In Shakespeare’s Henry IV, Part I
when Prince Hal finds the cowardly Falstaff pretending to be dead on
the battlefield, the prince assumes he has been killed. After the prince
leaves the stage, Falstaff rationalizes “The better part of Valour, is
Discretion; in the which better part, I haue saued my life” from the First Folio, Act 5, Scene 3, lines 3085–3086).
Falstaff is saying that the best part of courage is caution, which we are to take as a joke. Truly courageous people may be cautious, but caution is not the most important characteristic of courage.
This passage is loosely alluded to in the saying “discretion is the better part of valor,” which is usually taken to mean that caution is better than rash courage or that discretion is the best kind of courage.
Falstaff is saying that the best part of courage is caution, which we are to take as a joke. Truly courageous people may be cautious, but caution is not the most important characteristic of courage.
This passage is loosely alluded to in the saying “discretion is the better part of valor,” which is usually taken to mean that caution is better than rash courage or that discretion is the best kind of courage.
