How one would define courage changes from one person to the next, for instance Google 's definition of courage is “the ability to do something that frightens one,” while Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary’s definition is “mental or moral strength to venture, pressure, and withstand danger, fear, or difficulty” (287). A courageous person does not always have to be courageous, but one could simply just be an ordinary person who has courageous moments. A courageous person stands up for themselves and others, is brave, does not give up and does their best to keep going.
The word courageous is a word used to describe rescuers in the holocaust, people who went against the Nazis and rescued Jews from concentration camps. “They [rescuers] were ordinary people who became extraordinary people because they acted in accordance with their
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Courage with its many definitions, including the claim that fear is needed to be courageous. One might find themselves in a situation where fear is present and when one faces it they are courageous. “Unless one experiences the sensation of fear, subjectively, and/or physically, no courage is required” (University of Pennsylvania, “Courage”). If one is fearless, there is no reason to be courageous, no reason to escape or avoid something that gives one a feeling of fear, be it physical or moral. Psychologist S. J. Rachman defined courage in three steps, “1. The subjective feeling of apprehension 2. The physiological reaction to fear (e.g., increases heart rate) 3. The behavior response to fear (e.g., and effort to escape the fearful situation)” (University of Pennsylvania, “Courage”). He stated that one could not experience one of these steps without experiencing the other two steps. If one does not feel fear or the need to stand up to something they fear, there is no reason to be courageous or get away from whatever it is that is giving them the feeling of fear. One can be courageous for a number of different things, including facing