Courage Quotes in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

How we cite our quotes: (chapter.paragraph)

Quote #7

"Don't you call me an idiot!" said Neville. "I don't think you should be breaking any more rules! And you were the one who told me to stand up to people!" (16.114)

Here Ron's encouragement to Neville backfires, as Neville takes his advice at precisely the wrong moment and stands up against precisely the wrong people. Yet, in some ways he's right to stand up for himself here, to demand that people don't call him names, and to encourage them to follow the rules. After all, he's seen firsthand the trouble they get into when they don't.

Quote #8

"If you want to go back, I won't blame you,' he said. 'You can take the cloak, I won't need it now."

"Don't be stupid," said Ron.

"We're coming," said Hermione. (16.148-50).

Once again bravery is act first, think later, as Harry tries to persuade his friends to turn around and let him go forward alone; as Ron tells him, that's "stupid." In a way, it is foolhardy of all of them to continue, as their bravery puts all their lives in danger. True, it's totally worth it in the end, when they defeat Voldemort and live to fight another day, but that doesn't mean it was smart.

Quote #9

'How touching…' it hissed. 'I always value bravery…. Yes, boy, your parents were brave…. I killed your father first, and he put up a courageous fight… but your mother needn't have died… she was trying to protect you…. Now give me the Stone, unless you want her to have died in vain.' (17.70)

Voldemort may "value bravery," but that doesn't mean everything he's saying here is true – he's using Harry's parents' bravery against him. He implies that Harry's mother will "have died in vain" unless Harry hands over the Stone. Of course, Harry takes this in the opposite sense and becomes even more determined to not give in: to act just as courageously as his parents did.