In simulation scenarios, no crew has ever been able to make it to the airport, and the event is often cited as one of the best examples of crew resource management in an emergency situation. Origins The idea of the stiff upper lip is traced back to Ancient Greece – to the Spartans, whose cult of discipline and self-sacrifice was a source of inspiration to the English public school system; and to the Stoics. Stoic ideas were adopted by the Romans, particularly the Emperor Marcus Aurelius, who wrote, "If you are distressed by any external thing, it is not this thing which disturbs you, but your own judgment about it. And it is in your power to wipe out that judgment now." The concept reached England in the 1590s, and featured in the plays of William Shakespeare; his tragic hero Hamlet says, "There is nothing either good or bad but thinking makes it so". Poems that feature a memorable evocation of Victorian stoicism and a stiff upper lip include Rudyard Kipling's "If—" and W. E. Henley's "Invictus". The phrase became symbolic of the British people, and particularly of those who were students of the English public school system during the Victorian era. Such schools were heavily influenced by stoicism, and aimed to instil a code of discipline and devotion to duty in their pupils through 'character-building' competitive sports (as immortalised in the poem "Vitai Lampada"), corporal punishments and cold showers. See also References Further reading External links The British Stiff Upper Lip at Sterlingtimes Virtual Scrapbook of British Nostalgia "Decorum is dead! Long live the outburst!" Salon article on the topic UsingEnglish.com Emotion English-language idioms British culture English culture Metaphors referring to body parts Positive psychology Words and phrases describing personality