The Art of Manliness - Manvotionals - Brett McKay [6]
In the noontide of life there is strength for the hour;
It is then that man reaches his zenith of power.
With an arm for the conflict, a brain that can plan—
All his trials but make him a manlier man.
Like the oak on the hillside, majestic in form:
Like the ship on the ocean, prepared for the storm;
When that storm would engulf, or would dash to the ground,
They come forth from the conflict with victory crowned.
What a power for good is a man in his prime,
Who will stand for the right with a firmness sublime;
Who will stand in his place with truth’s banner unfurled,
Who will let his light shine for the good of the world.
When an enemy threatens the life of the State,
When all own, with sad hearts, that the peril is great;
When devouring flames shoot up higher and higher,
And destruction stalks forth as a fiend in the fire—
When by famine or sword, or by pestilence dread,
Many thousands are called to lie down with the dead.
When gross evils abound, and the wicked increase,
And we sigh for the joys and the triumphs of peace—
In such perilous times man’s true manhood appears:
It has grown with his growth and has strengthened with years.
When his country needs help—when the danger is nigh—
He is ready, if need be, to dare and to die!
When the fiend in the fire has his victims at bay,
Or when famine and sword by the thousands would slay;
Or when pestilence—swift—for its victims would fly—
Then true manhood shines forth, brightest star in the sky.
“The greatest thing a man can possibly do in this world is to make the most possible out of the stuff that has been given him. This is success, and there is no other. It is not a question of what someone else can do or become which every youth should ask himself, but what can I do? How can I develop myself into the grandest possible manhood?” —Orison Swett Marden
Manliness in the Life of Jack London
FROM THE BOOK OF JACK LONDON
By Charmian London, 1921
Manliness involves living a life of arete, the excellence born from seeking to use up every last drop of one’s potential and abilities.
Jack London led such a life. His supposed credo was:
“I would rather be ashes than dust!
I would rather that my spark should burn out in a brilliant blaze than it should be stifled by dry-rot.
I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me in magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet.
The function of man is to live, not to exist.
I shall not waste my days trying to prolong them.
I shall use my time.”
And use his time he did. London saw the life of man as a struggle against the harshness of nature; a man had to ever be working to escape its unmerciful hand. To that end, London led a life of great hustle and adventure. Emerging from a childhood of poverty, he was a largely self-educated man willing to do everything and anything to get ahead and make the most of life. He labored 12–18 hours a day in a mill, laundry, and cannery, shoveled coal at a power station, bought his own sloop and took to the seas as a sailor and oyster pirate, spent time as a hobo, and sought for riches as a prospector in the rugged Alaskan wilderness. When he began to pursue his true dream—making a living as a writer—he faced one rejection after another.
But London prevailed, writing over fifty books (The Call of the Wild being his most famous) and hundreds of short stories, serving as a wartime correspondent, and becoming the highest paid writer of his time. Success allowed him to pursue other endeavors—ranching and farming, horseback riding, sailing, and traveling to name a few. His was a life not without faults or struggles, but when London died at age 40 from uremia, he had accomplished and experienced more in those few decades than many men do when given twice as much time.
In this first selection, W. B. Hargrave, who spent time with Jack London during the Klondike Gold Rush, recalls his impressions of the man. A portrait of London as sharp in mind, rugged in spirit, and zealous for life, it offers a rich snapshot of manliness.
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