Profiles in Courage

Is courage “grace under pressure,” as Hemingway famously asserted? History gives us some fine examples of courage, as does the Bible.

Grace under pressure.

That’s the definition of courage, according to Ernest Hemingway. Although, to be accurate, he never actually said the word “courage.” A profile in The New Yorker says that he was asked, “Exactly what do you mean by ‘guts’?”

“I mean,” Hemingway said, “grace under pressure.”

Some books mistakenly quote him as saying, “Courage is grace under pressure.” But guts or courage — what’s the difference, really? The line was part of a conversation about courage, and it became famous after it appeared in The New Yorker.

Later, Sen. John F. Kennedy used the line in the first chapter of his book, Profiles in Courage. The book contains the stories of eight United States senators and the ways in which they responded gracefully to pressure — sometimes risking their popularity and their careers.

All showed courage: Grace under pressure.

Examples?

Consider Witold Pilecki, a Polish ...