The Art of Manliness: Classic Skills and Manners for the Modern Man

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But a few men will hear the old calls and decide to answer. Doing so in our comfortable and luxurious world requires self-will and inner-discipline. It will require you to be proactive. Instead of expending your energy complaining that today’s culture doesn’t value or encourage manliness, you will need to channel it into swimming against the tide, building yourself into a Nietzschean Superman, creating a familial tribe, and surrounding yourself with fellow men of honor. These four books are making the list as one, because they’re really a single, epic story. You’ve no doubt seen the movies, which are great, but the books are even better. Follow Frodo Baggins and his trustworthy friend Samwise Gamgee and learn about friendship, loyalty, dedication to a good cause, and many other manly virtues. You’ll also find one of the wisest characters in literature in Gandalf. J.R.R. Tolkien had one of the greatest imaginations in the history of literature and created an entire universe, complete with new languages, maps of various lands, and even histories of how these lands came to be. No other author has come close to the world-making capabilities of Tolkien, which alone makes the series worth reading. With the Old Breedby Eugene Sledge Looking for a way to while away the time with your kids while you’re waiting for your food at a ... Full article 9 Mental Distortions That Are Sabotaging Your Social Life The Art of War remains the classic text onstrategic warfare. Written in the 6th century, it’s been influencing military leaders, as well as businessmen and politicians among others, ever since. Its themes and ideas have been studiedand re-studied over many centuries, and it would do a man well in all facets of life to read through the book’s proverbs every now and then as a refresher on tactical prowess. Live sby Plutarch

Of course, Achilles did have some major flaws. His uncontrollable rage, a hyper sense of honor, and a vulnerable heel all led to his early downfall. But it was a price he had to pay to immortalize his perfect andreia and secure a legacy in which people still today talk about his excellence in courage and warfare. With our archives now 3,500+ articles deep, we’ve decided to republish a classic piece each Sunday to ... Full article How to Wear CorduroyWith our archives now 3,500+ articles deep, we’ve decided to republish a classic piece each Sunday to help our newer readers discover some of the best, evergreen gems from the past. This article was originally published in November 2016.

It is no use saying to the tired ‘mental muscles’… ‘I will give you a good rest,’ ‘I will go for a long walk,’ or ‘I will lie down and think of nothing.’ The mind keeps busy just the same. If it has been weighing and measuring, it goes on weighing and measuring. If it has been worrying, it goes on worrying…It is useless to argue with the mind in this condition…A gifted American psychologist has said, ‘worry is a spasm of the emotion; the mind catches hold to something and will not let it go.’ One can only gently insinuate something else into its convulsive grasp. And if this something else is rightly chosen, if it is really attended by the illumination of another field of interest, gradually, and often quite swiftly, the old undue grip relaxes and the process of recuperation and repair begins. What follows is a summary of the entire series with links to each virtue. We hope you found the series helpful and will revisit it in the future for inspiration.A lot of people really dislike conflict and have a low opinion of it. They're uncomfortable with ... Full article Sunday Firesides: The Non-Technologized Children Shall Inherit the Earth For the last few months, we’ve embarked on a fairly epic series on the nature of manhood – its origins, historical imperatives, and standing in the modern world. Here’s a look at where we’ve been: Yet while Achilles may be the perfect embodiment of andreia, and get all the attention and adulation, there is another character who exemplified manliness in The Iliad as well , and actually provides a better roadmap on how most men can achieve it. Achilles: Being Manliness Published when author S. E. Hinton was just 18 years old, The Outsiders is the story of two rival gangs — the Greasers and the Socs — who are divided by their socioeconomic status. It’s a classic coming-of-age tale, and set the stage for the young adult genre as we know it today. Though the story’s characters are just teenagers, there’s much to be taken from it about family, honor, sacrifice, and class dynamics. One Hundred Years of Solitudeby Gabriel Garcia Marquez

Instead, I prefer looking for the men who are by nature good guys like Hector, but who had to learn how to become fierce. Those guys will have some pointers.

