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Meaning of Cowardice
We describe cowardice as a trait whereby excessive fear prevents an individual from taking a risk or facing danger. We also describe cowardice as a lack of courage. Society generally frowns upon cowardice. Society associates cowardice with negative attributes such as fear, weakness, selfishness, failure and shame.
Meaning of Courage
On the other hand, we describe courage as the attitude of facing and dealing with anything recognised as dangerous, difficult or painful instead of withdrawing from it.
The Ideals of Courage
Whereas we generally frown upon cowardice, we idealise courage. We associate courage with positive attributes such as bravery, strength, respect and selflessness.
A courageous person will stand up for what is right and oppose what is wrong. Similarly, a courageous person is reliable and will not abandon others who rely on him or her. In the same vein, a courageous person will not only think of his or her own selfish needs. A courageous person also commands respect as a leader. Such a person is bold in taking decisions and eschews timidity.
The Pitfalls of Courage
But could there be some disadvantages of courage? Can we carry courage too far? We see the pitfalls of courage in its extreme forms such as bravado, recklessness and obsession.
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- Bravado
We define bravado as a pretence of courage, self-confidence and bravery especially when unnecessary and dangerous. We show bravado in order to impress other people. Bravado can be very dangerous and can lead to deadly consequences.
Rich Gasaway in “Duty to Die Syndrome”, defines bravado as the purposeful ignorance of critical signs of danger coupled with a sense of invincibility. He notes that a person displaying bravado is not concerned with his or her own safety. That person is rather only concerned with looking courageous. He states that this does not make that person brave, but dangerous.
He states that for instance, a first responder gripped by bravado may miss or disregard critical clues and cues which are signs of danger. This is because the first responder narrowly focuses on performing a heroic task and thereby misses critical deadly clues and cues. The first responder may also see the critical deadly clues and cues and with conscious awareness, choose to ignore them. This is because the first responder may believe that the critical deadly clues and cues are not as bad as they appear and may thereby dismiss them.
These scenarios show the dangers of bravado which is a pitfall of courage.
- Recklessness
Recklessness is a lack of regard for the danger or consequences of one’s actions. We may also describe recklessness as rashness. In a bid to appear courageous, a person may go too far and be a daredevil, that is, a reckless person who enjoys doing dangerous things. A person may also be foolhardy, that is, recklessly bold or rash.
Alexander Pope in “An Essay on Criticism”, perceives recklessness or rashness as foolish. He states that, “Fools rush in where angels fear to tread”. This alludes to inexperienced or rash people attempting things that more experienced people avoid.
- Obsession
We may also carry courage too far through obsession. An obsession is an idea or thought that continually preoccupies or intrudes on a person’s mind.
Where courage becomes an obsession, all rational thought flies out of the window. This can result in dire consequences. A person who is obsessed with being courageous is not likely to analyse his or her course of action. This may result in a mistake occurring.
The Wisdom of Cowardice
We see the wisdom of cowardice in its attributes of self-preservation, restraint and conflict avoidance. These are three amazing reasons to be a smart coward.
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- Reason 1 : Self-preservation
Self-preservation is the natural or instinctive tendency to act so as to preserve oneself from destruction or harm. We also know self-preservation as a survival instinct.
Steven Uhles describes cowardice as being an extreme sense of self-preservation in “Being a Coward has some Advantages in Life and on Film” in The Augusta Chronicle. The coward, not wanting to get into any kind of trouble, is more likely to maintain the status quo. By not rocking the boat, the coward is in keeping with the tendency to preserve his or her own existence.
The British philosopher, Bertrand Russell, expresses a similar view of cowardice involving the preservation of one’s existence and keeping one from harm in “The Advantage of Cowardice.” According to him, whenever organisation exists, we will find cowardice to be more advantageous than courage.
He notes that the result of this state of affairs is that in practically every walk of life, the men who come to the top have served a long apprenticeship in cowardice. He notes that on the other hand, we will have to seek for the honest and courageous in workhouses and prisons.
Self-preservation therefore appears to help the coward to achieve his or her aims in life and to avoid unpleasant situations. This shows the wisdom of cowardice.
- Reason 2 : Restraint
We describe restraint as an emotional, dispassionate or moderate behaviour. We also describe restraint as self-control This is the ability to control oneself, in particular one’s emotions and desires, especially in difficult situations.
The coward, in espousing moderate behaviour, is more likely to exercise restraint and retreat in the face of danger rather than charge forward to meet the danger head-on. We describe this behaviour of the coward as courageous. Sirajuddin Aziz in “Courage and Cowardice”, (Money Matters) states that there are times when it is courageous to be a coward and that sensing danger in the way forward and retreating is not a U-turn but a courageous act.
The coward, in exercising restraint, is also more likely to fully ponder over the facts of the matter before taking any course of action. The English actor, Peter Ustinov, has this to say: “Courage is often a lack of insight, whereas cowardice in many cases is based on good information.”
We may also regard the restraint of the coward as cautiousness. According to the Afghan American novelist, Khaled Hosseini, there is “Nothing wrong with cowardice as long as it comes with prudence.” This statement presents cowardice as acceptable when accompanied with prudence and shows the wisdom of cowardice.
- Reason 3 : Conflict avoidance
Conflict avoidance is a person’s method of relating to conflict, which attempts to avoid directly confronting the issue at hand. Methods of doing this include changing the subject, postponing a discussion or simply not bringing up the subject of contention.
The coward is prone to choosing to avoid conflict rather than confronting it. We may see this choice as beneficial where the conflict does not solve the problem at hand. According to Paul Bright in “The Advantages and Disadvantages of Conflict Styles”, the advantage of avoidance is that it can be useful if the conflict will not produce a resolution toward the goal or the conflict is perceived as minimal.
Conflict avoidance also prevents the coward from fighting unnecessary battles. This saves time and energy and enables him or her to focus on what is important in life.
The author, C. JoyBell C. , expresses this view as follows: “Choose your battles wisely. After all, life isn’t measured by how many times you stood up to fight. It’s not winning battles that makes you happy, but it’s how many times you turned away and chose to look into a better direction. Life is too short to spend it on warring. Find only the most, most, most important ones, let the rest go.”
The advantages of the choice of conflict avoidance by the coward and its resultant prevention of unnecessary battles being fought show the wisdom of cowardice.
In conclusion we may say that although cowardice is perceived as negative, in many ways it may be a smarter choice than courage. These are three amazing reasons to support being a smart coward.
Shall we raise a toast to cowardice?
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