Though courage is a virtue definitely worth possessing, I would personally have to choose wisdom. Courage without wisdom could result in stubborn refusal to face facts and back down in a no-win situation and could also lead to overbearing domination for its own sake. History is fraught with villains who certainly had courage but lacked the wisdom to use it properly.

Examples of people who undeniably possessed a great deal of courage but whose judgment clearly expressed a lack of wisdom include Hitler, Napoleon and many others. No one can deny these were brave and courageous men but a lack of wisdom caused them to be twisted and grossly misguided in their efforts. They were highly intelligent, but this is not the same thing as wise. They weren’t wise enough to use their intelligence and their bravery for good, but rather used it drive them on destructive and manipulative reigns of terror.

Wisdom by definition should provide us with courage since we will be able to logically assess a situation and know the danger level with which we are faced. Having wisdom would also provide us with possible alternatives and help us decide between them and make the best choice when faced with a dangerous situation.

Wisdom brings with it the peace of mind and comfort of knowing that we can face a situation intellectually and without interference of emotionally based responses. It allows us to be fair and even minded in our dealings with others. It allows us to avoid situations that will cause undue conflict and to resolve them in a reasonable manner when they do arise.

Courage, however, has its place, for without it we may find ourselves immobilized by fear and unable to do the things we need to do. Surely we all thank God for the courage of our brave military men and women who do what they must to defend our freedoms everyday. We also must be thankful for the courage of those in other professions such as firefighters, police officers, medical professionals and even our elected officials when stand up for what is right and just.

I’m not taking anything away from those who would choose courage over wisdom even though my preference for myself would be wisdom. We all need a healthy dose of both and I would hope that in this discussion we see a pretty even split in the decisions. If we have a good balance of people who choose either of these two admirable virtues, we will truly have a society that can work together and be strong, courageous and wise. With a combination of the two there is nothing that could not be achieved.