong.  Identify which aspects of clinical care cause you most fear.  What do you do to overcome that fear?
• What do you fear most in interpersonal interaction?  How do you overcome that fear in order to manage difficult discussions?
• Could we say the staff who opposed the openness and kind of care being given on 5B were exhibiting moral courage? 

Helpful Resources

Learn How to Cultivate Moral Courage Blog post by Senior Policy Advisor Liz Stokes for Healthy Nurse Healthy Nation

Recommended Readings & Viewings

DeSimone, B.  (2019). Curriculum redesign to build the moral courage values of accelerated bachelor’s degree nursing students . Sage Open Nursing , Vol 5, 1-10.

Edmonson. C. (February 17, 2015). Strengthening moral courage among nurse leaders .  OJIN: The Online Journal of Issues in Nursing ,  Vol. 20 No. 2.

Fowler, M.D. (April 7, 2021). The Nightingale still sings: ten ethical themes in early nursing in the United Kingdom, 1888-1989 .  OJIN: The Online Journal of Issues in Nursing,  Vol. 26, No. 2.

Kidder, R. M. (1996). How good people make tough choices: Resolving the dilemmas of ethical living (1st Fireside ed.). New York: Simon & Schuster.

Lachman, V.D. (September 30, 2010). Strategies necessary for moral courage . OJIN: The Online Journal of Issues in Nursing , Vol. 15, No. 3, Manuscript 3.

Murray, J. S. (September 30, 2010). Moral courage in healthcare: acting ethically even in the presence of risk . OJIN: The Online Journal of Issues in Nursing, Vol. 15, No 3.

Numminen, O., Repo, H. & Leino-Kilpi, H. (2016). Moral courage in nursing: A concept analysis. Nursing Ethics , 24(8), 878-891.

Olson, L.L., (January 31, 2021). Envisioning an ethical climate in nursing education programs .  OJIN: The Online Journal of Issues in Nursing ,  Vol. 26, No. 1, Manuscript 7.

Pajakoski, E., Rannikko, S., Leino-Kilpi, H. & Numminen, O. (2021). Moral courage in nursing: an integrative literature review.  Nursing & Health Sciences , 23(3), 570-585.

www.moraldistressproject.med.uky.edu

https://youtube.com/watch?v=eFxQfHOnVVc

Essay on Courage | Meaning, Types, & Purpose of Courage in Life

Courage is often described as a virtue representing one’s ability to perform actions despite external threats, social sanctions or internal fears, and is considered to be a defining quality of a hero.

So, the simple answer to this question is that courage is doing something despite fear, but courage is actually much more than that. Courage is the ability to do what you feel is right in spite of external pressure or personal fears; It’s not about being completely unafraid, or not fearing anything.

Essay on Courage | Meaning, Value & Necessity having Courage in Life Essay for Students

Courage is calling out sexism when you see it, even if it might make you unpopular. It’s saying no when someone makes a pass at you, even though they may turn violent. Courage is standing up for yourself and others when a group of people are making racist jokes about minorities, even though those people may be stronger than you.

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Courage is lacking the will to run away from your responsibilities, the will to stand up for yourself and others if you can see that they are wronged, or even just refraining from saying something stupid because there’s a chance people will laugh at you.

Types of Courage

There are three main types of courage: physical, moral and existential. Physical courage is the type that most people think of when they hear the word ‘courage’: The bravery to face any kind of physical pain or difficulty, especially in dangerous circumstances. Moral courage is the ability to do what’s right even when it means standing up for yourself or other people in the face of opposition. Existential courage is the ability to come to terms with existential problems, big or small, that may arise in life.

Importance of Courage in Life

Courage is a refusal to allow external pressure or personal fears to prevent you from doing what you know is right. It’s not about being completely unafraid, or not fearing anything; it’s the ability to do what you feel is right in spite of external pressure or personal fears. So, courage is not about never feeling afraid or always being heroic and overcoming your fears; it’s about acknowledging that fear exists but choosing to do what you think is right anyway.

Courage isn’t just important in life because it’s necessary for doing good things that need to be done, but also because it has positive effects on your mental health. Many of the people who are brave enough to call out sexism, racism, bigotry, homophobia, etc.

How to develop Courage?

”Courage is the first of human qualities because it’s the quality which guarantees all others.’ ‘- Winston Churchill.

So, gathering courage isn’t an easy task but if you want to be courageous you have to start by cultivating your bravery, self-confidence and self-esteem. You can begin this process by gradually working towards facing your fears. You can start with small things that you’re a bit afraid of and work your way up to bigger obstacles over time. Once you face a fear, it becomes less scary, so this process will help you feel more empowered and build confidence.

What Courage teaches us?

‘Courage is being scared to death, but saddling up anyways.’ – John Wayne

So, if you’re a student courage can teach you a lot of great things. Courage teaches students the importance of seeing things through to the end no matter what obstacles may come their way. Many times life will hand us some pretty big setbacks and it’s important to have the courage to push through them anyway. If you’re a student who’s facing several struggles, don’t let these roadblocks stop you from working towards your goals.

