Courage and compassion in Buddhism

There was a word that second Soka Gakkai president Josei Toda often stressed with the fervent wish to impart its importance to his successors. That word was courage. He once gave this clear-cut guidance. "The essence of Buddhism is compassion, We, too, need to have compassion but, being ordinary mortals, the reality is that it is quite difficult for us. Courage substitutes for compassion. I am speaking of the courage to save others from suffering. To practice Buddhism with courage translates into compassion."