The real wisdom here lies in Twain's demolition of a comforting myth: that brave people simply don't feel afraid. If that were true, courage would be a rare gift bestowed on the fearless few, rather than something any of us might cultivate. By insisting that fear and courage coexist—that mastery means living alongside dread rather than erasing it—Twain opens the door to moral agency for ordinary people. A parent sending a child to their first day of school, a colleague speaking up in a meeting where they might be ridiculed, even someone admitting they were wrong: each of these acts requires fear to be present and conscious, not absent and forgotten.