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Thus, in this article i have tried to elaborate the importance of courage in life. In a nutshell, i can say that when our minds are capable of overcoming fear and doing what we know is right in spite of opposition, when we have the strength to stand up for ourselves and others despite what might happen, then we’re truly living courageously.

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Doing the right thing: Pathways to moral courage

Patient advocacy requires nurses to support and protect their patients. Nurses often find themselves in ethically questionable situations that conflict with their personal and professional morals. Sometimes, speaking out for the patient requires them to demonstrate moral courage—for instance, in the face of conflicting loyalties, in highly charged conflict situations, or when the patient’s rights are being violated. This article provides an overview of moral courage, defines important terms, examines barriers to moral courage, discusses strategies for developing moral courage, reviews peer support and organizational cultures that support moral courage, and discusses whistle-blowing.

Defining key terms

Moral courage is the willingness to stand up for and act according to one’s ethical beliefs when moral principles are threatened, regardless of the perceived or actual risks (such as stress, anxiety, isolation from colleagues, or threats to employment). Moral distress occurs when nurses feel powerless to act after witnessing improper behavior, if organizational constraints make doing the right thing difficult or impossible. Ultimately, these situations challenge one’s sense of virtue , which involves acting in accordance with one’s moral and ethical principles. Moral courage is a virtue and needs to be developed (as does emotional intelligence) to determine when action is required. Thus, moral cour­age is linked to virtue ethics , which emphasizes the role of character rather than doing one’s duty to bring about good consequences. Virtue ethics appreciates that conflicts occur and that more than just moral wisdom is needed to ensure a moral outcome.

Case scenario: Susan’s dilemma

The following scenario illustrates the moral distress a nurse may experience when her patient advocacy meets resistance or her moral courage is challenged. It also describes effective management strategies to help nurses resolve these problems. Julie, age 45, works in a tele­metry unit at a university medical center. A registered nurse (RN) for 20 years, she is now a charge nurse on the 7 A.M.-to-7 P.M. shift. She has an in-depth understanding of the goings-on at her hospital and is highly respected by her peers. This weekend, Julie is busy as usual when Dr. Shoen, an attending physician, tells her she’s unhappy with Susan, a staff nurse. According to Dr. Shoen, Susan seems to question everything Dr. Shoen does for Mr. Yarrow, her agitated semicomatose patient. Susan, in the meantime, speaks to Brenda, a new nurse graduate, about Mr. Yarrow’s apparent need for more sedation. She says she hesitates to ask Dr. Shoen for a sedative order because of her experiences with retaliation in similar circumstances. Brenda, who has studied moral courage at nursing school, finds it disheartening that an experienced nurse like Susan seems to lack the courage to speak her mind about a patient’s care because she fears negative consequences. She recognizes that Susan’s concern over her patient needs to be elevated, and finds Julie to tell her Susan might need help. After Brenda speaks with Julie, Julie enters Mr. Yarrow’s room, assesses him, speaks with Susan and Brenda, and validates their concerns about his care. With Brenda present, Julie talks with Susan about options for speaking up for what she believes is in the patient’s best interest. Julie presents the option of using objective data—namely, the SBAR (Situation-Background-Assessment-Recommendation) technique—to help resolve the situation. She role-plays with Susan how to approach team members when she has a concern about patient care, and suggests she use the technique with Dr. Shoen. Taking Julie’s advice, Susan speaks to Dr. Shoen. An hour later, she tells Julie, “It’s always been hard for me to step forward and say something when I know a patient should be getting better care. But the technique you showed me helped me present the facts to Dr. Shoen in a professional way without making her feel threatened. Now she understands the need for medication, and the patient is comfortable.” Later, Brenda tells Julie she’s grateful she had the opportunity to witness moral courage in action.

Barriers to showing moral courage

All healthcare organizations and professionals have a responsibility to uphold high ethical standards. But not all situations in which nurses advocate for patients turn out the way Susan’s did. Sometimes nurses face obstacles when advocating for patients, and some nurses may try to circumvent morally courageous behavior. Ethics experts have identified several barriers to morally courageous behavior:

• organizational culture, which sets the stage for how individuals respond to unethical behavior. In an organizational culture that eschews the interdisciplinary dialogue crucial to resolving unethical behavior or that disregards unethical actions, staff may shy away from morally courageous behavior. Also, some nurses may be willing to compromise their personal and professional standards if their organization tolerates unethical situations, preferring to avoid the risks of displaying moral courage. What’s more, some nurses may grow more reluctant to face the difficult challenge of confronting unethical behaviors.
• lack of concern by colleagues who don’t have the moral courage to take action
• groupthink, in which individuals collectively decide to look the other way when unethical behaviors occur, with subsequent loss of independent thinking
• preference for redefining unethical actions as acceptable. For example, a nurse observes, but pretends not to see, two nurses repeatedly documenting narcotic wastage by cosigning each other’s name.

CODE: An aid to demonstrating moral courage

Remembering what actions to take when you face a moral dilemma can be emotionally and cognitively difficult. Vicki Lachman, a coauthor of this article, developed the mne­monic CODE to help nurses recall the steps to take. (See CODE: The key to taking action in a dilemma by clicking the PDF icon above.)

