Maya Angelou Courage

Maya Angelou once stated, “Courage is the most important of all the virtues because without courage, you can't practice any other virtue consistently.” To many extents, this declaration is true. Her words explain to us that it is impossible to take action, if one does not have the confidence to do so. With this statement, Maya Angelou describes the sheer power of courage and its importance in life. Even in difficult situations, courage has the power to prevail over the hardships. Some of these tough times include those of the Holocaust and in the apartheid era of South Africa. Regardless of the horrific conditions they are placed in, the characters of Night, Bruno of The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, and Nelson Mandela all display a great deal of courage,
Despite the harsh conditions of the concentration camps, a handful of characters rise above the horror and demonstrate the true meaning of courage. Some of these tremendously brave figures consist of a French girl, a prisoner who is hanged for his crimes, and lastly, Juliek, the Polish violin player. Within the camps, there are countless occasions in which the people who oversee the captives, including Kapos and SS officers, assault the prisoners. During a specific incident, Elie catches himself in the midst of one of Idek the Kapo’s fits. After the beating and as Elie regains his surroundings, a French girl disguised as an Aryan lends him a helping hand. She provides Elie with a meager piece of bread and the kind words of, “Bite your lip, little brother.... Don’t cry. Keep your anger and hatred for another day, for later on. The day will come, but not now.....Wait” (51). By speaking those few words and helping Elie can arouse suspicions about her identity and increase the risk of getting her killed, but she has the courage to ignore that and to support him. This is an immense display of courage because of the severity of the scenario. Even when the French girl is under a stressful