Even cowards can endure hardship; only the brave can endure

“Even cowards can endure hardship; only the brave can endure suspense.” So wrote Mignon McLaughlin, a keen observer of the human soul, and in her words lies a wisdom as sharp as the edge of a sword. For it is one thing to suffer in the midst of visible trial, when the enemy is before you, the blow is felt, and the pain is clear. But it is another, more terrible thing, to live in suspense—to wait in the unknown, to stand in silence not knowing whether doom or deliverance approaches. This is the trial that tests not the body, but the spirit.

The ancients themselves honored this truth. For they said that a warrior who endures the wound of battle shows strength, but greater still is he who can endure the night before the battle, when fear gnaws at the heart and imagination magnifies the danger. Hardship has limits—it is endured moment by moment—but suspense is limitless, stretching the soul upon the rack of uncertainty. To live in that uncertainty without surrendering to panic is the mark of the truly brave.

Consider the sailors of Christopher Columbus, voyaging into waters unknown. They could endure storms, for storms are endured with muscle and courage. But what shook them most was the endless waiting, the horizon that revealed nothing, the haunting fear that perhaps there was no land at all. It was in that suspense, that not-knowing, that their spirits faltered. Columbus himself, though afraid, pressed onward—his bravery not in battling storms, but in enduring the uncertainty of the unknown.

So too in the life of Abraham Lincoln during the Civil War. He could bear hardship, the weight of criticism, the grief of countless dead. But the greater test was suspense—the not knowing whether the Union would survive, whether his cause was destined to triumph or to be lost forever. For years he walked in this shadow, with no clear sign of victory. His bravery was shown not only in decisions made, but in his ability to endure that long suspense without despair.

O children of tomorrow, do not think that bravery is only found in action or in suffering. True bravery is often hidden in patience, in the ability to live with uncertainty without collapsing, to endure the silence before fate reveals itself. The coward, too, may grit his teeth under hardship when there is no choice, but it is the brave alone who can wait in darkness, not knowing when or if the dawn will come, and still keep faith.

The lesson is plain: life will test you not only with visible struggles, but with unseen ones. Practically, let each person do this: when you face uncertainty, do not flee into rashness or despair. Learn to breathe through the waiting, to strengthen the mind with hope and discipline. Cultivate trust—in yourself, in time, in providence—that suspense will not destroy you, but refine you. Endure the silence with the same courage you would endure the storm.

Thus remember McLaughlin’s words: “Even cowards can endure hardship; only the brave can endure suspense.” Carry them into the uncertain hours of life, when the path is hidden and the outcome unknown. For those who can wait bravely in suspense, without surrendering to fear, prove themselves greater than conquerors—they prove themselves masters of their own souls.