go_out_on_your_shield raze there's this great expression in boxing — "going out on your shield". it derives from the latin "e tan, e epi tan", which loosely translates to "either bring this back, or be brought back dead upon it". supposedly, this was spoken in roman times by a spartan mother to her son, as she handed him his shield before he left for battle. the sentiment was, "if you return home alive but without your shield, it means you threw it away in the heat of the battle so you could run faster and have a better chance at surviving or avoiding injury. it also means you're a coward. if you're carried off the battlefield on your shield as a casualty of war, at least you fought bravely and died a man, without shame." in boxing, going out on your shield means fighting your heart out and going down swinging even when you know you have no chance in hell of winning a fight. and i think there's something in here that applies to life in general. not giving up when you have every reason to throw in the towel isn't exactly risk-averse behaviour. sometimes you end up taking a lot of unnecessary punishment. but when you're swallowing blood while someone else is celebrating victory a few feet away, at least you can know you gave it your all. that has to count for something. 130428 what's it to you? who go blather from