"Waste no more time arguing what a good man should be. Be one." –Marcus Aurelius
Masculinity, and manliness, are two words that I hear thrown about by all sorts of people. Feminists, their opponents, and everyone in between use these words and use them differently. But there is a real meaning that is being forgotten and it’s an important distinction to make. Manliness and masculinity are not synonymous and we…
Recently, I was talking to a friend of mine. He’s getting married soon, and is getting a little tired of the process of planning the wedding. He told me that he’s not sure that it is worth it because he doesn’t know how much more he would enjoy the ceremony than simply eloping or doing…
I’d like to share some thoughts on the relationship a man has with rules throughout his life. How do we first encounter rules? What is the difference between a rule and a principal? What is the mark of a mature man in this context? Children start out without any rules or sense of boundaries, possibly…
What is left when honor is lost? — Publilius Syrus In this article I want to discuss a set of emotions we feel around our actions, and how they relate to what we do. We often misunderstand these powerful emotions both in terms of what they are and what causes them. This leads to emotional debate of…
Pacifism is the idea that violence is inherently wrong. Sometimes it is also expressed as the idea that ‘violence doesn’t solve anything’ or that violence creates more violence. This is sort of a perversion of the old ‘live by the sword, die by the sword’ wisdom. This is expressed individually by being afraid of conflict,…
The search after the great men is the dream of youth and the most serious occupation of manhood. –Ralph Waldo Emerson It is not the situation which makes the man, but the man who makes the situation.–Frederick William Robertson There is a debate among historians that is similar to the ‘nature vs nurture’ debate in…
“There are two questions a man must ask himself: The first is ‘Where am I going?’ and the second is ‘Who will go with me?’ If you ever get these questions in the wrong order you are in trouble.” –Sam Keen Masculinity has taken many forms in many cultures, but the core of it is always…
“A successful marriage requires falling in love many times, always with the same person.” – Mignon McLaughlin “You want to set a goal that is big enough that in the process of achieving it you become someone worth becoming.” – Jim Rohn In previous times, divorce was unthinkable. While recognizing that this was probably too…
The search for authenticity has become a fad in the last generation. It’s applied both internally and externally – we look for ‘authentic’ things or experiences in the world, and we try to be ‘authentic’ ourselves. It may be a reaction to the superficiality of consumerism. But it is subject to a sort of uncertainty…
The Internet gives everyone the ability to talk to everyone else, all the time. But it’s not like other kinds of speaking in at least two important ways from the point of view of how we say it and how we are received. One is that it is often anonymous and the speaker is isolated…