To Kill a Mockingbird

Atticus wants his children to know that real courage is the strength you call on when no one else is looking.

I wanted you to see something about her—I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand. It’s when you know you’re licked before you begin but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what. You rarely win, but sometimes you do. Mrs. Dubose won, all ninety-eight pounds of her. According to her views, she
died beholden to nothing and nobody. She was the bravest person I ever knew.”