Full Idea
Presumably there are some things such that a man cannot be compelled to do them - that he must sooner die than do, though he suffer the most dreadful fate.
Gist of Idea
A man should sooner die than do some dreadful things, no matter how cruel the death
Source
Aristotle (Nicomachean Ethics [c.334 BCE], 1110a27)
Book Reference
Aristotle: 'Ethics (Nicomachean)', ed/tr. ThomsonJ A K/TredennickH [Penguin 1976], p.112
A Reaction
This is a central concept for virtue theory - that no possible 'utilitarian calculation' could allow a virtuous person to do some awful thing because of a cool assessment that it will eventually add up to increased happiness.