Apophthegmata Laconica

When someone inquired why they put their fields in the hands of the Helots, and did not take care of them themselves, he said, It was by not taking care of the fields, but of ourselves, that we acquired those fields.

When someone else said that high repute works injury to men and that he who is freed from this will be happy, he retorted, Then those who commit crimes would, according to your reasoning, be happy. For how could any man, in committing sacrilege or any other crime, be concerned over high repute?

When another person asked why the Spartans, in their wars, ventured boldly into danger, he said, Because we train ourselves to have regard for life and not, like others, to be timid about it.