The first step is to critically evaluate the situation to determine whether moral courage is needed to address it. Morally courageous people know how to use affective and objective information to determine whether a situation warrants further exploration.

O: Obligations to honor

The “O” in CODE stands for the nurse’s ethical obligation, as outlined in the Code of Ethics for Nurses from the American Nurses Association (ANA). When caught in a moral dilemma, you should self-impose a purposeful time-out for reflection to help determine what moral values and ethical principles are at risk or are being compromised. Suppose, for example, that Wendy, RN, interprets Dr. Colton’s avoidance of a dying patient’s family as a lack of compassion. During a time-out, she comes to see that by avoiding delivering bad news to the family, Dr. Colton is dishonoring the patient’s autonomy. She decides to approach the situation from an ethical stance and avoid a judgmental communication. She considers: What’s the right thing to do? What principles need to be expressed and defended in this situation?

D: Danger management

The “D” in CODE stands for danger: What do you need to do to manage your fear of being morally courageous? This step requires the use of cognitive approaches for emotional control and risk-aversion management. During this step, explore possible actions and consider adverse consequences associated with those actions. To avoid becoming overwhelmed when deciding how to act, focus on one or two critical values. In Wendy’s case, she focused on the values of autonomy and nonmaleficence. The cognitive reframing method helps a person learn to stop negative thought processes that interfere with effective analysis of a situation. By replacing negative thoughts with positive self-talk, you can focus on viewing the situation clearly. Equally important, strive to avoid stumbling blocks that might impede moral courage, such as apprehension or overreflection; these responses might make you “reason” yourself out of the risk of taking morally courageous action. If Wendy uses positive self-talk (“I can approach Dr. Colton and support the family by discussing with him how to deliver the bad news”), she’s more likely to take morally courageous action than she would if she used negative self-talk (“He’ll never listen to me”). Self-soothing is another way to promote risk taking. Risk-avoidant nurses tend to overvalue uncertainties and undervalue the chance of reaching a desired outcome. Risk-preference nurses do the opposite. To self-soothe, use deep-breathing and other techniques that reduce physiologic arousal of fear.

E: Expression

The “E” in CODE denotes expression and action through assertiveness and negotiation skills. Knowing one’s obligations and demonstrating specific behaviors can enable you to move past your fear and serve as an effective patient advocate, as Susan did in our case scenario. To avoid blocks to exercising moral courage, nurses need to develop moral courage through education and practice, and to use the tools they learn in making everyday decisions. This helps them develop morally courageous behaviors even before an ethical dilemma occurs. The negative assertion technique is one example of a tool that nurses can use. If Dr. Colton responds defensively when Wendy approaches him (“The family has been hostile to me since I started treating the patient”), she should first state which part of his response she agrees with, and then tell him which part she disagrees with. So she might say, “You’re right. The family has been hostile to you in the past. But we still have the ethical obligation to keep communicating about their mother’s deteriorating condition.”

Organizational cultures that support moral courage

In an organization whose culture supports moral courage, communication is open at all levels, policies and procedures support ethical practice, and leaders practice staff empowerment. Empowerment creates a positive work environment through such structures as professional practice models and shared governance, as well as participation in ethics committees. Leaders must ensure these structures are used to make individual and organizational accountability expected behaviors. In organizations that advocate accountability, managers must have the moral courage to generate crucial conversations with all healthcare team members. A crucial conversation is a discussion between two or more people where the stakes are high, opinions vary, and emotions run strong. For example, Julie, the charge nurse in our case scenario, role-modeled the needed communication to resolve Susan’s conflict with Dr. Shoen, demonstrating the crucial conversation Susan needed to initiate with Dr. Shoen to make Mr. Yarrow more comfortable.

Peer support

Nurses can increase their effectiveness as change agents by using peer support when they need to exercise moral courage for patient advocacy. Interventions to protect patient safety and improve the quality of care and health outcomes are enhanced when morally courageous nurses elicit peer support for advocacy endeavors. This helps combat the groupthink effect of putting direct pressure on dissenters not to oppose the group’s views. Peer support helps leaders understand that more than one staff member supports morally courageous action. Even when other colleagues may disagree with a courageous nurse who speaks up for a cause, nurses should be expected to support their peers’ right to address tough issues and problematic clinical situations. In our case scenario, Brenda sought peer support from Julie in handling the conflict and offered Susan her unsolicited support. Suppose, for example, a nurse is asked to get a signed consent form from a patient who’s about to undergo a nonurgent but essential operation (such as open reduction or internal fixation of the femur). But based on her assessment, the nurse determines the patient is cognitively impaired (which is an acute change) and has no family members who could care for her postoperatively. She calls the surgeon and expresses reluctance to get consent in this circumstance; the surgeon becomes angry and tells her to “get the consent anyway.” The operating-room nurse also is bothered by this interruption in the schedule, but chooses to support her peer’s courage in advocating for her patient. This additional peer support helps reassure the courageous nurse to continue to “do the right thing” despite clear opposition. In this way, peer support for nurses’ efforts to exhibit moral courage can improve the effectiveness of individual attempts. Nursing environments that foster peer support are highly desirable.

