He who despairs over an event is a coward, but he who holds hope for the human condition is a fool.

Albert Camus (1913 - 1960), The Rebel (1951)

I would rather be a coward than brave because people hurt you when you are brave.

E. M. Forster (1879 - 1970), as a small child

A coward turns away, but a brave man's choice is danger.

Euripides (484 BC - 406 BC), Iphigenia in Tauris, circa 412 B.C.

None but a coward dares to boast that he has never known fear.

Ferdinand Foch (1851 - 1929)

Patience has its limits. Take it too far, and it's cowardice¹.

George Jackson (1941 - 1971)

A timid person is frightened before a danger, a coward during the time, and a courageous² person afterward³.

Jean Paul Richter (1763 - 1825)

There are several good protections against temptations, but the surest is cowardice.

Mark Twain (1835 - 1910), Following the Equator (1897)

A brave man dies but once, a coward many times.

Native American Proverb

Many would be cowards if they had courage enough.

Thomas Fuller (1608 - 1661)

The real hero is always a hero by mistake; he dreams of being an honest coward like everybody else.

Umberto Eco (1932 - ), Travels in Hyperreality (Harcourt)

Cowardice asks: Is it safe? Expediency⁴ asks: Is it politic⁵? But Conscience asks: Is it right?

William Punshon

A thought which, quarter'd, hath but one part wisdom and ever three parts coward.

William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616), Hamlet, Act IV, sc. 4

Conscience does make cowards of us all, and thus the native hue⁶ of resolution is sicklied o'er with the pale cast of thought.

William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616), Hamlet, Act III, sc. 1

Cowards die many times before their deaths;

The valiant⁷ never taste of death but once.

William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616), "Julius Caesar", Act II Scene 2

Cowards die many times before their deaths;

The valiant never taste of death but once.

Of all the wonders that I yet have heard,

It seems to me most strange that men should fear;

Seeing that death, a necessary end,

Will come when it will come.

William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616), "Julius Caesar", Act 2 scene 2

Cowards die many times before their deaths; the valiant never taste of death but once.

William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616), Julius Caesar, Act II, sc. 2