Despair gives courage to a coward.

The aphorism suggests that courage can arise not only from virtue or confidence but also from desperation. A “coward” ordinarily avoids risk, yet despair—an emotional state in which one expects no favorable outcome—can remove the usual incentives for caution. When fear of consequences is eclipsed by the belief that matters cannot get worse, a person may attempt actions previously unthinkable. Fuller’s point is morally ambivalent: such courage is real in effect, but it is born from a bleak motive and may be reckless rather than noble. The line captures how crisis can invert character, producing bravery from the very absence of hope.