most stoical

Photograph: Matthew Lloyd/Getty Images One thing we can say after the succession of eye-popping scandals in public life is that the British must be one of the most stoical, resilient and phlegmatic people on this planet.

The native with his arm blown off, with his thigh shot away, or with his body disembowelled, is endowed with extreme fortitude and most stoical resolution.

The negroes are always noisy; but when such deeds are in contemplation, they are more so than ever; the songs they sing, the quarrels they have, and the language they use, would tire the patience of the most stoical.

It brings tears, of which the most stoical philosopher need not be ashamed; indeed, one might rather be ashamed if the tears did not come.

A thousand and a thousand times I have shed torrents of tears, and felt the most tormenting anxiety for those who would have seen me with the most stoical apathy begging through the street for bread.