Shakespeare isn't simply praising bravery over fear—he's describing a peculiar mercy of courage. The coward's mind becomes a torture chamber, replaying catastrophes real and imagined until death itself arrives as almost a relief, while the brave person meets their end only once, unburdened by the rehearsals of ruin. A soldier who freezes before every decision suffers a thousand deaths in the waiting; the one who acts, even imperfectly, buys back their life from anxiety. This matters because it suggests that caution masquerading as prudence often steals more from us than genuine danger ever could.