Fox: WOLF! You’re heading straight for the cannon!
Wolf: It’s not my fault! I can’t ride a motorcycle!!
Fox: Wow. He really is awfully brave, isn’t he?
Piranha: Well, yes, In Bolivia we have a name for people like that. We call them “idiots.”
–The Bad Guys (book 3) by Aaron Blabey
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Suddenly I found it impossible to contemplate walking away without Reuben. To do something so feeble—so flaccid and pathetic—would be hard to live with. Even a bullet in the gut might be preferable to a never-ending sense of worthlessness. Being a vampire was bad enough. Being a skulking, cowardly, apathetic vampire would be hideous.
The Reformed Vampire Support Group by Catherine Jinks
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“Be careful, Dave.” My voice cracked; I didn’t want to be left on my own. “Don’t open any doors unless you know what’s behind them.”
“It’s okay,” he assured me. “I’m not brave enough to do anything stupid.” Then he began to descend the staircase.
The Reformed Vampire Support Group by Catherine Jinks
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“I’m just me – a very big, very brave, very vegetarian Tyrannosaurus rex!”
–Linus The Vegetarian T-Rex by Robert Neubecker
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I keep climbing, not only because I can’t back down without falling but because I feel so good all of a sudden. I faced my fears and won.
–If You Lived Here, I’d Know Your Name: News from Small-Town Alaska by Heather Lende
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“You’re doing fine, Cheryl,” he said. “Don’t worry about it too much. You’re green, but you’re tough. And tough is what matters the most out here. Not just anyone could do what you’re doing.”…He wasn’t tougher than me. No one was, I told myself, without believing it. I made it the mantra of those days; when I paused before yet another series of switchbacks or skidded down knee-jarring slopes, when patches of flesh peeled off my feet along with my socks, when I lay alone and lonely in my tent at night I asked, often out loud: Who is tougher than me? The answer was always the same, and even when I knew absolutely there was no way on this earth it was true, I said it anyway: No one.
–Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail by Cheryl Strayed
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It was a deal I’d made with myself months before and the only thing that allowed me to hike alone. I knew that if I allowed fear to overtake me, my journey was doomed. Fear, to a great extent, is born of a story we tell ourselves, and so I chose to tell myself a different story from the one women are told. I decided I was safe. I was strong. I was brave. Nothing could vanquish me. Insisting on this story was a form of mind control, but for the most part, it worked. Every time I heard a sound of unknown origin or felt something horrible cohering in my imagination, I pushed it away. I simply did not let myself become afraid. Fear begets fear. Power begets power. I willed myself to beget power. And it wasn’t long before I actually wasn’t afraid. I was working too hard to be afraid.
–Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail by Cheryl Strayed
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Although this is the part of the story that the bards tend to focus on as the bit where Hiccup was particularly Heroic, I do not agree. It is a lot easier to be brave when you know you have no alternative. Hiccup knew in his heart of hearts that the Monster intended to kill them all anyway. So he didn’t have a lot to lose.
How To Train Your Dragon (Book 1) by Cressida Cowell
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“I have a little problem,” said the bear. “You see, I’m afraid of the dark, alone in my cave. There are no other bears for miles around, and I don’t know anyone who wants to sleep in my cave with me. I dread the darkness all day long.”
“That really is a problem,” said the fly. “But I have a solution. It just so happens that I am looking for somewhere to live.”
–I Have A Little Problem Said The Bear written by Heinz Janisch and illustrated by Silke Leffler
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King Neptune beamed and hugged his smallest child. “My Minnow,” he boasted to he entire kingdom, “is a daring explorer!”
–The Mermaid and the Shoe by K.G. Campbell