The Art of Manliness - Manvotionals - Brett McKay [1]
Women and men strive for the same virtues, but often attain them and express them in different ways. The virtues will be lived and manifested differently in the lives of sisters, mothers, and wives than in brothers, husbands, and fathers. Two different musical instruments, playing the exact same notes, will produce two different sounds. The difference in the sounds is one of those ineffable things that is hard to describe with words, but easy to discern. Neither instrument is better than the other; in the hands of the diligent and dedicated, each instrument plays music that fills the spirit and adds beauty to the world.
A man’s path to virtuous excellence begins with his pursuit of the seven manly virtues. These virtues, if diligently sought after and lived, will help a man unlock his fullest power and potential. The seven virtues are:
Manliness
Courage
Industry
Resolution
Self-Reliance
Discipline
Honor
These seven virtues can be striven for by any man, in any situation. Rich or poor, young or old, married or single. From the soldier to the civilian, from the corporate warrior to the stay-at-home dad, the path of virtuous excellence is open to and vital for all men.
Why just seven and why these particular virtues? Shouldn’t a man develop virtues like compassion and humility? Of course. Being a complete man means nurturing your tender side as well.
These seven virtues simply form the pole stars in the great constellation of manliness, providing men a sense of direction and leading them on the path to greatness. They are the virtues that have most called to the masculine spirit throughout the ages and which form the backbone of a man’s pursuit of the virtuous life, a firm foundation upon which all the other virtues can be built.
We’ve organized the book into seven chapters, one for each of the seven manly virtues. Each chapter is filled with excerpts from books, speeches, letters, and poems that span the ages and are designed to help you better understand the virtues and inspire you to live them more fully.
We’ve included selections from the timeless works of ancient philosophers like Aristotle and Epictetus, virile speeches from Theodore Roosevelt and Winston Churchill, and manly poems from Rudyard Kipling and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.
You’ll also find excerpts from “success manuals” from the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries scattered throughout Manvotionals. Unlike much of the success and self-improvement literature pumped out today, which focuses primarily on positive thinking and superficial tips on becoming rich, muscular, and suave, success books from the turn of the twentieth century concentrated on developing a man’s character. Our great-grandfathers believed that if a man worked sufficiently hard on forging a noble character, success in all the other areas of his life would naturally follow. Moreover, the idea of success that many of these books aspired to wasn’t necessarily fame and fortune, but rather a life well lived filled with close relationships with family and friends, contentment with simple pleasures, and the peace of mind that comes from living a good, honest life.
For those reading literature from this genre and period for the first time, the earnest tone of the authors may seem a bit jarring. Living in a very cynical age, we’re not used to such unabashed, guileless sincerity. But it will grow on you, trust us. Authors of this time had a knack for writing in a way that gets right to the heart of the matter and offers true insight.
Also, you’ll probably notice that our selections come from the annals of Western thought. While we understand and appreciate that all cultures have inspiring views on manliness, we decided to focus on the Western tradition of masculinity for a couple of reasons. First, it narrowed our field of choices, providing us some much-needed focus and making the already incredibly difficult job of narrowing the vast field of potential entries a bit easier. And second, as the book will primarily be read by those living