When is whistle-blowing necessary?

If a healthcare organization fails to put in place the necessary mechanisms for internal resolution of patient safety and quality concerns, whistle-blowing may be necessary for patient advocacy. Demonstrating moral courage means taking per­sonal and professional risks; every nurse should understand this. But nurses also need to recognize their responsibility to uphold the ethical principles that guide nurses’ professional behavior, as outlined in the ANA Code of Ethics. Nursing’s Social Policy Statement from ANA provides additional direction on how nurses should conduct themselves in an ethical and responsible manner toward those they care for. Nurses have a responsibility to report unsafe, unethical, or illegal behaviors to individuals within an organization who are in a position to stop these behaviors. In Susan’s case, she was able to obtain the help she needed from a manager (Julie) to address her patient’s pain management with Dr. Schoen. However, in situations where internal resources have been exhausted (as when complaints to a compliance hotline and senior administrators go unheeded), whistleblowing becomes a nurse’s ethical obligation. When the organization fails to address unethical conduct, the nurse must go outside the organization for help. Susan collected all the facts and used her internal resources effectively. However, if Dr. Schoen had continued to resist and discount her opinions and the hospital had refused to address the potentially ineffective pain management, Susan would have been obligated to complain to the medical board and possibly consider resigning and seeking employment elsewhere. Nurses must play a pivotal role in promoting ethical environments—those where they and their colleagues believe they can be morally courageous and come forward with their concerns. In ethical workplaces with protection policies and a clear means for addressing concerns, where colleagues support whistleblowers, staff members who otherwise might be reluctant to be morally courageous feel more empowered to speak up.

Recommendations for practice, education, research, and policy

Nurses need to identify scenarios where they should demonstrate moral courage. Depending on the individual nurse’s role, these may include clinical, education, research, or policy scenarios. (See Wanted: More research on moral courage by clicking the PDF icon above.) To develop moral sensitivity, nurses must take the time to reflect not only on their personal and professional values but on their moral obligations. They need to become more “present” in the situation to better understand their own perspective and their patients’ situations. Administrators must create and support a culture that fosters moral courage—one with clear policies on conscientious objection, acknowledging and addressing a staff members’ moral distress, and encouraging peer support for the courageous nurse. Furthermore, bedside nurses and nursing administrators should use ethical decision-making practices to resolve value-based conflicts that lead to moral distress. (See Conscientious objection by clicking the PDF icon above.)

Education on moral courage

All healthcare professionals should be educated in demonstrating moral courage in the face of ethical challenges. Although much has been written on nursing intuitiveness, knowing how to demonstrate moral courage and create an organizational culture that fosters empowerment may not be so intuitive. For this reason, educational strategies should be used both in nursing care settings and academia. Nurses must learn the language of ethics, moral reasoning, and moral courage—and how to approach the moral dilemmas they may encounter. Role-playing is one strategy for learning new behaviors in difficult situations. This technique places nurses in dialogue pairs where they play out a scenario they’re given—for instance, a difficult but necessary conversation about maintaining standards rather than cutting corners, or how to approach senior personnel or physicians when concerned about a patient’s plan of care. This can make nurses better equipped to demonstrate moral courage when difficult situations arise. In both the workplace and academia, strategies exist to help nurses gain knowledge about ethics—for instance, discussion of a case and application of Code of Ethics provisions to the case; also, use of simulation with a standardized patient experiencing a violation of privacy or autonomy. Nursing educational curricula include ethics in both baccalaureate and graduate programs. Many schools have in-depth courses that give students time to learn the language of ethics and ethical reasoning, which helps in day-to-day practice. Nurses who think they lack the tools to handle difficult situations in daily practice can tap into webinars, nursing literature, and other continuing-education offerings. Also, most hospitals have ethics committees that offer consultation and can be called on to provide education. Workshops can be given on specific ethical subjects or case presentations. Nurse managers should play a role in requesting or promoting ethics educational opportunities in the workplace. (See Online resources on moral courage by clicking the PDF icon above.)

Policies related to moral courage

Healthcare organizations need to create policies that support nurses in demonstrating moral courage without fear of reprisal. Policy is imperative to enhancing healthcare workers’ ability to respond appropriately to unethical behaviors. All nurses should become staunch advocates of creating and implementing such policies. Leaders must recognize the importance of moral courage.

Support moral courage

The dynamic changes in health care over the past few decades have created increasingly complex moral and ethical dilemmas, some of which call on nurses to demonstrate moral courage. Addressing such dilemmas and acting appropriately are never easy. But nurses are accountable for providing the best possible patient care. Advocating for a patient’s best interest can pose challenges and risks, but nurses must resolve to uphold their ethical obligations. The increasing number of publications on moral courage underscores the need for an ongoing conversation among nurses in all roles and across all settings to commit to working toward creating environments that value and support moral courage.

Selected references

American Association of Critical-Care Nurses. Ethics in Acute & Critical Care Nursing. 2012. www.aacn.org:88/wd/practice/content/ethicmainpage.pcms?menu=practice. Accessed March 27, 2012.

American Nurses Association. Code of Ethics for Nurses with Interpretive Statements. Author: Silver Spring, Maryland; 2001.

