Courage

15 April 2024

As far back as I can remember I have been fascinated by men and women of courage. Stories of people who took brave decisions in the service of great causes enthralled me, especially when more comfortable and far less dangerous alternatives were open to them.

They chose to act when others stood by. Social disapproval, danger, physical pain and even death mattered far less to them than personal belief and moral purpose. Quite simply, they seemed to be driven and sustained by higher ideals.

The kind of courage that fascinated me went beyond physical bravery, though almost always it did involve that admirable quality. It was not just risk-taking; here was altruistic courage: the courage that endures and prevails, and eventually dignifies all humanity. It was an expression of both strength of character and strength of belief.

The stories of these people are examples to inspire us all.

The passage above comes from the introduction to a book called Courage, written by Gordon Brown before he became Prime Minister. In his book, Gordon Brown explores the lives of eight individuals from the twentieth century who he believes have shown sustained, unselfish courage, as they try to make a difference to the lives of others. Perhaps it would be an interesting exercise for each of us to think of those we have come across who, in our view, have shown the most courage; perhaps they are great leaders or major players on the world stage or perhaps their courageous acts are far less widely known but important to us, nonetheless.

To give an example, Gordon Brown devotes one chapter of his book to Aung San Suu Kyi who won the Nobel Peace prize for her non-violent commitment to democracy and improved human rights in Myanmar, or Burma. Her opposition to what she saw as an oppressive regime led to her being placed under house arrest for 15 years. When offered the chance to leave her country on the condition that she never return, Aung San Suu Kyi refused, on the grounds that others who had not had that offer, were making greater sacrifices than her. She became leader of Myanmar eight years ago, and many would describe her as the founder of modern-day democracy there. However, she has also been criticised for failing to prevent the attacks on some ethnic groups including the Rohingya Muslim population.

We need leaders who have the courage to do the right thing…and to keep doing it, folk who will keep making those uncomfortable decisions, not because it is easy to do so, but because it is the right thing to do. We need those leaders and, one day, we ourselves may well need to be those leaders who despite the temptation to take the easier option, or leave things as they are, may need to find the courage to make change to make things better.

So, why do I mention this now? Well, because the time is coming to choose the next group of pupil leaders, the School Monitors, for next academic year. They will follow in the footsteps of this year’s excellent cohort of Monitors, but we need your help choosing their successors.

So firstly, what do we look for in a Monitor? Well, as you might imagine, we are hoping to choose individuals who are respected and reliable; humble and approachable, dedicated and organised; optimistic and positive and proud of their School. But added to that, we are also seeking individuals who will have the courage to speak up if they see something that is wrong; they may be in high profile positions already or they may be more reserved, but in either case, we are looking for individuals with integrity – they do the right thing even when nobody is looking.

Invariably there are many more people capable of being a Monitor than there are spaces and so we will do our best to choose the students who we believe, both collectively and individually will do the best job….so what am I asking from you? Well, you will be sent an electronic survey so that you can give your honest opinions about who you think would make the best Monitors from the current LVI. This is not a vote, but we genuinely want to know your considered, personal views which we will absolutely take into account, just as we will the views of others – so thank you for making the time to respond to the survey carefully and thoughtfully.

And in a few weeks time, once the Monitors have been chosen, they will sign a pledge in which they will commit to fulfilling their role to the very best of their abilities – as their predecessors have done for decades, here in front of you in the Arena.

114 years ago this month, Theodore Roosevelt, the then President of the United States, gave a speech in which he emphasised the importance of action, tenacity, and courage over idle criticism and inaction – in other words, it is easy to criticise others who are doing their best, whilst doing little ourselves. It was known as the arena speech.

“It is not the critic who counts; not the person who points out how the strong one stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the character who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who spends themself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if they fail, at least fails while daring greatly, so that their place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”

So, as we look for great leaders, leaders with courage to do the right thing, perhaps we should remind ourselves that it is better to try to make things better, even if our efforts are sometimes unsuccessful. The person who dares greatly, who faces challenges head-on, and who strives to do good — these are the ones who truly count. Rather, as Roosevelt said, than watching passively from the sideline, be the one struggling to do our best, in the arena.