The most usual way of appeasing the indignation of such as we have any way offended, when we see them in possession of the power of revenge, and find that we absolutely lie at their mercy, is by submission, to move them to commiseration and pity; and yet bravery, constancy, and resolution, however quite contrary means, have sometimes served to produce the same effect.

THAT MEN (sic) BY VARIOUS WAYS ARRIVE AT THE SAME END by MICHEL DE MONTAIGNE

Found at Project Gutenberg