Ah! I wish I had the courage to work for the debasement of my contemporaries. What good work it would be to defile their daughters: to insinuate something obscene into the infantile hands which caress each paternal beard and cheek; to poison them, even at the risk of perishing ourselves; to do as those Spanish monks did, who drank death in order that they might persuade the French rabble which had violated their monastery to do likewise.

Meaning: The back and its burden form an image of carrying responsibilities or difficulty. Read cautiously, the saying can encourage confidence in responding to a particular task; it cannot prove that every load is bearable or that hardship was assigned for someone’s benefit.

Meaning: A decisive first step can provide an advantage in a difficult undertaking. Read the battle image figuratively; initiative is not a justification for violence, coercion or rushing past necessary preparation.

Meaning: The timing of death cannot be treated as an appointment people can count on controlling. The calendar image expresses uncertainty about life’s duration, encouraging awareness of limits without making a prediction about any individual or demanding constant urgency.

Meaning: Death is imagined as unable to hear objections, so a protest cannot make it negotiate. The saying expresses mortality’s finality rather than a judgment about how someone should feel about loss.