There was a certain barbarian distinguished by his splendid armour, who frequently rode into the space between the armies and challenged the Romans to single combat, and when nobody accepted the challenge he jeered at them, executed a triumphal dance, and went back. After he had done this several times, Scipio, who was still a youth, felt very much aggrieved, and springing forward accepted the challenge. Fortunately he won the victory, although he was small, and his opponent

Hermocrates a Syracusen General:

Pericles,

Pericles,

Epictetus, "The attainment of those things in which I can be hindered or compelled is not under my control and is neither good or bad, but the use which I make of them is either good or bad, and that is under my control."

In this quote Epictetus says that trials are like a sparring partner that prepares an athlete to compete in the Olympics:

Demetrius on Friends:

Churchill on Adversity:

The following is an interaction between Wavell and Churchill. Churchill shows wise leadership and good judgment:

Unknown quote, but quoted by Churchill:

Churchill on the danger of expecting perfect conditions for every decision in battle:

Or what do you think Heracles would have amounted to, if there had not been a lion like the one which he encountered, and a hydra, and a stag, and a boar, and wicked and brutal men, whom he made it his business to drive out and clear away? And what would he have been doing had nothing of the sort existed? Is it not clear that he would have rolled himself up in a blanket and slept? In the first place, then, he would never have become Heracles by slumbering away his whole life