Courage is what preserves our liberty, safety, life, and our

In the words of Plautus, “Courage is what preserves our liberty, safety, life, and our homes and parents, our country and children. Courage comprises all things,” we hear the voice of the ancients calling across the ages — a cry from the heart of Rome itself, where honor and valor were the pillars of civilization. These words speak not only of war and defense, but of the sacred foundation of all human virtue: courage. For without it, no other virtue can live. It is courage that guards freedom when tyrants rise, that shelters families in times of peril, that sustains nations when storms of chaos descend. To Plautus, as to the sages of old, courage was not merely a soldier’s quality — it was the lifeblood of civilization itself.

The origin of this quote reaches back to the ancient Roman Republic, a time when the very survival of the state depended on the bravery of its citizens. Plautus, though known chiefly as a playwright, spoke with the moral insight of a philosopher. His comedies, often filled with laughter and wit, also carried the deeper echoes of Roman life — the struggle between fear and duty, between selfishness and sacrifice. When he declared that “courage comprises all things,” he spoke not only of battlefields, but of the courage required in every aspect of human life: to speak the truth, to endure hardship, to act rightly when comfort tempts the soul to cowardice.

In the heart of every civilization, courage is the root that nourishes all other virtues. Without it, justice cannot stand, for fear will silence the righteous. Without it, wisdom cannot act, for knowledge unused is but dust on the tongue. Without it, compassion cannot endure, for mercy often demands risk. The ancients knew this: that courage is not the absence of fear, but the mastery of it — the decision to act according to what is right, even when one’s body trembles. For this reason, Plautus said that courage “comprises all things.” It is the forge from which all greatness is born.

Consider the story of Leonidas and the Three Hundred at Thermopylae. Facing an army that outnumbered them a thousandfold, these men did not hope for victory. They stood, knowing death awaited, because their courage preserved something greater than their lives — their liberty. In their final stand, they gave a gift to all generations: the reminder that courage does not always triumph in battle, but it always triumphs in the soul. The courage of the few preserved the freedom of the many, and through their sacrifice, they became immortal in memory.

But courage is not only found on the field of war. It lives in quieter places — in the mother who protects her child, in the worker who speaks against injustice, in the student who stands for truth when the crowd mocks it. In every heart that resists despair, there burns a spark of the same fire that kept Rome standing against her foes. It is not always loud or glorious, but it is the same sacred force: the willingness to risk for what is good. For as Plautus teaches, courage preserves our homes, our parents, our children — it preserves all that we hold dear.

Courage, too, must be renewed in every age. When men grow comfortable, they forget its necessity. They mistake safety for strength, and convenience for peace. Yet history teaches that when courage fades, liberty soon follows. The freedom we inherit from those before us must be defended not only with arms, but with moral bravery — the courage to speak, to question, to stand upright when the tide of conformity pulls others down. Thus, courage is not only a shield but a flame — it lights the path of progress and burns away the shadows of fear.

Let this be the lesson of Plautus’s words: that courage is the cornerstone of both personal virtue and collective greatness. It is the guardian of the home, the protector of the weak, the defender of truth. To live courageously is to live fully, for every act of bravery — no matter how small — is an act of preservation, a defiance against the decay of spirit.

So remember, O listener of time: keep your courage close, for it is the root of all that endures. Be brave not only in danger, but in daily living. Speak the truth even when it costs you comfort. Protect what is right even when it isolates you. For those who keep courage alive preserve not only themselves, but the world — and as Plautus said, in that single virtue lies the power that comprises all things.