The difference between courage and bravery is minimal but significant. Though the two words are often used as part of similar sentences they actually relate to slightly different actions and circumstances. Today we're going to help you get to the bottom of this word debate and finally give you the understanding you need to be able to use them as part of your written and spoken language freely and effectively.
Definition Of Courage
Courage is: 'Displaying strength when faced with grief, pain or anguish. Or the ability to do something even when one is afraid.'
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That probably sounds a little bit like bravery, but we'll now break down the minor details that set the two apart. The problem with courage vs bravery is that you actually need one in order to be able to use the other. This is why there is so much wide spread confusion.
Courage is a foundation. You need courage to be able to face something that you don't like in the first place. Courage is what leads to you deciding to take some kind of action, and it can relate to any circumstance that you personally struggle to deal with. Before you display bravery, you first need courage to place yourself in a position that may then call for bravery to be displayed. To further help you separate the difference between bravery vs courage we'll now analyse the exact meaning of bravery.
Definition Of Bravery
Bravery is: 'Behaviour that is courageous in nature, or having a brave character.'
As you can see the definition itself doesn't really help us to separate the two words much. However, the circumstances where either word can be effectively used do as we'll now discuss.
Bravery implies that someone is faced with a risky / dangerous situation that they need to overcome. Through willingly approaching and taking a situation like this head on the person would then be displaying bravery. Though they would need courage in order to place themselves in the situation in the first place, to be able to overcome it successfully they would need to actively display bravery. Though similar, this helps us to understand where the difference lies.
There isn't necessarily and risk of danger associated with a situation that requires a person to be courageous, but there is always a risk of danger or a threat to personal wellbeing associated with displaying an act of bravery. One (courage) establishes the foundation on which we can then choose to display the other (bravery.) The first is a prerequisite for the second. Though almost the same, one is ultimately a by product of another.
Main Differences Between Courage Vs Bravery
We're now going to effectively summarise the differences between these two words with a quick reference table. The aim of this table is to display key differences that you can review with a quick glance any time you find yourself confused about this subject in the future.
- Danger Not always displayed in dangerous situations Displayed in situations that involve danger
- Which comes first? Courage comes before bravery Bravery follows courage
- Characteristics Mental or moral strength A quality displayed by a person
- Fear Courage implies the presence of fear Bravery implies a lack of fear
- Examples It's courageous to admit when you've lied His bravery in battle was admired for hundreds of years
Though they do not entail all of the key differences and examples that one might find when studying the two words, you've definitely got more than enough information above to gain a deeper understanding of how they weave into our everyday language and circumstances.
Conclusion
All of the necessary ingredients to help you to separate courage vs bravery have now been laid out for you to effectively understand and make practical use of them as part of written and spoken language.
Just try to remember that courage can be used to face any difficult scenario, whereas bravery means that a person is overcoming danger. This key area alone serves as an easy to remember reminder of their differing natures.
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