Suffering ignobly borne

…what I was thinking was, by God, you don’t deserve it [the Victoria
Cross], you know, you shifty old bastard of a Flashy – not if it’s courage they’re after… but if they hand out medals for luck, and survival through sheer funk, and suffering ignobly borne… well grab ’em with both hands, my boy…

Flashman in the Great Game, p.331, Pan edition, 4th printing, 1979.