who has enough knowledge for this!?!?!??!

[holgerrom]

Hi, i have a questions reagrding an english idiom, namely:

to have the courage of one's convictions


can I use this idiom like this:
I decided to have the courage of my convictions


...if i want to say that i decided to stay ture to my beliefs...

or is it not possible to use the idiom with "decide" before it?

i would appreciate your help

[Lucretia]

Hello holgerrom,

For instance, X. has the courage of his convictions.
I understand it this way:
X. is brave enough to stay true to his convictions, though many people around him think otherwise, which brings trouble to him.
can I use this idiom like this:
I decided to have the courage of my convictions
No, you cannot - to my mind it sounds odd. People are either courageous or not, it doesn't depend on their decision.

I am not a native speaker, so I may be wrong.

Best wishes.