proverb · Words worth keeping
Courage is ten; nine is the ability to escape.
Courage is ten; nine is the ability to escape.
Historical period not yet established
Understand the thought
Meaning in plain English
Nine parts of courage assigned to escape place avoiding danger at the centre of the image. The saying challenges equating bravery only with confrontation.
What the words are saying
The numerical division is rhetorical rather than measured. The supplied gloss instead describes not choosing escape as bringing courage, reversing the emphasis. A useful explanation retains the escape image without supplying a procedure or deciding that any one response is always appropriate.
Everyday example
A reader recognises that withdrawing from a confrontation may require judgment rather than prove weakness.
When to use it
Use it to examine the relationship between courage and leaving danger.
What it does not mean
No numerical measure of courage or universal escape rule is established.
Agent-assisted editorial interpretation. This explains the words; it does not by itself verify their author or earliest origin.
Attribution & collection notes
- Author or tradition
- Traditional
Attribution: traditional - Country attributed
- Not established
A country attribution does not establish the earliest origin. - Historical period
- Historical period not yet established
No sufficiently supported historical placement has been established. Import and download dates are not treated as composition dates. - Recorded source
- Contributor-provided proverb reference
Supplied reference A; unit 947; PDF page 132
A collection's publication date can be later than the words it records.