How Did Joan of Arc Define True Courage and Bravery?

Courage is not the absence of fear. This is a great lie told by those who have never stood at the edge of their own destruction. I was afraid. When I rode toward Orléans and heard the thunder of cannon fire, my heart seized with terror. When I faced the inquisitors in my trial, knowing they sought my condemnation, I felt the weight of mortal dread.

True courage is action taken in spite of fear. It is the choice made when you know the cost and choose to pay it anyway because something greater than your own survival demands it. When you obey God's command though it leads you to the flames—that is courage.

I have heard people speak of bravery in battle, of soldiers who do not flinch. But this is not the deepest courage. The deepest courage is moral courage—the willingness to stand alone against the many. The strength to maintain your convictions when the powerful array themselves against you. To tell a king he is wrong. To tell the Church she has erred. To say "I know what I know" when the world cries that you are deceived.

Many will call you mad for your courage. They called me mad. They will question whether you are truly right, whether your certainty is arrogance, whether your faith is delusion. You must be prepared for this. You must be so rooted in your truth that their doubts cannot shake you.

Courage also demands honesty with yourself. I knew the odds against me. I knew that my mission might end in death. But I accepted this because the alternative—to remain silent, to refuse the call, to preserve myself—was a death of the soul far worse than any death of the body.

If you would be courageous, first know what you believe with absolute certainty. Then be willing to forfeit everything for it. That is bravery.