The third of these martial virtues, firmness is likewise associated with the stance
of Satan in Paradise Lost. He opens the debate among the fallen angels in Book II
by asserting their democratic unity in opposition to God, twice calling attention
to its presumed stability through employing the adjective "firm":
With this advantage, then
To union, and firm faith, and firm accord,
More than can be in Heaven, we now return
To claim our just inheritance of old.
-- II.35-38