The author begins to tackle the subject by first examining what causes an individual to want to become a glutton or one who avoids martial deeds for fear of suffering in the following:
In the first place, if you have this bad tendency for being excessively fond of cosseting this wretched body in your youth, you will want to go to sleep early, and wake up late, and if your hours of sleep are interrupted, you will suffer greatly from this, and the longer you sleep the less time you will have to acquire knowledge and to learn something of value.
The pampering of these wretched bodies also requires white sheets and soft beds, and if these are sometimes lacking, such men's backs and ribs ache so much that they can nothing all day. And these good beds encourage rest and an abundance of sleep, which prevents them from hearing much that would be of profit to them.
And in addition, to sustain these wretched men's bodies, which have little time to live, they have to be provided with the best food and wine that are to be found, and require to eat at the right time, or otherwise they will be in too much distress because of the great delight they take in such things.
The author makes it clear that when it comes to things that we live off of such as food, comfort, and easy life or sleep, these things can become a harmful addiction. In fact one can say, that root of these addictions is mental apathy which can also be rooted within being lax with one's convictions. Most people seek to enjoy the good life, but no one wants to enjoy the life with Cause and Purpose.
For the warrior rest, food and comfort have their respectful places and must not be goals or the ends to a goal. Rather these things must not valued over making the choice or decision with integrity. The author states his answer on the matter with the following:
It is quite the opposite for those who want to win honor, for they adapt to the seasons: when it is cold, they endure the cold, and when it is hot, they put up with the heat. And they are prepared to accept all this for the great pleasure they experience in winning honor and in living honorably.
And we learn from the above mentioned men of worth that the practice of arms always gives back what is put in whatever the delay.
Now you can see that these wretched people who are so fainthearted will never feel secure from living in greater fear and dread of losing their lives than do those good men at arms who have exposed themselves to so many physical dangers ad perilous adventures in order to achieve honor; for they are so accustomed to and familiar with such things that they are quite unaffected by such pathetic fears to which these wretches are so often subject. And while the cowards have a great desire to live and a great fear of dying, it is quite contrary for the men of worth who do not mind whether they live or die, provided that their life be good enough for them to die with honor.
It is evident that the manner a Warrior conducts his or herself is to perfect the body while sharpening the mind simultaneously. Notice a specific pattern in the quotes, when one becomes accustomed to good food as opposed to food portioned enough to survive, physical laziness settles in, this leads to mental apathy which creates the desire for a relaxed lifestyle of extra sleep and avoiding anything dangerous. The Warrior does the exact opposite. How?
The Warrior takes every opportunity to condition his or her body to endure pain, hardship and danger to achieve one result, one goal: honor maintained or heightened, a life (or lives) saved from danger, or achieving a deed of heroism. This means that physical training, conditioning, strict dieting, busy are the trademarks of the Warrior Lifestyle.
The key concept to keep in mind is Vigilance. Vigilance of mind and spirit is what keeps a Warrior from falling into the traps of physical and mental apathy which ultimately leads one into the pit of moral collapse. Keeping true to the Warrior Lifestyle, staying focused on the Vision for Cause and Purpose is the drive for Warrior to stand up and push themselves past the threat of danger and hardship to overcome the prison of laziness to achieve honor and heroism realized.
Brave Knight, condition your body and soul for the battle to come.
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