Courage Is Calling: Fortune Favors the Brave (The Stoic Virtues Series)

by Ryan Holiday

When you believe in something, it makes it easier to believe in people. It’s what helps you endure the pain and the shortcomings.

Not believing in hope is a cop-out. It’s nihilism, as we’ve talked about, a dark reason not to have to care or try. But to hope? To hope is an obligation. It’s also a light.

Hope is the thing with feathers, as Emily Dickinson said. It perches on our soul. It guides us through the storm. It keeps us warm. She also says it doesn’t ask anything of us. But that’s not quite right. Hope asks for courage and then some. We carry the fire, at risk of being burned. We are of good cheer, despite the horror and the despair. We keep our hearts open, after we’ve had it broken. We proceed, ignoring the horrendous odds.

Remember: Leaders are dealers in hope. Nobody wants to live in a world without a tomorrow, without a reason to continue, without some dot on the horizon they’re aiming at. And if we want that, we’re going to have to make it. For them and for ourselves, heroically. Whatever we do, we cannot surrender to bitterness. We must reject the heresy of despair. We can’t give up on ourselves or on other people. We have to tell ourselves a story—about history, about our lives—that emphasizes agency, progress, the chance of redemption. We hope against hope against hope. That is the seed of all greatness. It is the key to a better tomorrow.