Why Courage Matters: The Way to a Braver Life (Mass Market Paperback)

by John McCain (Author), Marshall Salter (Author)
Key Phrases: nearest duty, Suu Kyi, Red Cloud, Pete Salter (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
After two stirring memoirs, Senator McCain turns in a slim meditation on the nature of courage. Suggesting the definition of courage has been stretched thin in contemporary parlance, where it can be applied to acts as insignificant as cutting or not cutting one's hair, McCain seeks to return to the word's fundamental meaning not just of "the capacity for action despite our fears" but self-sacrifice for the benefit of others as well as for oneself. Although he addresses valorous conduct by American soldiers in the Korean and Vietnam Wars, he is, as always, modestly self-critical of his own experiences in Vietnam (although he and his fellow POWs turned to one another for moral support on a daily basis, he confesses, "I was not always a match for my enemies"). In an especially moving chapter, he recounts the participation of his congressional colleague John Lewis in the nonviolent wing of the Civil Rights movement. Other sections discuss the Navajo leaders Manuelito and Barboncito, Jewish freedom fighter Hannah Senesh and Burmese dissident (and Nobel Peace Prize recipient) Aung San Suu Kyi. These compelling life stories stand up against the best passages of McCain's previous works. Alas, his writing becomes more vague and less interesting when he shifts to a more abstract discussion of the need for courage in the post–September 11 era. One of McCain's greatest strengths as a writer has been that he doesn't sound like just another politician, and while the drop-off in quality here isn't significant, it is noticeable.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From School Library Journal
Adult/High School–Senator McCain approaches the investigation of courage from a position of unease at how diluted a commodity it has become in our society, and at how shallowly the label is applied. In offering anecdotes of individuals whose actions embody the rarity of true courage, his well-drawn examples range from Navajo leaders to Colorado River explorers to Jewish freedom fighter Hannah Seneshand Burmese dissident and Nobel Peace Prize-recipient Aung San Suu Kyi. He reflects on the wellsprings of courage, defining it as conscious self-sacrifice "for the sake of others or to uphold a virtue," encompassing actions that may be spurred by honor, outrage, a sense of duty, one's conscience, or moral obligation. He is self-critical and careful to avoid personal aggrandizement, but coaches readers to believe that one can use "fear [as] the opportunity for courage," and, by tackling modest daily challenges, increase the probability of summoning deeper reserves when needed. The book is not a primer but is, rather, a declaration of why striving for courage is fundamentally important as an attribute of character. The anecdotes are the most crisply written portions; the text becomes less taut and more hazy when addressing abstractions such as the qualities and types of courage, but focus and momentum are usually restored, often by a signature McCain sound bite.–Lynn Nutwell, Fairfax City Regional Library, VA
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Ballantine Books; Reprint edition (July 15, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0345513347
• ISBN-13: 978-0345513342
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.2 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (52 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #364,006 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

62 of 72 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars 10 stars Hope he write a second book...., April 20, 2004

By	MotherLodeBeth "MotherLodeBeth" (Sierras of California) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)

This review is from: Why Courage Matters: The Way to a Braver Life (Hardcover)

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 than security, to love more than you fear, they will learn what courage looks like and what love it serves, and they will dread its absence.

We're all afraid of something. .... No one is born a coward........'

Now I have two hopes. One is that a lot of Americans read the book and the other is that John McCain write Why Courage Matters II and try and find some younger adults who have the courage you speak of because I think young people need to know that one need not be 'old' in the twenty-first century to have courage.

I am also reminded of the well know (paraphrasing) quote of Neitzsches. What doesn't kill me makes me stronger.

20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An inspiring book from a humble, courageous man, April 18, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Why Courage Matters: The Way to a Braver Life (Hardcover)

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!

25 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars He should be our leader, April 23, 2004

By	The Good Doctor "shaolinrenegade" (Wilmington, DE United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Why Courage Matters: The Way to a Braver Life (Random House Large Print (Hardcover)) (Hardcover)

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.