I never knew how much courage I had until I needed it. Many civilizations have not heeded the danger signs and their decline is history. But we are all challenged now, to be pilots in rough water. Once our fears are so intense as to have clenched our guts, it may be too late. According to surveys, the scariest thing for most people is public speaking.
Death is a close second.
It may be a stretch to say that we would rather die than speak up, but the state of the world seems to support that conclusion. We are silent because we are so scared of ridicule and conflict, while in some countries, we would fear torture and death. The higher the stakes, the more courageous we are judged to be, at least after the fact. So, while the fear of ridicule seems like a small thing, if it paralyses us, it enables oppression and destruction just as easily as the fear of violence does. The farmer, too, had the courage to face the ridicule of his peers and his wife, and he faced conflict when he fought for the right of his pig to compete at the sheep dog trials.