“This is the tub for washing your courage,” Lye said, her voice as even and calm as ever. […]
“I didn’t know one’s courage needed washing!” gasped September as Lye poured a pitcher of water over her head. […]
“When you are born,” the golem said softly, “your courage is new and clean. You are brave enough for anything: crawling off staircases, saying your first words without fearing that someone will think you are foolish, putting strange things in your mouth. But as you get older, you courage attracts gunk and crusty things and dirt and fear and knowing how bad things can get and what pain feels like. By the time you’re half-grown, your courage barely moves at all, it’s so grunged up with living. So every once in a while, you have to scrub it up and get the works going or else you’ll never be brave again. Unfortunately, there are not so many facilities in your world that provide the kind of services we do. So most people go around with grimy machinery, when all it would take is a bit of spit and polish to make them paladins once more, bold knights and true.
—from The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of her Own Making, by Catherynne M. Valente
for washing your courage
May 13, 2011 by Katie Noah Gibson
cakes, tea and dreams 
Well, look at this wonderfulness! If I didn’t trust your book recs anyway, this quote would have convinced me. I love it.
[…] The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making, Catherynne Valente A fantastically fun story, elaborately detailed – it took me a little while to get into, but once I was into it, I loved the tale of September and her quest through Fairyland. Such a fun cast of supporting characters, and a satisfying (if bittersweet) ending. (And a great passage on washing your courage.) […]