“In everything else there may be sham: the fine reasonings of philosophy may be a mere pose in us; or else our trials, by not testing us to the quick, give us a chance to keep our face always composed. But in the last scene, between death and ourselves, there is no more pretending; we must talk plain French, we must show what there is that is good and clean at the bottom of the pot…. I leave it to death to test the fruit of my studies. We shall see then whether my reasonings come from my mouth or from my heart.” (I:19, 55, Frame)

“Those who have been well drubbed in some battle, and who are still all wounded and bloody—you can perfectly well bring them back to the charge the next day. But those who have conceived a healthy fear of the enemy—you would never get them to look him in the face. Those who are in pressing gear of losing their property, of being exiled, of being subjugated, live in constant anguish, losing even the capacity to drink, eat, and res; whereas the poor, the exiles, and the slaves often live as joyfully as other men.” (I:18, 53, Frame) Cf. James, “On Some Mental Effects of the Earthquake.”