I have been a coward in O'Brien's sense before. There have been several times where I made a decision that was correct decision in terms of how it would affect me however it negatively affected my friends this may not seem to be brave in terms of O'Brien's definition who declared himself a coward because he put others opinions above his own. However I subscribe to a somewhat old school mentality. Where you help your friends out even if you put your self in a bad position. So I was a coward in O'Brien's sense after all.