Courage quotes, explained

A line from a 1997 newspaper column written as an imaginary commencement speech. The column became the hit song “Everybody's Free (To Wear Sunscreen)” and its lines were credited to famous people.

Roosevelt's defense of people who try and fail over critics who never try. It was part of a long speech in Paris about the duties of citizens in a democracy.

Said to a country in the depths of the Great Depression, days before he closed the banks. It was a plea to stop a panic that was making the crisis worse, not a general saying about bravery.

Churchill's promise, right after the Dunkirk evacuation, that Britain would never surrender even if invaded. He paired it with a blunt warning that Dunkirk was a defeat, not a victory.

Truth did give a famous speech for women's rights in 1851, but the refrain “Ain't I a woman?” appears only in a version published twelve years later by another activist.

Latin for “the die has been cast.” Once dice are thrown you cannot take them back, so the phrase marks a decision that commits you to whatever happens next.

Caesar tells his wife that cowards suffer death over and over in their fears, while the brave face it only once. He says it on the morning he is murdered.

Henry's call for Virginia to arm itself against Britain, weeks before the fighting began at Lexington and Concord. The famous words were written down only 42 years later, from listeners' memories.

The greatest love a person can show is to give up their life for others. Jesus says it at the Last Supper, the night before his death.

The calm radio call from Apollo 13 after an oxygen tank exploded. The real words were “we've had a problem,” said first by Jack Swigert and repeated by Jim Lovell.

Churchill's first promise as Prime Minister was not victory but hardship. He told Parliament the truth about the war ahead and asked for its support anyway.

The last words reported of a 21-year-old American spy hanged by the British. They were written down years later, and they echo a line from a popular play of the time.

Jordan lists his missed shots and lost games and says those failures are the reason for his success. The words were spoken by Jordan in a Nike ad written by its agency.

The dead of the First World War speak from their graves among the poppies, asking the living to carry on their cause and not break faith with them.

An encouraging line that fits Mandela's life perfectly, but it has not been traced to anything he said or wrote. It spread online in the 2000s and especially after his death in 2013.

Churchill's tribute to the fighter pilots of the Royal Air Force during the Battle of Britain, a few thousand airmen defending a nation of millions.

An empowering line credited to Eleanor Roosevelt during her lifetime. It has never been found in her columns, books or speeches, so its true origin is unknown.

Armstrong's first words as he stepped onto the Moon. He said he meant “one small step for a man,” and the missing word has been debated ever since.

One of the most quoted sayings in politics, but it does not appear in Burke's works. Burke and John Stuart Mill both wrote similar, longer thoughts.

Hamlet asks whether it is better to live and endure life's suffering or to die and end it, and concludes that fear of what comes after death keeps people going.

A line from an academic article about forgotten Puritan women. Its author meant that ordinary, dutiful women are left out of history books, not that women should misbehave.

If you never try, you are guaranteed to fail, so take your chances. Gretzky said it to a hockey journalist in 1983, and the wording has shifted slightly since.