Upon the recommendation of the indomitable early childhood advocate Dave Lawrence, I recently read “The Splendid and the Vile,” a new history of the Battle of Britain by Erik Larson. The sacrifices and hardships that the British people endured for days on end, for months at a time, were remarkable and demanded the sort of courage rare among individuals, even more rare among entire populations.

I take the classical view that courage is a virtue formed in us by the long practice of little things that demand a little courage at a time: the courage to confront a bully, to tell the truth, or to risk one’s reputation to defend another person.