"Be not brave " Topic

"Cowards have been shamed, beaten and shot, yet their failing has an important social function. Let's hear it for cowardice

One coward may lose a battle, one battle may lose a war, and one war may lose a country.' This was Rear-Admiral and Conservative MP Tufton Beamish speaking to the House of Commons in 1930, giving voice to an idea that must be as old as war itself. Caring only for his own safety, blowing cover, attracting fire, the coward can be more dangerous to his own side than a brave enemy. Even when he doesn't run, the coward can sow panic simply by the way he looks – changing colour, as Homer observed in the Iliad, unable to sit still, his teeth chattering. Cowards are also known for soiling themselves.

No wonder soldiers in the field worry about being cowardly far more than they dream of being heroic; or why cowardice is often counted the most contemptible of vices (not just by soldiers): while heroes achieve fame, cowards are often condemned to something worse than infamy – oblivion. As Dante's guide Virgil says of the cowardly neutrals who reside in the anteroom of hell: ‘the world will let no report of them endure'. Virgil himself doesn't want to speak of them. Yet speaking about cowards and cowardice can help us judge and guide human conduct in the face of fea…"
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Amicalement
Armand

I finally got around to reading this and it was pretty interesting, thanks Armand!

A votre service mon cher ami!… (smile)

At least one of us read it!. (smile)

Amicalement
Armand

Calling it cowardice not to engage in nuclear war seems rather dubious.

Most would call it common sense…