American Nurses Association. Code of Ethics for Nurses with Interpretive Statements . Author: Silver Spring, Maryland; 2001. http://nursingworld.org/MainMenuCategories/EthicsStandards/CodeofEthicsforNurses/Code-of-Ethics-For-Nurses.html Accessed March 27. 2012.

Catlin AJ, Armig C, Volet D, et al. Conscientious objection: a possible nursing response to care at the end of life which is harmful, causes suffering, or torture. Neonatal Netw. 2008;27(2):101-8.

Institute for Healthcare Improvement. SBAR technique for communication: A situational briefing model. 2011. www.ihi.org/knowledge/Pages/Tools/SBARTechniqueforCommunicationASituationalBriefingM odel.aspx. Accessed March 27, 2012.

Hodkinson K. How should a nurse approach truth-telling? A virtue ethics perspective. Nurs Philos. 2008 Oct;9(4):248-56.

Iseminger K, Levitt F, Kirk L. Healing during existential moments: the “art” of nursing presence. Nurs Clin North Am. 2009 Dec:44(4):447-59.

Lachman VD, ed. Applied Ethics in Nursing. New York, NY: Springer; 2006.

Lachman VD. Ethical Challenges in Healthcare: Developing Your Moral Compass. New York, NY: Springer; 2009.

Lachman VD. Moral courage: a virtue in need of development? Medsurg Nurs. 2007 Apr;16(2):131-3.

Laschinger HK, Finegan J, Wilk P. Context matters: the impact of unit leadership and empowerment on nurses’ organizational commitment. J Nurs Adm. 2009 May;39(5):228-35.

Murray JS. Before blowing the whistle, learn to protect yourself. Am Nurs Today. 2007;2(3):40-2.

Murray JS. Moral courage in healthcare: acting ethically even in the presence of risk. OJIN. 2010;15(3):Manuscript 2.

Murray JS. The Paul Revere Freedom to Warn Act: legislation to protect federal whistleblowers from retaliation. Am J Nurs. 2008 Mar;108(3):38-9. doi:10.1097/01.NAJ.0000312253.48872.56.

Patterson K, Grenny J, McMillan R, Switzler A. Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes are High. 2nd ed. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill; 2011.

A clinical professor who teaches ethics, Vicki D. Lachman is also a track coordinator for the Innovation and Intra/Entrepreneurship program in advanced practice nursing at Drexel University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. John S. Murray is the director of nursing research, Surgical Programs/Emergency Department, at Children’s Hospital Boston in Boston, Massachusetts. Karen Iseminger is director of ethics at St. Vincent Health in Indianapolis, Indiana. Kathryn M. Ganske is director and associate professor of the Division of Nursing at Shenandoah University in Winchester, Virginia.

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The Role of Moral Courage in Civil Service and Ethics in Public Administration | Sociology Optional for UPSC Civil Services Examination | Triumph IAS

Table of Contents

Moral Courage

[re levant for public ethics, integrity and aptitude ].

Moral courage constitutes a vital quality that empowers individuals to uphold their principles and champion what is right, even in challenging circumstances or in the presence of opposition. Within the realm of civil service, possessing moral courage is a crucial characteristic that empowers civil servants to maintain their ethical and professional standards, even when confronted with intricate and occasionally politically sensitive decisions.

What are morals

Derived from the Latin word “moralis,” signifying “traditional customs.”

• Morals encompass the social, cultural, and religious beliefs or values held by an individual or group, dictating what is right or wrong. For instance, refraining from cheating and always telling the truth are examples.
• Morals are the principles that steer individual behavior within society.

“Courage to accept and dedication to improve are two keys to success.” – Essay, 2019

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

• The mind serves as humanity’s greatest weapon by distinguishing between danger and opportunities.
• Courage involves the choice and willingness to confront agony, pain, danger, uncertainty, or intimidation with composure and the moral conviction that supports necessary and ethically correct action. Courage extends beyond physical bravery. 

Moral courage is the readiness to do what is right, irrespective of the consequences. It entails standing firm in one’s principles and convictions, even in the face of pressure or opposition from others. This demands individuals to have confidence in their values, beliefs, and judgment and to act on them, even when the situation is difficult or uncomfortable.

Moral courage is distinct from physical courage. While physical courage involves confronting physical danger, moral courage entails confronting ethical or moral challenges. It necessitates individuals to possess a robust sense of personal integrity and to be ready to speak out against injustice or wrongdoing, even if it means jeopardizing their reputation, career, or personal safety.

Importance of moral courage

• High Ethical Standards : Civil servants are anticipated to uphold elevated ethical and professional standards in their roles. Frequently, they are confronted with challenging decisions that necessitate the delicate balance of competing interests and values.
• In such circumstances, moral courage becomes imperative for civil servants to act in the public interest, even if it involves opposing the interests of powerful individuals or groups.
• Impact on Masses: Notably, moral courage holds heightened significance for civil servants due to the substantial impacts their decisions can have on people’s lives. Their role involves implementing policies and programs that directly influence public welfare, and they carry the responsibility to act in the public interest, even if it means contradicting the desires of their superiors or elected officials.
• Maintaining Trust in Government : Civil servants exhibiting moral courage become sources of inspiration, fostering trust and confidence in the public. They are perceived as trustworthy and dependable, and their actions are more likely to be regarded as fair and just.
• Moral courage plays a vital role for civil servants in preserving the integrity and credibility of the civil service.

