Seneca · Letter XXXVII
A fighter in the arena can drop his sword and appeal to the crowd. You, however, may neither drop your sword nor plead for your life. Stand upright until you fall. What use is a handful of borrowed days?
What this means
A gladiator can throw down his sword and beg the crowd for mercy; the person committed to living well, Seneca says, has no such exit. You stand by your principles until you fall, not for a handful of borrowed days more. The image makes integrity a matter of posture: upright to the end.
On death, duty.