Miss Kitty

"Courage is almost a contradiction in terms. It means a strong desire to live, taking the form of a readiness to die. "He that will lose his life, the same shall save it," is not a piece of mysticism for saints and heroes. It is a piece of everyday advice for sailors and mountaineers. It might be printed in an Alpine guide or drill book. The paradox is the whole principle of courage; even of quite earthly, quite brutal courage. A man cut off by the sea may save his life if he will risk it on the precipice. He can only get away from death by contiually stepping within an inch of it. A soldier surrounded by enemies; if he is to cut his way out, needs to combine a strong desire for living with strong carelessness about dying. He must not merely cling to live, for then he will be a coward, and will not escape death. He must not wait for death, for then for then he will be a suicide, and will not escape death. He must seek his life in a spirit of furious indifference; he must desire life like water and yet drink death like wine."