Moral courage stands as a crucial quality for civil servants in maintaining elevated ethical and professional standards in their roles. It empowers civil servants to act in the public interest, even when confronted with intricate and occasionally politically sensitive decisions. Civil servants displaying moral courage serve as inspirations, fostering trust and confidence in the public while preserving the integrity and credibility of their profession.

(Reference: Static portion)

Frequently asked questions:.

1. Question: What is moral courage, and why is it essential in civil service?

Answer: Moral courage is the readiness to do what is right, even in challenging situations. It is crucial in civil service to uphold ethical standards and act in the public interest.

2. Question: How does ethics in public administration contribute to social justice in India?

Answer: Ethics in public administration ensures equality and equity for vulnerable sections of society, aligning with the objective of social justice outlined in the Constitution.

3. Question: What distinguishes moral courage from physical courage?

Answer: Moral courage involves confronting ethical or moral challenges, while physical courage deals with facing physical danger.

4. Question: Why is maintaining public trust important in government?

Answer: Maintaining public trust is crucial because it fosters confidence in the competence, fairness, honesty, and sincerity of public services, which are essential for effective governance.

5. Question: Give an example of a civil servant demonstrating moral courage.

Answer: An example is the implementation of the Bonded Labour Abolition Act by IAS officer S. Shankaran, who stood firm in principles despite facing opposition.

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To master these intricacies and fare well in the Sociology Optional Syllabus , aspiring sociologists might benefit from guidance by the Best Sociology Optional Teacher and participation in the Best Sociology Optional Coaching . These avenues provide comprehensive assistance, ensuring a solid understanding of sociology’s diverse methodologies and techniques.

Moral courage, Civil service, Ethics, Public administration, Ethical standards, Public trust, Social justice, Public resource utilization, Decision making, UPSC FAQ sample question, Moral Courage, role of moral courage, 

Choose T he Best Sociology Optional Teacher for IAS Preparation?

At the beginning of the journey for Civil Services Examination preparation, many students face a pivotal decision – selecting their optional subject. Questions such as “ which optional subject is the best? ” and “ which optional subject is the most scoring? ” frequently come to mind. Choosing the right optional subject, like choosing the best sociology optional teacher , is a subjective yet vital step that requires a thoughtful decision based on facts. A misstep in this crucial decision can indeed prove disastrous.

Ever since the exam pattern was revamped in 2013, the UPSC has eliminated the need for a second optional subject. Now, candidates have to choose only one optional subject for the UPSC Mains , which has two papers of 250 marks each. One of the compelling choices for many has been the sociology optional. However, it’s strongly advised to decide on your optional subject for mains well ahead of time to get sufficient time to complete the syllabus. After all, most students score similarly in General Studies Papers; it’s the score in the optional subject & essay that contributes significantly to the final selection.

“ A sound strategy does not rely solely on the popular Opinion of toppers or famous YouTubers cum teachers. ”

It requires understanding one’s ability, interest, and the relevance of the subject, not just for the exam but also for life in general. Hence, when selecting the best sociology teacher, one must consider the usefulness of sociology optional coaching in General Studies, Essay, and Personality Test.

The choice of the optional subject should be based on objective criteria, such as the nature, scope, and size of the syllabus, uniformity and stability in the question pattern, relevance of the syllabic content in daily life in society, and the availability of study material and guidance. For example, choosing the best sociology optional coaching can ensure access to top-quality study materials and experienced teachers. Always remember, the approach of the UPSC optional subject differs from your academic studies of subjects. Therefore, before settling for sociology optional , you need to analyze the syllabus, previous years’ pattern, subject requirements (be it ideal, visionary, numerical, conceptual theoretical), and your comfort level with the subject.

This decision marks a critical point in your UPSC – CSE journey , potentially determining your success in a career in IAS/Civil Services. Therefore, it’s crucial to choose wisely, whether it’s the optional subject or the best sociology optional teacher . Always base your decision on accurate facts, and never let your emotional biases guide your choices. After all, the search for the best sociology optional coaching is about finding the perfect fit for your unique academic needs and aspirations.

To master these intricacies and fare well in the Sociology Optional Syllabus , aspiring sociologists might benefit from guidance by the Best Sociology Optional Teacher and participation in the Best Sociology Optional Coaching . These avenues provide comprehensive assistance, ensuring a solid understanding of sociology’s diverse methodologies and techniques. Sociology, Social theory, Best Sociology Optional Teacher, Best Sociology Optional Coaching, Sociology Optional Syllabus. Best Sociology Optional Teacher, Sociology Syllabus, Sociology Optional, Sociology Optional Coaching, Best Sociology Optional Coaching, Best Sociology Teacher, Sociology Course, Sociology Teacher, Sociology Foundation, Sociology Foundation Course, Sociology Optional UPSC, Sociology for IAS,

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Home — Essay Samples — Life — Emotions & Feelings — Courage

Courage Essays

Prompt examples for courage essays, defining courage.

