Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak; it is also what it takes to sit down and listen.

The earliest located appearance is in a 1964 weekly quote digest, where the line is explicitly credited to U.S. motivational writer William Arthur Ward (noted as affiliated with Texas Wesleyan College). Later printings repeat Ward’s attribution, but the saying also circulates anonymously and is later widely (and unsupportedly) credited to Winston Churchill after his death.

The quotation frames courage as not only the bravery to voice one’s views publicly, but also the self-control and humility required to stop talking and genuinely hear others—especially when listening is difficult or inconvenient.

Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak; it is also what it takes, on occasion, to sit down and listen.

Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak; courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen.

If there are times when we need the courage to stand up and speak, there are also times when we need the wisdom to sit down and listen.

It takes courage to stand up and speak. It takes even greater courage sometimes to sit down and listen.