One and the same lot for the man who hangs back and the man who battles hard. The same honor waits for the coward and the brave. They both go down to Death, the fighter who shirks, the one who works to exhaustion.

One and the same lot for the man who hangs back
and the man who battles hard. The same honor waits
for the coward and the brave. They both go down to Death,
the fighter who shirks, the one who works to exhaustion.

– Homer

The Iliad, Book 9, lines 385-388. Here Achilles is speaking about heroism and cowardice in war. The same honor waits for the coward and the brave – death. So he tells Odysseus, who tries to persuade him to return to battle to win glory and kill Hector.

Homer Quotes