So cowards fight when they can fly no further;
So doves do peck the falcon's piercing talons;
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So cowards fight when they can fly no further;
So doves do peck the falcon's piercing talons;
So desperate thieves, all hopeless of their lives,
Breathe out invectives 'gainst the officers.

Cowards can never be moral.

Cowards can never be moral.

How many cowards whose hearts are all as false
As stairs of sand, wear yet upon their chins
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How many cowards whose hearts are all as false
As stairs of sand, wear yet upon their chins
The beards of Hercules and frowning Mars,
Who inward searched, have livers white as milk!

The coward only threatens when he is safe.
[Ger., Der Fiege droht nur, wo er sicher ist.]

The coward only threatens when he is safe.
[Ger., Der Fiege droht nur, wo er sicher ist.]

The coward calls himself cautious, the miser thrifty.
[Lat., Timidus se vocat cautum, parcum sordidus.]

The coward calls himself cautious, the miser thrifty.
[Lat., Timidus se vocat cautum, parcum sordidus.]

A cowardly cur barks more fiercely than it bites.
[Lat., Canis timidus vehementius latrat quam mordet.]

A cowardly cur barks more fiercely than it bites.
[Lat., Canis timidus vehementius latrat quam mordet.]

A timid person is frightened before a danger, a coward during the time, and a courageous person afterward.

A timid person is frightened before a danger, a coward during the time, and a courageous person afterward.

E'en a crow o' th' same nest; not altogether so great as the
first in goodness, but greater a read more

E'en a crow o' th' same nest; not altogether so great as the
first in goodness, but greater a great deal in evil. He excels
his brother for a coward, yet his brother is reputed one of the
best that is. In a retreat he outruns any lackey; marry, in
coming on he has the cramp.

You are like the eels of Melun; you cry out before you are
skinned.
[Fr., Vous semblez les read more

You are like the eels of Melun; you cry out before you are
skinned.
[Fr., Vous semblez les anguilles de Melun; vous criez devant
qu'on vous esorche.]