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.

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.]

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.

Men lie, who lack courage to tell truth--the cowards!

Men lie, who lack courage to tell truth--the cowards!

It is better to be killed than frightened to death.

It is better to be killed than frightened to death.

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!

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.

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.]

You souls of geese,
That bear the shapes of men, how have you run
From slaves that read more

You souls of geese,
That bear the shapes of men, how have you run
From slaves that apes would men!