This is another key element of the Warrior Ethos: the willing and eager embracing of adversity.

General Moshe Dayan, refused to discipline the man. “I will never punish an officer for daring too much, but only too little.”

But Cyrus knew, as the proverb declares, that “soft lands make soft people.” His answer became famous throughout the world: Better to live in a rugged land and rule than to cultivate rich plains and be a slave.

Every warrior virtue proceeds from this—courage, selflessness, love of and loyalty to one’s comrades, patience, self-command, the will to endure adversity. It all comes from the hunting band’s need to survive. At a deeper level, the Warrior Ethos recognizes that each of us, as well, has enemies inside himself. Vices and weaknesses like envy and gre

CITATIONS FOR VALOR

Once a Spartan boy stole a fox and hid it under his cloak. Some grown warriors stopped to question him on an unrelated subject. Beneath the cloak, the fox began gnawing at the youth’s belly. The boy made no sound but allowed the beast to bleed him to death, rather than cry out or reveal his deed.

The dictionary defines ethos as: The moral character, nature, disposition and customs of a people or culture.

We, in our day, know from history that this was no calculated gesture or grandstanding stunt on Alexander’s part. It sprung from the most authentic passions of his heart. He truly cared nothing for material things; he loved his men, and his heart was set on glory and the achievement of great things.

Honor is connected to many things, but one thing it’s not connected to is happiness. In honor cultures, happiness as we think of it—“life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness”—is not a recognized good. Happiness in honor cultures is the possession of unsullied honor. Everything else is secondary.