COWARDS DIE MANY TIMES BEFORE THEIR DEATH
Outline:
I.
Introduction:
-
Thesis:
The journey of a coward is fraught with numerous deaths before the final
breath, as they endure the agonies of humiliation and failures.
II.
Understanding
the Layers of Cowardice: Denotation vs Connotation
III.
The
Precarious Demise of Cowards:
(a) Lack of Courage: Each setback feels
like a brush with death for the coward.
(b) Excessive Self-Preservation:
Overprotectiveness burdens the coward, making life more daunting than death.
(c) Fading Confidence: A coward's
diminishing self-belief cripples their ability to pursue ambitious endeavors.
(d) Repeated Defeats: Regular failures
push the coward to the brink of surrender long before their final resting
place.
(e) Public Humiliation: The fear of shame
and ridicule haunts the coward even in life's mundane moments.
IV.
Cowardice
Across Domains:
(a)
Politics:
Manipulative politicians meet their downfall, echoing Nietzsche's insights.
(b)
Military:
Acts of cowardice stain reputations irreparably, evidenced by historical
figures
and Islamic teachings.
(c)
Economy:
Excess caution in investing leads to missed opportunities, as depicted in
"The Big
Short."
(d)
Society:
Cowards face social exile from both community and family dynamics, as portrayed
in "Force Majeure."
V.
Embracing
Valor: The Path to Fulfillment and Legacy
VI.
Conclusion:
Cowardice offers no refuge in the face of danger; instead, it renders life
unbearable.
Annals
of human history beat testimony to the fact that cowardice and courage go hand
in hand. Human history is replete with instances of courageous and cowardly
persons. However, history treats each of them differently. A courageous person
like Julius Caesar is celebrated both by history and literature while a
yellow-bellied and manipulative anti-hero like Brutus is condemned in the most
unequivocal terms. Philosophers, writers, intellectuals, poets, and historians
heap praises on the valiant heroes but berate and denigrate the cowardly
characters of history. Cowards are not only vilified after they perish but
loathed by others in their lifetime also. They are censured and harshly
criticized for their un-manly character. They become a symbol of shame and
disgrace. Moreover, cowards remain restless themselves. They do not find even an
iota of solace as they remain preoccupied with excessive self.
Each
moment of a coward's life brings a new suffering for him. Further, each new
suffering makes his life worse than death. He tries to evade death but the
thought of dying never leaves his mind. He might increase a few moments in his
life through his cowardly act but each moment of his life becomes a moment
worse than death. Each moment of his extended life is filled with guilt, shame,
and disgrace. Succinctly, a coward dies many times before his death because he
has to face pangs of humiliation and failures in his life which are more
painful than the actual death. On the contrary, as Shakespeare put it, “The
valiant never taste of death but once" and continues to live on in the
hearts and the minds of people.
At
the very outset, the meaning of the term ‘coward’ must be expounded.
Its
meaning can be either denotative or connotative. The denotative meaning of
“coward” is a person who is excessively concerned about his safety and is
immensely fearful of someone or something that may harm him. Connotatively, a coward
is a person who does not do or say something good or something that is required
for the fear that doing so or saying so, may bring harm to him. Cowards are not
only those who flee the battlefield when swords shine or guns blaze but also
those who acquiesce to something evil which they might stop or control.
Whatever might be the interpretation of ‘coward’ or ‘cowardice’, it is an
incontrovertible reality that it is the most detestable characteristic in humans
as an English Economist. Adam Smith once said,
“No
character is more contemptible than that of a coward."
In
the preceding paragraphs, the meanings of a coward’ are briefly touched upon in
the succeeding paragraphs, it will be illustrated how cowards die while they
still breathe eat, and drink. Cowards die before their death because excessive
self-concern, continuous failures, unceasing barrages of insult, and eroding
confidence make their lives a living hell.
First,
a coward dies before his death because each test, trial, and mishap in his life
becomes as monstrous as death for him. Although, life is a bed of thorns for
every person the brave keeps a stiff upper lip in the face of adversity. They
take every bull at its horns and face every trial with fortitude and
perseverance. Conversely, cowards know nothing of fortitude and perseverance.
