COWARDICE.
What is danger
More than the weakness of our apprehensions?
A poor cold part o' th' blood. Who takes it hold of?
Cowards and wicked livers: valiant minds
Were made the masters of it.
Chances. BEAUMONT AND FLETCHER.
Alike reserved to blame, or to commend,
A timorous foe, and a suspicious friend;
Dreading even fools, by flatteries besieged,
And so obliging that he ne'er obliged.
Satires: Prologue. A. POPE.
Cowards are cruel, but the brave
Love mercy, and delight to save.
Fables, Pt. I. Fable I. J. GAY.
When desp'rate ills demand a speedy cure,
Distrust is cowardice, and prudence folly.
Irene, Act iv. Sc. 1. DR. S. JOHNSON.
He
That kills himself to avoid misery, fears it,
And, at the best, shows but a bastard valor.
This life's a fort committed to my trust,
Which I must not yield up, till it be forced:
Nor will I. He's not valiant that dares die,
But he that boldly bears calamity.
Maid of Honor, Act iv. Sc. 1. P. MASSINGER.
Thou slave, thou wretch, thou coward!
Thou little valiant, great in villany!
Thou ever strong upon the stronger side!
Thou Fortune's champion, that dost never fight
But when her humorous ladyship is by
To teach thee safety!
King John, Act iii. Sc. 1. SHAKESPEARE.
For he who fights and runs away
May live to fight another day;
But he who is in battle slain
Can never rise and fight again.
The Art of Poetry on a New Plan. O. GOLDSMITH.
Cowards die many times before their deaths;
The valiant never taste of death but once.
Julius Cæsar, Act ii. Sc. 3. SHAKESPEARE.