This is spoken by Atticus to Jem. In the previous chapter, Jem was amazed to find out that Atticus is an impressive shooter, the best in town. This knowledge inspires respect in Jem. However, Atticus doesn't want Jem thinking that courage is connected with having a gun and shooting things. He doesn't want Jem to think that courage has to do with physical actions or fighting. Atticus wants Jem to understand that standing up in the face of certain failure is what courage is. If you know that you will fail, but you insist on standing up for what you believe in, or fighting for what is important to you, then you are showing real courage.
This is what Mrs. Dubose did. She had the kids reading to her every day because she needed a distraction. Her sickness caused her great pain, and she had become addicted to morphine. She didn't want to be dependent on anything - she didn't want to be an addict. Even though she knew she was about to die, Mrs. Dubose was determined that she would die free, not controlled by some substance. This is the type of courage that Atticus was talking about.
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