If I Only Had Some Courage Trivia Quiz

Answer: Robert Ford

At about age 20 Robert Ford joined Jesse James' gang. Later, they were scheduled to rob the Platte City Bank, but Robert Ford and his brother had been planning to collect the $10,000 reward that had been put on James' head. As they all lived in James' house, after breakfast one morning Ford shot James in the back of his head as he stood on a chair to hang a picture.
Ford lived another 10 years, with virtually no reward, posing for photographs until he was finally shot by Edward O'Kelley.

Answer: J Bruce Ismay

Although he vigorously rejected claims that he did anything wrong, he was labelled a coward in society and the press on both sides of the Atlantic. Two towns called Ismay in the USA, one in Texas and one in Montana, both considered changing their names because of the incident. All the other choices have portrayed J Bruce Ismay on film or stage.

Answer: Bert Lahr

"The Wizard of Oz" (film) or "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" (book) featured the cowardly lion character played by Bert Lahr. In the book, when he meets the wizard and asks for courage he is given a drink of "courage", in the film he is given a medal with "courage" on it. One original costume from the film was sold in 2006 for $826,000, another was later valued at $1,500,000.

Answer: Judas Iscariot

Judas famously kissed Jesus to identify him to the high priests who then passed him over to the soldiers of Pontius Pilate, all for thirty pieces of silver.

I wonder if he believed in karma (just to mix beliefs a little here), as he got his comeuppance, being the first of the disciples to die.

Answer: Casey Kasem

Norville "Shaggy" Rogers was originally voiced by Casey Kasem. All Shaggy and Scooby were interested in was food, particularly Scooby Snacks and were regularly petrified by pretty much everything else.

All the other choices have also voiced the character of Shaggy in later versions of "Scooby Doo".

Answer: Jack McCall

McCall lost money to Hickok in a poker game. The next day while apparently drunk, he shot Hickok from behind. Initially he got away with it, but justice finally caught up with him and he was hanged a year later at the age of 24. The other choices are all outlaws and may or may not have committed cowardly acts.

Answer: Noël Coward

A bit of a trick question there, using a homonym or homophone. Sir Noël Peirce Coward, apart from his various artistic skills, also worked for British Secret Service during the World War II and even made it into the infamous Nazi "Black Book", meaning he would have been arrested or killed by the Germans had they successfully invaded Britain.

Answer: Confucius

Confucius' teachings dealt with morals and ethics. Among other things, he is probably best known for "The Golden Rule" which is the ethic of reciprocity, which is common to all major religions. In simple terms "Only do unto others, that which you would have them do to you".

Answer: Abraham Lincoln

Lincoln is often quoted as the source for this, but in fact it comes from a poem written by American poet Ella Wheeler Wilcox. She is also responsible for the saying "Laugh and the world laughs with you".

Answer: William Shakespeare

From "Julius Caesar", it is questionable whether Brutus' act in assassinating Caesar was a patriotic or a cowardly act. One could argue that all murder is cowardly in some way, as there is no valour in it, yet Brutus was acting for the good of Rome. Presumably an early case of "justifiable homicide".