They fight shy of every difficulty and problem they come across in their lives.
However, trials and tribulations spare no one. When a calamity befalls a
cowardly person, he cannot bear it and hence suffers. Every hiccup looks like a
mountain to him. This condition makes his life vulnerable and pitiable.
In
a similar vein, the excessive self-concern of a coward makes him overprotective
about his life thereby rendering his life more burdensome than death. A coward
is concerned about only one thing self-preservation Gradually, this concern for
self-preservation turns into excessive self-concern. It further leads to a
situation where a coward becomes ever-protective about his life and himself.
This situation renders his life a simulacrum of death. Sheikh Saadi, in his
famous anecdotes, tells the story of a cowardly soldier who fled a battlefield.
On his way back home, he was passing through a jungle when he came across the
thought that a beast might kill him there. He became frightened and decided to
cross a nearby river so that he could get to the valley. When he reached near
the river, he once again got frightened. This time he was afraid of drowning in
the river while crossing it. So, he decided to move beside the river until he
came across some habitation. However, he could not stand the thought of his
beheading if someone caught him for deserting the army. In brief, the cowardly
soldier turned mad and died mentally without dying physically.
A
coward gradually loses his confidence which incapacitates him from living an
ambitious life like that of a truly alive person. As already explained, life
remains vacuous and empty if it is void of vivacity passion, and ambition. The
life of a coward is exactly like that. He doesn’t have any confidence in
himself because he never tests his limits. He always confines himself to a safe
space and therefore does not have the confidence to mark the unchartered boundaries.
All progress in human life would have been impossible if Cowards had the
responsibility of turning the wheels of progress. Cowards remain dead during
their lives as they neither have the will nor the confidence to. act like a
living person and take charge of their affairs in their own hands.
Moreover,
a coward bites dust continuously before even going to a grave Success is a
legacy of the valiant while failure is the fate of cowards. Success requires
effort and sacrifice qualities which are unknown to a coward. A coward knows
how to play safe but does not know how to play well. A batsman who is too
afraid of losing his wicket can never hit a six. He can save his wicket but can
never secure a victory for his team. Such a player, in addition, cannot survive
the test of time and is often kicked out of the team soon enough. Further, a
coward can never perform best and always remain an underperformer. His
mediocrity stalls progress in his life and he faces humiliating setbacks around
every comer. Too many failures in a life, like too many tatters in a piece of
cloth, spoil it. Each failure rings a death knell for the life of a coward.
Additionally,
the public's shame and the ridicule faced by the coward keep him on tenterhooks
even before his death. Soren Kirkegaard, a Danish philosopher, paid significant
attention to the concept of cowardice. For him, the life of a cowardly person becomes
a stove of heathen fire because he focuses on continuous and unrelenting public
disapproval and disgrace. However, great feats a person might have performed
one act of cowardice pushes his life to dogs. His tremendous exploits lay waste
if even one act of cowardice stains his reputation. Plato once said,
“A
life of cowardice is a life of shame, and a life of shame is worse than all
other things, even death". Verily, a coward dies by inches at the hands of
public humiliation.
In
the previous section, various dimensions of a coward's pitiable life were
discussed. Moreover, it was illustrated in a logical progression how cowardice
turns the life of a coward more miserable than death. In the subsequent
section, multifarious manifestations of a coward's deplorable life will be
elaborated. These manifestations will touch upon political, economic, military,
and social facts of a coward’s life.
First, a white livered and manipulative politician is bound to fail in his political life. A politician who makes compromises on principles for fear of public backlash will lose credibility one day. For instance. Aung San Su Kyi has stuck her head in the sand on the matter of the Rohingya crisis. She has not spoken up against the horrendous crime because she fears the backlash of Myanmar’s Buddhist majority. It is cowardice on her part that has tainted her reputation. Similarly, Mir Jaffar and Mir Sadiq were coward traitors who compromised on principles for temporary gains. Despite getting benefits and leading successful lives, both traitors died in miserable situations. Nietzsche was particularly critical of cowardly politicians. He considered cowardice the deadliest sin. In his opinion, which he expressed in 'Thus Spoke Zarathustra’, man becomes a ‘Super Man’ when he overcomes all of his fears. Nietzsche further claimed that a cowardly person is worse than wild beasts. Moreover, cowardly politicians are worse still. He called them swine whose life serves no purpose but rather spread diseases and pestilence.
