Do not dwell on what once was, but rather look forward and ponder how you can make the future brighter

I need no master to punish me in order to behave as I ought. If I did, I would be no more than a child who obeys his father's rules only because he fears the whip, and not because he actually means good.

I'll fight when needed, revel when there's an occasion, mourn when there is greif and die if my time comes...But I will not let anyone use me against my will.

Do I look dead to you?!

If any honor existed in war, it was in fighting to protect others from harm

The future will be what it will, and fretting about it will only make your fears more likely to come true.

Regardless of whether I can shift my affections to another - and the heart, as you observed, is a notoriously fickle beast - the question remains: should I?