Leading Wisely

10Courage

Courage is the first of human qualities because it is the quality which guarantees the others.

—Aristotle

Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can … give us courage to change what must be altered, serenity to accept what cannot be helped, and the insight to know the one from the other.

—Reinhold Niebuhr

Lesson 7: Courage

Human history is full of tales whereby people showed courage. To take a well-known example, there is the Ballad of Mulan, a poem that tells the tale of a courageous female warrior known as Mulan, who supposedly lived in China during the Northern and Southern dynasties period (between 420 and 589 CE). It is an intriguing story, even though it is widely believed that the story about her life is a fictional one. However, real or not real, the tale describes a woman who decides to go against tradition by becoming a warrior.

In the original poem, Hua Mulan is sitting at her loom as the men in her family are asked to join the army to defend China. As she does not want her old and sickly father to serve in the army and as her brother is far too young, she decides to take her father's place with the blessing of both parents. As Mulan was already a good fighter who had been trained in martial arts, sword fighting and archery, she proves her worth by overcoming many challenges. In the process she not only is bringing honor to her family by helping to save the Chinese empire but is also demonstrating ...