Define courage in your own words. What does it mean to be courageous? Explore the different facets of courage, from physical bravery to moral and emotional courage. Provide examples to illustrate your definition.

Personal Courage

Share a personal experience that required you to demonstrate courage. Describe the situation, the challenges you faced, and the reasons behind your courageous actions. Reflect on what you learned from that experience.

Courage in Literature

Select a literary work that prominently features the theme of courage. Discuss how courage is portrayed in the story, the characters who exhibit courage, and the impact of their courageous acts on the plot and themes.

Historical Examples of Courage

Examine a historical figure or event that exemplifies courage. Provide details about the person's actions or the event's circumstances, and analyze why these examples are often celebrated as acts of great courage.

The Psychology of Courage

Explore the psychological aspects of courage. Discuss what motivates individuals to overcome fear and take courageous actions. Consider the role of fear, resilience, and determination in acts of courage.

Moral Courage

Discuss the concept of moral courage. How does one exhibit courage when facing ethical dilemmas or standing up for one's beliefs? Share examples of individuals who displayed moral courage in the face of adversity.

Courage in the Face of Fear

Examine instances where individuals acted courageously despite experiencing fear. Discuss the relationship between fear and courage and how overcoming fear can lead to acts of bravery.

Everyday Acts of Courage

Highlight the importance of everyday acts of courage. Discuss how small acts of courage in daily life can make a significant impact, whether in relationships, personal growth, or social change.

Courage and Resilience

Explore the connection between courage and resilience. How does courage contribute to an individual's ability to bounce back from adversity or overcome challenges? Provide examples of resilience through courageous actions.

Courageous Leaders

Examine the role of courage in leadership. Discuss leaders who have demonstrated courage in their decisions and actions, and evaluate the impact of their leadership on society, organizations, or movements.

Timeless Lessons from Beowulf: Courage, Loyalty, and Mortality

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Understanding The Importance of Courage in Life

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Courage (also called bravery or valor) is the choice and willingness to confront agony, pain, danger, uncertainty, or intimidation.

Physical courage is bravery in the face of physical pain, hardship, even death, or threat of death; while moral courage is the ability to act rightly in the face of popular opposition, shame, scandal, discouragement, or personal loss.

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Essay on Courage

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Courage, a virtue celebrated across cultures and ages, is the mental or moral strength to persevere and withstand danger, fear, or difficulty. It is not the absence of fear but the ability to act in spite of it. This essay delves into the essence of courage, its various forms, and its significance in personal development and societal progress.

Courage is the spark that ignites action in the face of adversity. It is a pivotal quality that enables individuals to confront challenges, take risks, and stand up for what they believe in. Courage is multifaceted, encompassing physical bravery, moral integrity, and the resilience to pursue one’s convictions even when faced with opposition or uncertainty.

Forms of Courage

• Physical Courage: This involves facing physical harm or enduring pain. It is often associated with soldiers in battle, firefighters, or anyone who risks their safety to protect others.
• Moral Courage: Moral courage is the resolve to stand up for what is right, ethical, or just, regardless of the consequences. It includes whistleblowing, defending the oppressed, and upholding justice.
• Psychological Courage: This form of courage involves facing personal fears, insecurities, or psychological challenges. It is about overcoming internal battles, such as confronting anxiety or depression.

Historical Examples of Courage

Throughout history, countless examples highlight the profound impact of courage. Figures like Martin Luther King Jr., who fought tirelessly for civil rights, and Malala Yousafzai, who advocated for girls’ education despite life-threatening opposition, exemplify moral courage. These individuals did not act without fear but chose to prioritize their principles above personal safety.

Courage in Everyday Life

Courage is not only demonstrated on the battlefield or in grand historical narratives. It is present in the daily lives of ordinary people making difficult decisions. It is the single parent working multiple jobs to provide for their children, the student standing up against bullying, or the individual seeking help for mental health issues. Everyday courage may not make headlines, but it is equally significant.

The Role of Courage in Personal Development

Courage plays a vital role in personal development, enabling individuals to grow, overcome obstacles, and achieve their goals. Here are some key points highlighting its significance:

• Facing Fears: Courage involves confronting one’s fears and stepping out of one’s comfort zone. It is through these challenges that personal growth occurs, as individuals discover their strengths and resilience.
• Building Confidence: Overcoming challenges with courage boosts self-confidence. Successes, even small ones, build a sense of self-assuredness that encourages individuals to take on more significant challenges.
• Embracing Change: Personal development often requires adapting to new situations and embracing change. Courage allows individuals to let go of the familiar and embrace the unknown, fostering personal growth.
• Learning from Failure: Courage helps individuals accept failures and setbacks as learning opportunities. Instead of giving up, they gather the lessons from their experiences, which contributes to personal development.
• Exploring New Horizons: Courageous individuals are more likely to explore new interests, hobbies, and career paths. This exploration broadens their horizons and leads to personal growth through varied experiences.
• Overcoming Adversity: In the face of adversity, courage is a powerful tool for resilience. It enables individuals to persevere through difficult times and emerge from challenges stronger and wiser.
• Setting Ambitious Goals: Courageous individuals are more likely to set ambitious, long-term goals. They believe in their ability to achieve these goals and are willing to take the necessary risks and actions.
• Inspiring Others: Demonstrating courage can inspire and motivate others to embark on their own personal development journeys. Leading by example encourages a culture of growth and self-improvement.

