"Courage is of two kinds: first, physical courage, or courage in presence of danger to the person ; and next, moral courage, or courage before responsibility, whether it be before the judgement-seat of external authority, or of the inner power, the conscience" (Clausewitz 139).
I picked this passage because, me being interested in the fighting arts (western boxing, muay thai/thai boxing/kickboxing) courage plays an important role. The physical courage is present in the face of danger or even death. This seems to occur naturally. It has been 'programed' into man that when one is given a clear choice between life and death, one would normally pick life. Sun Tzu's "The Art of War" states clearly that if two warriors were fighting and one fighter (with actions, not words) gives the other fighter a clear choice of whether to live or die, that fighter who is given the choice is more dangerous than the warrior supposedly winning. "Never press a desperate enemy" (Sun Tzu). This is why the solution to the problem is to show your enemy a way out. Courage is dangerous when it is concentrated for a simple cause, live. Now that is why one must not show his enemy that there is no hope, but rather keep one's opponent with the choice of retreat, so they will not feel obligated to fight to the death.
Ex.- Historically, the reason that the 300 Spartans kicked the Persians ass (even though they all died, except for the legend of the unknown Spartan), was because the Persians tried to force them into a situation where they had no hope but the Greeks were more skilled; and thus the plan did not work, resulting in huge Persian death counts.
The second kind of courage, according to Clausewitz, is the courage that is pride, patriotism, or enthusiasm. I have experienced this also, this is the kind of courage that can either be really good or really bad, depending on how one uses it. One must not use this courage and turn it into arrogance, which translates into death and loss on battlefield. On the other hand, with the right mental organization, one could use their emotions to translate into a very dangerous and deadly source of courage.
Ex.2- Once again, the battle of the 300 Spartans was not to defeat the Persians, but rather to hold them off so the Athenian navy could destroy the Persian navy. The Greeks, as a whole united to fight for freedom and against the oppression of Xerxes. The Greeks used the right amount of this second kind of courage to kick Xerxes out of Greece for good.
"Mere intelligence is still not courage, for we often see the cleverest people devoid of resolution. The mind must, therefore, first awaken the feeling of courage, and then be guided and supported by it, because in momentary emergencies the man is swayed more by his feelings than his thoughts" (Clausewitz 142).
Questions:
1). Could courage win over skill, could courage win over intelligence? (In the abstract: courage has no skill and no intelligence; skill has no intelligence and no courage; and intelligence has no skill and no courage; but courage never gives up; skill is the best at the art; and intelligence knows all about the art and all the strategies).
2). Which situations (in the reality) would courage win over skill, or over intelligence?
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