Let us first define the two words brave and coward.

Who is brave?

We know that a brave person- the opposite of a coward- is not only strong and courageous, but also gentle, truthful, honest and sincere. In fact, it is the qualities like these that define bravery in the true sense.

A brave person need not necessarily be physically strong and hefty. What essentially characterizes bravery is the ability to stand on principles and fight against injustice, falsehood and treachery not necessarily against self, but against others, the weak, defenseless and the downtrodden in the society.

Bravery essentially is a moral virtue or strength. We should not be surprised that a brave person can also be humble, self-effacing and gentle trying to fight for others at his own cost.

Who is coward?

A coward, on the other hand, may appear physically strong, boastful and aggressive. But he does not have the moral courage of the kind the brave person has. He is more selfish and self-centred. He may silently suffer insult, injustice against self, not to speak of against others but will not have to courage to fight.

However, if we look more objectively being self-protective and not standing against injustice or not helping out fellow citizens may be a moral weakness, but it does not constitute any vice or sin.

What however differentiates a coward from the brave is that not only a coward buckles down easily before those he regards more powerful and aggressive than him, he goes much beyond this. He snubs, bullies and takes advantage of those he thinks are weak and inferior to him which is a sinful, vicious moral weakness.

Bowing before the strong and bullying the weak is what essentially defines cowardice and timidity. A timid person will behave gently, courteously even truthfully with those he regards can punish him if found deceitful, insincere and dishonest. But he will behave treacherously and deceitfully with those he thinks can do no harm to him for what he basically is.

A coward becomes gentle out  of fear and compulsion.

But there is a third category of people who stand between the definitions of bravery and cowardice. They are basically gentle in the true sense of the word. They are truthful, honest and sincere and do not require any outside compulsion to be so.

They also do not try to bully and take advantage of those they know are weaker than them. They hate injustice, deceit, falsehood and similar other vices as a matter of conscience.

But sadly enough they do not have the courage to come out and shout openly especially against bullies who are high handed and unjust. Of course, they might try to act against them (bullies) if only they can secure themselves against being found out and punished.

For example, they vote against the bullies in elections, where their secrecy is ensured but wouldn’t openly come out against them in public life.   They are thus cowards, if we go by the above definition of bravery which means fighting openly against injustice regardless of consequences.

The fact that there is a provision of secret ballot in public elections testifies to the fact that the largest majority constitutes people who are cowardly and timid and who would try as much as they can to avoid fighting and  keep themselves secure and safe.

They would even compromise with the bullies to avoid the trouble. Nonetheless, as I have said earlier, they would not like to bully those they think are weaker than them. They believe in living in peace and let others also to live the same way.

The stark, but sad truth is that such people are inherently gentle, honest, and sincere and at the same time   timid, cowardly and compromising with the bullies. But thankfully enough they are not the kind of cowards who will bully the weak.

Here are two quotes by two really great men:

“In a word, I was too cowardly to do what I knew to be right, as I had been too cowardly to avoid doing what I knew to be wrong.”
― Charles Dickens, Great Expectations

“A coward is incapable of exhibiting love; it is the prerogative of the brave.”
― Mahatma Gandhi

Which of the three categories of people do you belong to?

Luminous Eye

Self-Empowerment-- Self-Development-Spiritual Growth-Mind Power-General Wellness

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