33 Inspiring Quotes on Courage

We all need encouragement to be courageous:

As the days grow darker and it seems like evil is getting the upper hand, the need for courage, perseverance and fearlessness also grows. This is true of all of us, but here I write as a Christian primarily for other Christians. We need to encourage each other to keep standing strong, even if our knees are shaking.

While there are many great quotes out there about the matter of courage, here I will simply limit myself to some key Christian quotes. What I offer then are just 33 quotes, by 25 different authors. There would be many more such quotes that could be featured here, but these should be of some encouragement and inspiration.

“Hope has two beautiful daughters. Their names are anger and courage; anger at the way things are, and courage to see that they do not remain the way they are.” Attributed to Augustine

“Here I was worrying about my journey, while God was helping me all the way. It made me realize that I am very weak; my courage is only borrowed from Him, but, oh, the peace that flooded my soul… because I know that he never faileth. I would not, if I could, turn back now, because I believe that God is going to reveal Himself in a wonderful way.” Gladys Aylward

“Courage is the indispensable requisite of any true ministry. Courage is good everywhere, but it is necessary here. If you are afraid of men and a slave to their opinion, go and do something else. Go and make shoes to fit them. But do not keep on all your life preaching sermons which shall say not what God sent you to declare, but what they hire you to say.” Phillips Brooks, 19th century American clergyman

“Even a dog barks when his master is attacked. I would be a coward if I saw that God’s truth is attacked and yet would remain silent.” John Calvin

“Courage is almost a contradiction in terms. A soldier surrounded by enemies, if he is to cut his way out, needs to combine a strong desire for living with a strange carelessness about dying. He must seek his life in a spirit of furious indifference to it; he must desire life like water and yet drink death like wine.” G. K. Chesterton

“There is not really any courage at all in attacking hoary or antiquated things, any more than in offering to fight one’s grandmother. The really courageous man is he who defies tyrannies young as the morning and superstitions fresh as the first flowers. The only true free-thinker is he whose intellect is as much free from the future as from the past.” G. K. Chesterton

“We are so utterly ordinary, so commonplace, while we profess to know a Power the Twentieth Century does not reckon with. But we are ‘harmless,’ and therefore unharmed. We are spiritual pacifists, non-militants, conscientious objectors in this battle-to-the-death with principalities and powers in high places. Meekness must be had for contact with men, but brass, outspoken boldness is required to take part in the comradeship of the Cross. We are ‘sideliners’ – coaching and criticizing the real wrestlers while content to sit by and leave the enemies of God unchallenged. The world cannot hate us, we are too much like its own. Oh that God would make us dangerous!” Jim Elliot, martyred missionary

“Stand up, stand up, for Jesus;
the trumpet call obey;
forth to the mighty conflict
in this his glorious day:
ye that are men now serve him
against unnumbered foes;
let courage rise with danger,
and strength to strength oppose.” George Duffield, Jr.

“Courage is contagious. When a brave man takes a stand, the spines of others are often stiffened.” Billy Graham

“Believers look up – take courage. The angels are nearer than you think.” Billy Graham

“I feel sorry for the man who has never known the bracing thrill of taking a stand and sticking to it fearlessly. Moral courage has rewards that timidity can never imagine. Like a shot of adrenaline, it floods the spirit with vitality.” Billy Graham

“Thinking and acting Christianly in the blizzard of modern information and change requires the courage of a prophet, the wisdom of a sage, and the character of a saint–not to speak of the patience of Job and the longevity of Methuselah.” Os Guinness

“Let this encourage those of you who belong to Christ: the storm may be tempestuous, but it is only temporary. The clouds that are temporarily rolling over your head will pass, and then you will have fair weather, an eternal sunshine of glory. Can you not watch with Christ for one hour?” William Gurnall

“It is easier to find a score of men wise enough to discover the truth than to find one intrepid enough, in the face of opposition, to stand up for it.” A. A. Hodge

“Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; The Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:9

“True courage, born of the gospel, neither relishes conflict nor avoids it.” Tim Keller

“Courage is not simply one of the virtues, but the form of every virtue at the testing point.” C. S. Lewis

“I often laugh at Satan, and there is nothing that makes him so angry as when I attack him to his face, and tell him that through God I am more than a match for him.” Martin Luther

“And though this world with devils filled should threaten to undo us, we will not fear, for God has willed his truth to triumph through us. The Prince of darkness grim, we tremble not for him. His rage we can endure for lo his doom is sure – One little Word shall fell him.” Martin Luther

“Christian courage is the willingness to say and do the right thing regardless of the earthly cost because God promises to help you and save you on account of Christ” John Piper

“Once upon a time, there was a safe, private place to take your controversial stand for Jesus. No more. If you are going to stand, you will be shot at—either figuratively or literally.” John Piper

“Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the Lord.” Psalm 31:24

“It’s going to demand a lot of courage before too long – to really live and maintain the true Christian life according to the Word of the Living God.” Leonard Ravenhill

“Evil is powerless if the good are unafraid.” Ronald Reagan

“Francis Schaeffer frequently spoke of the necessity of antithesis in the Christian life. That is, for every truth there is a corresponding falsehood. A Christian is known not only by what he believes or affirms, but also by what he rejects and denies. This posture of antithesis is on a collision course with modern theories of relativism. A revived Christian Church will be marked not only by what it affirms but also by its courage to deny truth’s antithesis.” R. C. Sproul

“Courage we shall need, and for the exercise of it we have as much reason as necessary, if we are soldiers of King Jesus.” Charles Spurgeon

“Oh, my brethren! Bold-hearted men are always called mean-spirited by cowards.” Charles Spurgeon

“Songs in the night, too, prove that we have true courage. Many sing by day who are silent by night, they are afraid of thieves and robbers; but the Christian who sings in the night proves himself to be a courageous character. It is the bold Christian who can sing God’s sonnets in the darkness” Charles Spurgeon

“Faithless is he that says farewell when the road darkens.” J. R. R. Tolkien

“The true follower of Christ will not ask, ‘If I embrace this truth, what will it cost me?’ Rather he will say, ‘This is truth. God help me to walk in it, let come what may!’” A. W. Tozer

“Many of us will not be sent of God because we do not have courage. We are afraid of being unique and different. Preachers are afraid of losing members from their congregation. They are afraid they will lose public esteem and be criticised. Christians are afraid of losing friends, afraid of losing reputation and income, afraid somebody will not like it. God Almighty called His sheep; He did not call mice.” A. W. Tozer

“Rule of thumb: if your principles evaporate the moment courage is required to defend them, you have no principles. You’re a panderer, not a warrior.” Matt Walsh

“What you actually have in so many congregations today is a bunch of goats among the sheep, the sowing of tares among the wheat (Matt. 25:31-46; 13:24-30). Because very little biblical, compassionate church discipline is practiced, goats live among the sheep and wolves feed on and destroy the sheep. And those of you who are leaders in such churches are going to pay a high penalty when you stand before the One who loves them, because you did not have enough courage to stand up and confront the wicked.” Paul Washer

[1517 words]