But pain seems to be the sharpest adversary of virtue; that it is which menaces us with burning torches; that it is which threatens to crush our fortitude, and greatness of mind, and patience.

Shall virtue, then, yield to this?
Shall the happy life of a wise and consistent man succumb to this?
Good.

Gods! how base would this be! Spartan boys will bear to have their bodies torn by rods without uttering a groan.

I myself have seen at Lacedaemon troops of young men, with incredible earnestness contending together with their hands and feet, with their teeth and nails, nay, even ready to expire, rather than own themselves conquered.

Is any country of barbarians more uncivilized or desolate than India?
Yet they have among them some that are held for wise men, who never wear any clothes all their life long, and who bear the snow of Caucasus, and the piercing cold of winter, without any pain; and who if they come in contact with fire endure being burned without a groan.