Given below are two statements. Bring out what you understand by them and discuss their relevance in the present context. (a) "I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear"- Nelson Mandela

The given statement by Nelson Mandela explains what it means to be courageous. Courage does not mean a person does not have any fear. But it means a person has conquered his fears by facing and dealing with them.

Why does courage not mean absence of fear?

→ Absence of fear is likely to make a person reckless rather than virtuous eg: A public servant must be afraid to lose his integrity, commitment etc.

→ A student must be afraid of fear of not achieving his goal.

Now, what makes the above persons courageous, is their attempt to deal with the fears

→ eg: The public servant cultivates strong character and attitude towards public service

→ eg: the student conquers the fear by working harder on pursuit of his goal.

Thus courage is a virtue as argued by Aristotle, that individuals need to carefully cultivate to live a virtuous life