Why Courage Matters: The Way to a Braver Life

By John McCain, Mark Salter, Arthur H Samish

Book Overview

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * In this inspiring meditation on courage, Senator John McCain shares his most cherished stories of ordinary individuals who have risked everything to defend the people and... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1400060303
• ISBN13: 9781400060306
• Release Date: April 2004
• Publisher: Random House
• Length: 224 Pages
• Weight: 0.74 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 6.5" x 8.2"

Customer Reviews

"Love Makes Courage Necessary"-John McCain

McCain makes me laugh, he makes me cry. In between McCain's explanations of what defines courage and what doesn't, he provides examples of people the world over who have demonstrated extraordinary acts of courage that will move you to tears. He made me laugh when he writes of how most parents usually try to teach their children to be brave as when they fall off a bicycle or horse. "We're teaching them physical skills. We're teaching them to be strong...We're building their confidence and giving them hope...These are elements of courage, but not the whole virtue...They might grow up and climb mountains or become risk-taking entrepreneurs. But is that all we think courage is? Without other instruction, they could turn out to be Enron executives.(!) They had daring, but they lacked ethics. They lacked a sense of honor, and they lacked courage." I brought this book with me on a recent trip to bear country where I intended to read it in between hikes in the Sierras. I thought it would come in handy, for he writes, "Face the experience with quiet assurance or with a look that reflects stark terror", good advice when faced with a 300 pound bear! I spent my time reading mountaineering 101 books instead and this one got shelved for the time being (no bears in sight). In the closing chapter, he offers advice to those who witnessed events in NYC who are still traumatized, suffering from anxieties. "Build your courage...We have something worth being brave for: liberty and justice. Feel yourself part of that grand enterprise, empowered by it, and dread the emptiness of a life that is unattached to noble purpose." "We're all afraid of something...Don't let the sensation of fear convince you that you're too weak to have courage. Fear is the opportunity for courage, not proof of cowardice." Great practical advice, better stuff than that found in medicine bottles.

He should be our leader

This man is better than Bush or Kerry in every aspect of human life. Any American born citizen should read everything of his published works and stand behind this man. He is the last politican who truly believes in the American Dream.Only review I ever gave 5 stars. Haven't even finished the book and will tell you this is priceless knowledge.

10 stars Hope he write a second book....

Ok, I admit that when I bought the book I assumed that it would be about military types since Senator McCain is a courageous military man, but I was pleasantly surprised. Before you ask why if I assumed it would be full of military people would I still buy the book, let me answer with two words John McCain. I simply admit the man and deep down hope, pray and wish he were the man in the White House. In fact he is a reason I stay a registered Republican.Page 13 we read (and this is what got me hooked on the book) 'My late colleague Pat Moynian coined a phrase defining deviancy down to criticize how American culture in the late twentieth century embraced situation morality in reaction to increasing rates of crime and other social ills rather than insist on the preservation of moral absolutes as the foundation of a functioning liberal society. America, he argued, evaded the hard choices such absolutes require and had, disastrously, learned to tolerate 'much conduct previously stigmatized."He then continues: 'Similarly, American culture over the last thirty years or so has defined courage down. We have attributed courage to all manner of actions that may indeed be admirable but hardly compare to the conscious self-sacrifice on behalf of something greater than self-interest that once defined courage. We have come to identify one or more of the elements of courage -- fortitude, discipline, daring, or righteous, for example -- as the entire virtue. Today, in our excessively psychoanalyzed society, sharing ones secret fears with others takes courage. So does escaping a failing marriage. So does 'having it all,' a career, children, and leisure. Refusing to help enable a loved one to indulge a ruinous vice is an act of courage. We say it takes courage to be different from the main stream in our preferences in fashion, music, the length and color of our hair'.'These are, of course, absurd examples of our profligate misidentification of the virtue of courage.'While there are some courageous military examples given there are also a lot of others. Like John Lewis one of McCains congressional colleague, or Hannah Senesh the young Hungarian girl who would immigrate to what would become Israel but who would return to Europe to aid those the Nazi's sought to harm and kill, only to be caught and executed. And Aung San Suu Kyi the wonderful woman from Burma who is the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize. Her story still gives me goose bumps.Page 205 'If you do the things you think you cannot do, you'll feel your resistance, your hope, your dignity, and your courage grow stronger every time you prove it. You will someday face harder choices that very well might require more courage. You're getting ready for them. You're getting ready to have courage. And when those moments come, unbidden but certain, and you choose well, your courage will be recognized by those who matter most to you. When your children see you choose, without hesitating, without remark, to value virtue more th

An inspiring book from a humble, courageous man

John McCain courageouly fights for what he believes is right, regardless of criticism and scorn. This book depicts those with similar spirit -- people who move ahead in the face of fear and do what is right. This is a wonderful book that shows us that real courage is born from commitment to a cause greater than ourselves. I suggest two books to provide the "HOW TO!" The first book is Optimal Thinking: How To Be Your Best Self which is a solid resource to show us how to be our best and bring out the best in others regardless of the circumstances. The second book is Feel The Fear and Do It Anyway which shows you how to grit your teeth and push on. These books deserve 5 stars!

Why Courage Matters

Senator McCain has put together stories of others that have shown courage in the face of fear and how they over came that fear through their courage and the courage of others to move on in life. Each of our lives have a fear factor and in his book he shows us that the fear factor can be over come. A must read- Larry Hobson- Author- "The Day Of The Rose"