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since some men who are cowards
in war are liberal with money, and face loss of fortune boldly.
[5]
Nor yet is a man cowardly if he fears insult to his wife and children, or envy, or the
like; nor courageous if he shows a bold face when about to undergo a flogging.
[6]
What then are the fearful things in respect of which Courage is displayed? I suppose
those which are the greatest, since there is no one more brave in enduring danger than the
courageous man. Now the most terrible thing of all is death; for it is the end, and when a
man is dead, nothing, we think, either good or evil can befall him any more.
[7]
But even death, we should hold, does not in all circumstances give
an opportunity for Courage: for instance we do not call a man courageous for facing death
by drowning or disease.
[8]
What form of death then is a test
of Courage? Presumably that which is the noblest. Now the noblest form of death is death
in battle, for it is encountered in the midst of the greatest and most noble of dangers.
[9]
And this conclusion is borne out by the principle on
which public honors are bestowed in republics and under monarchies.
[10]
The courageous man, therefore, in the proper sense of the term, will be he who fearlessly
confronts a noble death, or some sudden1 peril that threatens death; and the
perils of war answer this description most fully.
[11]
Not
that the courageous man is not also fearless in a storm at sea （as also in
illness）,
1 Or perhaps ‘imminent,’ but cf. 8.15.
Aristotle in 23 Volumes, Vol. 19, translated by H. Rackham. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1934.
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