Seriously though, learn a few of these. They make a guy so much more attractive. Maybe even downright hot. Bring me some jerky from an animal that you hunted…now we’re talkin! That’s better than roses or chocolate in my book.

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too:
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or, being lied about, don’t deal in lies,
Or being hated don’t give way to hating,
And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise;

If you can dream—and not make dreams your master;
If you can think—and not make thoughts your aim,
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same:.
If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build’em up with worn-out tools;

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings,
And never breathe a word about your loss:
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: “Hold on!”

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with Kings—nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much:
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,
And—which is more—you’ll be a Man, my son!

I further agreed with a good deal of the actual content, but his obviously upper crust bent was a bit much for me. His comments about military or church service were in my view enough to negate every other aspect of his supposed manhood.

Coupled with his comment about hunting, I started to get a picture that could only be described as naive or perhaps insulated from reality by privilege. Add his obvious superior tone in the language and I really have a hard time respecting him.

This article was written in 1933 and I notice that he didn’t mention anything about financial hardship. He does, however, mention travel to Europe, collections of expensive artifacts, etc. Are we so starved for manhood in the 21st Century that we can overlook this elitist bologna in order to glean a few good ideas?

I really believe that this is the kind of man who would benefit from military service–both enlisted so as to understand humility and hardship, and as an officer, so as to understand the strain of leadership with life and death in the balance. If not military service, then perhaps working and living with people who deal with reality at a much more basic level.

Truly, I’m not certain whether I would want to shake this man’s hand or knock his teeth out. He’s the kind who needs thinks he’s worldly, but is truly insulated from the vast majority of the lives and lifestyles of the world.

Oh well, I’m starting to ramble. He does have a number of good things to say regarding many particular skills, however

I further agreed with a good deal of the actual content, but his obviously upper crust bent was a bit much for me. His comments about military or church service were in my view enough to negate every other aspect of his supposed manhood.

Coupled with his comment about hunting, I started to get a picture that could only be described as naive or perhaps insulated from reality by privilege. Add his obvious superior tone in the language and I really have a hard time respecting him.

This article was written in 1933 and I notice that he didn’t mention anything about financial hardship. He does, however, mention travel to Europe, collections of expensive artifacts, etc. Are we so starved for manhood in the 21st Century that we can overlook this elitist bologna in order to glean a few good ideas?

I really believe that this is the kind of man who would benefit from military service–both enlisted so as to understand humility and hardship, and as an officer, so as to understand the strain of leadership with life and death in the balance. If not military service, then perhaps working and living with people who deal with reality at a much more basic level.

Truly, I’m not certain whether I would want to shake this man’s hand or knock his teeth out. He’s the kind who needs thinks he’s worldly, but is truly insulated from the vast majority of the lives and lifestyles of the world.

Oh well, I’m starting to ramble. He does have a number of good things to say regarding many particular skills, however.

I’m incredibly grateful for the roundedness my childhood brought. Complemented with a college education and professional training, I can find myself in almost any situation these days and handle it well. I fully agree with the author that boys should experience such things. A big thanks to the AoM crew for re-posting this. A real treat in the middle of my office-bound workday.