Qualities: BOLD

To be bold and daring, without being foolhardy, is a fine, high wire to walk. There is nothing wrong with practicing first on a line in the grass before stepping out into space and losing your lunch or your balance. Learning to be bold is no more difficult than learning to walk, one step at a time, each one adding to the limits of how far you can safely and confidently go without someone holding your hand. We must also understand, however, that some people seem to be born with a bold nature, apparent at an early age.

No Guts, No Glory
Title of Famous Fighter Pilot Manual
––General Fred “Boots” Blesse (Korean War Ace)

I want to attack and I want to risk everything.
––Martin Annen, Finland Bobsledder, 2006 Olympics

Sharon as a commander mastered the most difficult military maneuver -- to escape forward, to fight through enemy lines when seemingly surrounded and regain the initiative. He has now adapted that maneuver to his political wars.
––Jim Hoagland, Columnist, Washington Post, November 27, 2005

We can choose to lead quiet lives and get through them without achieving much. But if we want to do the big thing, if we hope to leave a record that will be admired and remembered, we must learn to distinguish between the peripheral and the essential. Then, having clearly established our central objective, we must charge at it again and again until the goal is achieved. That is what the rhinoceros does. It may not be a model animal in most ways, but it does one thing very well. And that one thing we can learn: Charge!
––Paul Johnson, Columnist, Forbes Magazine, January 30, 2006

The Wild Man experience produces an attitude, and this attitude is a threat to all that is evil. The person who is wild has the attitude that he is not an easy prey. He ceases to be lugubrious and begins to become a lion. He becomes a hazard to cultural constructs that would keep him, those he loves and all mankind dumb and down.
With wisdom from above and senses honed on earth, the Wild Man is not a dutiful and domesticated “cow” of the politically, ecclesiastically and culturally correct constructs. He is a lion – a strong, wise, fun-loving, lioness-loving leader – with a mission: to care for his family, his community and his culture as faithfully as he can.
––Doug Giles (Author: Ruling in Babylon) (See www.clashradio.com)

It is incorrect to say that there are only bold pilots or old pilots because the bold ones die early. The few old, bold and wise pilots are the magnificent few who trained and led the rest of us as we worked at merging those ultimate goals of a fighter pilot. We learned that the secret of prolonged boldness is self-control, except on those thrilling occasions when you must cut every restraint.
––John Roberts


Do not dream of being a fighter pilot, but learn the fighter pilot qualities for the benefit of a sensible life that does no harm. Boldness is safely useful only when nested in common sense and character. Then, it can be controlled and applied to other people with respect. Boldness is more dangerous than weakness, but it is easier to reduce boldness than enhance weakness.

Boldness derives from preparation and self-confidence. And, contrary to the image, boldness depends for its success on caution, planning and perfect timing. It is not impulsive. It is aggressive and ambitious, but in the context of having the tools and odds in your favor. It is, in other words, more than an attitude; it is the end result of a carefully-constructed program for overcoming a strong enemy and winning with the shock of attack. There are times when the risk is very high, and you still go ahead in order to avoid something worse. Above all, boldness should not be a macho thing, done for image or personal satisfaction. It is a carefully chosen tactic used to increase the chances of victory.

I admire bold people, because I know what they had to do to become that way. I especially admire normally timid, cautious people who have found the courage to overcome their fear because they know that only bold attack will achieve the objective. They have learned that once you see your objective clearly and understand yourself, stepping forth boldly becomes the easy part. The weak can become strong if they learn how. You must throw away the crutches holding up the dark, unfamiliar corners of your mind.

There are, of course, times when a crisis arrives, when there is almost no time to think or prepare, and impulsive boldness may save the day. The wise person, who works or lives in such an opportunity-rich environment, ought to think about what might be required in order to reduce the surprise and inaction that may someday occur. Boldness well-planned, risks accounted for, is reduced to self-confident action. It is obviously a lot easier to be bold if you have strengthened those pathways in your brain. The world becomes a slow-motion film controlled by a supersonic mind that can see far into the future.