Patton warns against allowing fear to become the main basis for judgement and action. Fear can alert a person to genuine danger, but it can also encourage hesitation, avoidance or an exaggerated assessment of risk. His advice is to recognise the emotion without allowing it to determine the decision by itself.

The statement does not require the absence of fear. Instead, it suggests maintaining enough self-command to weigh circumstances, responsibilities and available evidence despite feeling afraid. In demanding situations, this may mean distinguishing between risks that genuinely require caution and fears that mainly discourage necessary action. The wider principle is that emotional reactions should inform judgement without replacing it. Courage, in this sense, consists not in being fearless but in preventing fear from exercising disproportionate control over choices when a considered response is still possible.