Secondly,
an act of cowardice on the battlefield becomes a stigma for the whole life of a
cowardly person. Although, a coward is loathed in every walk of life yet
cowardice on the battlefield is tantamount to a crime. Every military code in
the world punishes cowards. In some cases, this punishment amounts to capital
punishment. It is so because a foolish act of cowardice can turn the fate of
war. In Islam, cowardice is vehemently condemned. On one occasion, Allah
says
in Quran, “Those who turn their backs in the field of war, invite the wrath of
Allah." A person who invites the wrath of the Supreme Lord cannot live in peace.
His life becomes a war that can never be won by a coward. Moreover, General
McLellan was the chief of the Potomac Army during the American Civil War.
Although he was a meticulous experienced general still he was a coward at
heart. At the Battle of Antietam, he failed to vanquish the Confederate army
despite numerical superiority. The reason behind this failure was that he
ordered his troops to retreat long before the battle was over. Abraham Lincoln
fired him for that cowardly retreat. General McLellan, despite his utmost
efforts, could not retrieve his reputation. He spent the rest of his life in abject
misery. He wrote the following in his biography.
"Each breath accentuates my pain and each
passing moment multiplies my misery"
General
McLellan
Thirdly,
an investor who is too cautious can never make money hand over fist and his
life remains sorrowful as his dreams remain unfulfilled because the life of a
businessman and an investor revolves around money. If he earns enough money, he
will remain happy. Conversely, if he fails to generate appreciable profits, he
becomes depressed and dejected. A book little, “The Big Short” written by
Micheal Lewis proves the point that a cowardly businessman can never succeed.
As he fails to take calculated risks, he fails to get a higher return from his
investment. As a result, he falls into a state of anxiety and loses confidence.
This situation further worsens when his resources start to deplete and his life
is caught up by wretchedness.
Finally,
a coward faces ostracization and expulsion from family, community, and society.
A courageous person inspires admiration while a yellow-bellied person draws
social criticism. He cannot face his relatives, much less his friends. He
becomes isolated and alone. A similar case has been exhibited in a Norwegian
movie titled 'Force Majeure’. This movie tells the story of a father who
abandoned his family during an avalanche on a nearby mountain. Family survived
the avalanche but both wife and children lost the respect for their husband and
father respectively. That person returns to rejoin his family but is shocked to
find out that they don’t want him in. He, eventually, lost his wife and
children. He had to live alone for the rest of his life.
At
this juncture, it can be recommended that one must embrace gallantry and
intrepidity to live one's life to the fullest and to survive in the annals of
history even after his death. One must shun all the traces of cowardice from
one's personality. It can be done by getting inspiration from the brave figures
of human history. If one reads biographical accounts of such figures, one
inadvertently gets inspired by their lives. This inspiration further leads to the
adoption of courageous behavior Moreover, the education system and media should
assume the responsibility to discourage growing cowardice in the form of
opportunism among the masses. Finally, a distinction must be made between
courage and reckless behavior. Both cowardice and rashness are undesirable
attributes while courage, which comes in between them, is a desirable quality
and hence must to promoted.
The
quintessence of all discourse is that a coward spends a life full of dread. At
every juncture of his life, he considers himself under the Sword of Damocles.
He cannot even enjoy pleasurable moments because his mind remains preoccupied
with self-concern. His life becomes full of worries and wretchedness. All looks
gloom and doom to him. He falls prey to pessimism and nihilism. In brief, the life
of a coward is no less a disaster than death. He dies by inches with every
passing moment. His life of out-and-out objection serves a lesson to all and
sundry. This lesson is:
“Cowardice does not save one’s life in the
face of some danger, rather it makes life unbearable" Chris Walsh “
Cowardice:
A Brief history1
