Profiles in Courage for Our Time Book

JFK originally wrote a book called Profiles in courage which profiled a group of American mainly in and around his team and maybe before who had had the courage to go against the grain of society. They were true profiles in courage. Subsequently in 1989 a profiles in courage award was created. Caroline kennedy here does the same thing but honour american politicians of her time. There were some really interesting brave characters here who committed professional suicide and sometimes even had death threats and attempts against them for what they believed in. Here are some of my best bits:

Definition of courage: grace under pressure.

Charles longstreet weltner: Mr speaker we need not so much new paragraphs in the books of law, as new precepts in the hearts of men. We need to raise and follow this standard, as old as christianity and as simple as truth - let right be done.

Lowell weicker jr: Don't be afraid to lose. If you're not afraid to lose , you'll make your mark in politics.

Henry B gonzalez: He boxed in the local gymnasiums. He kept reading, absorbing the true riches of the world.

Henry B gonzalez: he had embarked on one of the most glorious filibusters in the states history. He talked and he talked and he talked. Other Men went to sleep or out to tea. Henry B talked or 36 amazing hours, sucking on lemons and raisins to soothe his throat.

Henry B Gonzalez: people will respond to you if they can believe that you say. People will trust you if you keep your word. People will respect you if you respect yourself. If you lay out the problem accurately and you propose a reasonable solution, people will give you a chance notwithstanding your heritage or race.

Martin Luther king: human progress is neither automatic nor inevitable. Even a superficial look at history reveals that no social advance rolls in on the wheels of inevitability. Every step towards the goal of justice requires sacrifice, suffering and the tireless exertions and passionate concern of dedicated individuals.

Charles Price: courage cannot be taught to you. Instead it emanates from your principles, your values, and your moral and ethical beliefs. It takes courage to rebuke popularly held opinions. It takes courage to travel the road less travelled. The courage of one protects the rights of all those who are effected.

Nickolas C Murnion: in the end that empathy is the rarest display of courage, the kind that heals.

John Alderdice: When you champion your own community, they may well back you. And when you accept the challenge of leadership of your own community, they may follow you. But when you accept the challenge of confronting your own community, you risk rejection and alienation. But it is nevertheless the height of courage.

John Hume: as we do that together rather than waving flags and calling names we will break down the barriers of centuries. Better to spill sweat than blood.

George J Mitchell: this sounds corny but it's not. If you really believe in what you're doing, you can tolerate almost anything in order to achieve it.

Irish troubles: the simple common sense that Hume had been championing for three nerve fraying health wracking decades seemed to have finally prevailed. The death toll stood however at 3,592.

John McCain: on the third night i lay in my own blood and waste, so tired and hurt that i could not move. The North Vietnamese prick came in with 2 other guards, lifted me to my feet and gave me the worst beating i had yet experienced. At one point he slammed his fist into my face and knocked me across the room towards the waste bucket. I fell on the bucket hitting it with my already broken arm and then broke it again. They left me lying on the floor moaning for the stabbing pain in my re-fractured arm. I tried to take my own life at that point.

Russell feingold: but a moth after the worst terrorism in american history struck on september 11, 2001, Russ Feingold was the sole member of the united states senate to vote against an anti-terrorism bill. Others shared his concerns about the legislations broad reaching provisions that seemed to sanction unfettered surveillance and virtually unlimited detention in the name of fighting terrorism.

John lewis: i could see that this was an attempt to break us down, to humiliate and to dehumanise us, to rob us of our identity and self worth. I had read that such methods were used by oppressors throughout history. When we were finally led, 2 by 2, into a shower room guarded by a sergeant with a rifle, i thought of the concentration camps in germany. This was 1961 in USA, yet here were were treated like animals for using the wrong bathroom.

John lewis: Some of the deepest most delicious moments of my life were getting out of jail … finding my way to the nearest freedom house, taking a good long shower, putting on a pair of jeans and a fresh shirt and going to some little, side of the road juke joint where id order a ham burger or cheese sandwich and a cold soda and walk over to the juke box and stand there with a quarter in my hand and look over every song in that box because the choice had to be just right and then i would finally drop that quarter and punch up marvin gaye or curtis mayfield or aretha and i would let the music wash over me and i don't know if i'd ever felt anything so sweet. (doesn't that paragraph just make you immediately smile!)