Manvotionals

On June 6, 1944, General George S. Patton wrote this letter to his twenty-year-old son, George Jr., who was enrolled at West Point. Patton Sr. was in England training the Third Army in preparation for the battles that would follow the invasion at Normandy. Note: The letter’s grammar and spelling have been slightly edited for [...]

In my post on the Switch of Nature, I contended that cynicism constitutes one of the greatest threats to manliness. There were a couple of comments in reply which argued that cynicism is not wholly unhealthy. And I agree; I did not mean that cynicism is always bad, rather that it is bad in unhealthy amounts. This selection, from [...]

“Dr. Johnson and His Father” From 30 More Famous Stories Retold, 1905 By James Baldwin SCENE FIRST It is in a little bookshop in the city of Lichfield, England. The floor has just been swept and the shutter taken down from the one small window. The hour is early, and customers have not yet begun [...]

Facing the Mistakes of Life From The Crown of Individuality, 1909 By William George Jordan There are only two classes of people who never make mistakes—they are the dead and the unborn. Mistakes are the inevitable accompaniment of the greatest gift given to man—individual freedom of action. If he were only a pawn in the [...]

From Lincoln’s Yarns and Stories, 1900 The President was bothered to death by those persons who boisterously demanded that the War be pushed vigorously; also, those who shouted their advice and opinions into his weary ears, but who never suggested anything practical. These fellows were not in the army, nor did they ever take any [...]

  He Done His Damdest By E. Bell Guthrey I ask that when my spirit quits this shell of mortal clay And o’er the trail across the range pursues its silent way, That no imposing marble shaft may mark the spot where rest The tailings of the bard who sang the praises of the West. [...]

The Roman Stoic philosopher Seneca wrote his friend Lucilius letters in which he espoused the tenets of a life aligned with Stoic ideals. These letters were compiled in Epistulae morales ad Lucilium (Moral Letters to Lucilius). In this letter, Seneca explores the way in which a man should deal with groundless fears. I know that [...]