Courage comes from the French root coeur, which means "heart".
In English, the words "heart" and "courage" are interchangable.
Courage is looking adversity of any sort in the eye, and standing to
face it. Courage is standing up for one's beliefs, in the face of
danger, and in the face of peer pressure. Courage is doing what is
right, rather than what is easiest. Courage is not the absence of fear.
Courage is being able to act in spite of the fear.
Courage is not always prudent, Courage is not always smart. People
have
used their Courage to save lives, others have died for their Courage.
Live or die, Courage is not a virtue of regret. The Courageous look
back
at their acts and realize that they did what had to be done,
and they were possibly the only ones willing or capable of putting
themselves at risk to make sure it got done.
I will cite no real-world examples of Courage, as there are too many,
and I would rather not tarnish the others by mentioning just one. We
all know Courage when we see it.