Cowardice (n.) is the strongest shackle a soul can wear.
Cowardice (n.) is ignorance of what is and is not to be feared.
Cowardice (n.) is ranked with death: Alcibiades would not even want to go on living if he were a coward.
Cowardice (n.) is trained in childhood: whoever is terrified from his earliest years grows up timid, so courage must begin with mastering infant fears.
Cowardice (n.) was what Achilles truly feared — more than death, he dreaded to live on as a laughingstock by the ships, a burden upon the earth.
Cowardice (n.) is a kind of seasickness: a commander with every military skill is useless if he is drunk with terror in the face of danger.
Cowardice (n.) must not be confused with bad luck: the soldier robbed of his shield has lost his weapons; only the one who throws it away has abandoned it.