When someone asks us to do something we don't want to do, we often say yes even though we want to say no, ... Full article Sunday Firesides: Enough About Me The granddad of books about people skills, the advice found in How to Win Friends and Influence People is still sound and applicable 80 years later. Carnegie writes about skills like making people feel valued and appreciated, ensuring you don’t come across as manipulative (which happens unintentionally more than we think!), and essentially, “winning” people to your viewpoints and ideas. While it can sound a little disingenuous in its description, these are truly skills that people use every day, and this book is a great resource for boning up your social game. Roman Honor by Carlin Barton Fictional adventurer Allan Quatermain is drafted into a search and rescue party that leads into the great unknown of unexplored Africa, where entire civilizations are discovered and rumors of the location of the mines of King Solomon lead the team on one of the greatest adventures in all of literature. A River Runs Through Itby Norman Maclean There are myriad benefits to learning a martial art: gaining self-defense skills, building your discipline and focus, increasing your health, connecting with a manly tradition, and giving the warrior side of yourself an outlet. There are a ton of different martial arts out there —choosing one will come down to what you are personally looking for. Do a lot of research and shopping around to find the discipline and instructor that’s right for you. You may wish to go the MMA route and learn how to incorporate a variety of techniques into your fighting repertoire. And of course, boxing comes highly recommended. We also have primers on BJJ and Krav Maga. Knife/Tomahawk Throwing On my recenttrip to Atlanta I was the last person to board my plane. I asked the stewardess if I ... Full article My Go-To Sunglasses for Summer

Steppenwolf, one of Herman Hesse’s best known works, follows a sad and lonely intellectual for whom life brings no joy. Harry Haller has within himself both a rational man, and a wild primeval wolf, and he has trouble reconciling these two natures. But then he meets a carefree and elusive woman, Hermine, who shows him that life’s pleasures aren’t necessarily as hollow as he once believed. The Book of Deeds of Arms and of Chivalryby Christine de Pizan Hector, still in his armor, confesses to his wife that he shares the same fear. How un-Achilliean! Achilles would have responded with a chortle, a boast, a patronizing retort to his wife not to worry her sweet little head about it. But Hector is human and has some humility about his ability and his bravery. What does it mean to act in a moral way? One of the answers the philosopher Immanuel Kant formulated to ... Full article Sunday Firesides: We Shouldn’t (and Should) Be Friends With Our KidsIn this travelogue, Paul Theroux recounts his four-month journey through Europe, the Middle East, India, and Southeast Asia on the continent’s fabled trains: the Orient Express, the Golden Arrow to Kuala Lumpur, the Mandalay Express, and the Trans-Siberian Express. His well-documented and entertaining adventures have come to be considered a classic in the travel literature genre. This journal satisfies the vicarious traveler and inspires the adventurous man. The Last of the Mohicansby James Fenimore Cooper Written in the early 1500s, this is the classic guide on how to acquire and maintain political power (even if those methods are sometimes unsavory) — a so-called “primer for princes.” Its precepts are direct, if not disturbingly cold in their formulaic pragmatism. It asks the classic question: “Do the ends justify the means?” A worthy read for any man wishing to better understand the motivations and actions that tend to rule modern politics. Band of Brothersby Stephen Ambrose Joseph Conrad’s novella is the story of a man named Marlow traveling up the Congo River in the heart of Africa. In telling the tale, Conrad compares the “savages” of Africa to the so-called “civilized” people of London. Is there really much difference? Themes of race, barbarism, colonialism, and first-world society are central. Meditationsby Marcus Aurelius It’s important for men to cultivate a nostalgic love for history. What better way to truly immerse yourself than by participating in historic reenactments? It can be as narrow as recreating a specific battle, or as broad as representing a time period at a historic place like Colonial Williamsburg. Recreating historic moments has actually been around since ancient Roman times, when men would perform famous battles from history. It gives you a chance to feel what the men of that time wore, what they perhaps thought, and of course you are learning a great deal no matter what you’re recreating. This hobby gives you the chance to truly walk a mile in someone else’s shoes, but from a time gone by. Plus, you often have a chance to educate those who come out to watch the reenactment. The hobby of fishkeeping has been around for at least 1,500 years—far longer than many of the other hobbies listed here. In the 1800s, fishkeeping was primarily a hobby of the wealthy, as the tanks need to be heated with gas, or later, electricity. It wasn’t until the 1950s that the hobby really became accessible to the everyman. Today, it’s become rather popular with home aquarists and dentist offices alike.