A noble man is not going to crush your spirit by brute force. He's better than that. He'll just subject you to the Chinese water torture, slowly dripping water drops on your forehead, drop by drop, making you insane.
to be crushed; to be squashed; to go bankrupt; to go under; to be ruined (of a plan); to be cancelled; to be lost (of one's voice, eyesight, sense of smell, etc.)