“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 see it through no matter what." - Atticus Finch

Spoken by the admirable Atticus to his young son Jem, Atticus goes on to clarify Mrs. Dubose's situation and inform Jem that rather than being just a racist, mean old woman, Mrs. Dubose was actually very courageous. Because of a terminal disease, Mrs. Dubose had become addicted to painkilling drugs. Rather that to die a easy and painless death, however, she chose to rid herself of her dependence on said drugs, even though it made no difference to her health.

A lone man stands strong to stop the advance of Chinese controlled tanks, just moments after a group of protesters was forcibly removed.

This quote is especially relevant to the young men and women roaming the halls of high school. It attempts to portray the lesson that courage is not being violent, that it's not being a bully. True courage is to fight for a cause that you know is doomed, simply because you know that it's the right thing to do. It is to battle against all odds and great opposition to provoke change where change is needed, and courage like that is increasingly hard to come by.