Courage and Society

Courage drives societal progress. It is the force behind social movements, scientific advancements, and the pursuit of justice. Without the courage of individuals and groups to challenge the status quo, societal evolution would stagnate. Courageous actions inspire others, creating a ripple effect that can transform communities and, ultimately, the world.

The Moral Imperative of Courage

Courage is not just a personal virtue but a moral imperative. It compels individuals to act in the service of others, defend the vulnerable, and strive for a just society. The moral dimension of courage underscores the importance of acting ethically, even when it is easier or safer to remain silent or inactive.

Cultivating Courage

Courage can be cultivated through reflection, education, and practice. Understanding one’s values, facing small fears in everyday life, and learning from courageous role models can strengthen one’s resolve. It is also essential to foster environments that encourage and reward courageous behavior, whether in families, schools, or workplaces.

The Challenges of Courage

Courage is not without its challenges. It often involves risk, sacrifice, and uncertainty. Courageous individuals may face criticism, ostracism, or even danger. However, these challenges are integral to the nature of courage, testing the strength of one’s convictions and the depth of one’s character.

The Paradox of Courage

There exists a paradox at the heart of courage: it is both universal and personal. While the concept of courage is admired across different cultures, the specific actions deemed courageous can vary widely. What is considered an act of bravery in one context may be seen as folly or recklessness in another. This paradox highlights the subjective nature of courage and the importance of cultural and ethical frameworks in understanding it.

In conclusion, Courage is a multifaceted virtue that plays a crucial role in personal development and societal progress. It encompasses the physical, moral, and psychological strength to face fear, danger, and difficulty. Courage is not the absence of fear but the determination to act in spite of it. By cultivating courage, individuals can overcome challenges, grow personally, and contribute to a more just and compassionate world. As we navigate the complexities of life, let us strive to embody courage in all its forms, recognizing its power to transform ourselves and the society we inhabit.

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Essay on Personal Courage

Students are often asked to write an essay on Personal Courage in their schools and colleges. And if you’re also looking for the same, we have created 100-word, 250-word, and 500-word essays on the topic.

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100 Words Essay on Personal Courage

What is personal courage.

Personal courage is being brave in the face of fear. It’s about doing the right thing, even when it’s hard. Imagine standing up to a bully or speaking in front of a class. It takes guts to face challenges and not run away.

Types of Courage

Why it matters.

Courage is important because it helps us grow. When we are brave, we can make new friends, learn new things, and become stronger inside. It’s like a muscle that gets better the more you use it.

Examples in Everyday Life

You show courage when you try new foods, ask a question in class, or help someone who is in trouble. It’s not just for superheroes; it’s for everyone, every day.

Building Personal Courage

250 words essay on personal courage.

Personal courage is the strength to face fear, pain, or challenges. It’s like being a superhero in real life, but instead of fighting bad guys, you’re battling your own fears. It’s not about being fearless, but about choosing to move forward even when you’re scared.

Types of Personal Courage

There are two main types: physical and moral. Physical courage means you can stand up to physical pain or danger, like defending a friend in trouble. Moral courage is standing up for what’s right, like speaking the truth even when it’s not easy.

Why is it Important?

Courage is key to growing up. It helps us try new things, like making a new friend or learning to swim. It also helps us stand up for ourselves and others. With courage, we can face bullies or admit when we’ve made a mistake.

How to Build Courage

Building courage takes practice. It’s like a muscle that gets stronger the more you use it. You can start with small challenges, like asking a question in class. Each time you face a fear and overcome it, you become a little braver.

In conclusion, personal courage is a special power we all have inside us. It helps us face tough times and do the right thing. Remember, being courageous doesn’t mean you aren’t afraid; it means you’re brave enough to go on despite the fear.

500 Words Essay on Personal Courage

Courage comes in many forms. Sometimes it’s doing something big, like moving to a new city. Other times, it’s small, like asking a question in class. Physical courage is when you might get hurt, like falling off a bike. Moral courage is when you stand up for what’s right, like telling the truth even if it gets you in trouble.

Why Is It Important?

Being brave helps us grow. When you try new things, you learn and become stronger. It’s like a muscle; the more you use it, the stronger it gets. Courage also helps us to be good friends and family members. When we stand up for others, we show that we care and are willing to protect them.

Stories of Courage

Personal courage in everyday life.

You don’t have to fight dragons to be brave. Personal courage is also about standing up to bullies, trying a food you’ve never eaten before, or admitting when you’ve made a mistake. It’s about being honest with yourself and others.

Encouraging Others

When you see someone else being brave, cheer them on. Tell them they did a good job. It can make a big difference. And when someone encourages you, it feels good and helps you keep being brave.

That’s it! I hope the essay helped you.

If you’re looking for more, here are essays on other interesting topics:

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