Comments on: Manvotional: Self-Made Men by Frederick Douglass

By: “Self-Made Men” « Solarvoid

“Self-Made Men” « Solarvoid — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 17:17:49 +0000

[...] The fine folks a the Art of Manliness did a yeoman’s job of transcribing some of Douglass’ amazing “Self-Made Men” [...]

By: Green Lantern

Green Lantern — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 17:52:16 +0000

Probability and Luck are opposing concepts. Probability is a calculated outcome, taking into account the forces and pressures of a present situation. Luck is the supposition that given the pressures and forces in effect, a highly probable outcome is baseless. Action based on probability is a realistic approach to becoming a “Made Man.” Inaction based on the supposition that Luck is all you need/have/want, is ludicrous. Thank you Frederick for hope that probability can prevail. Thank you Ellison for keeping it real.

By: Tuplad

Tuplad — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 12:17:50 +0000

Awesome!

By: Condensed Knowledge – July 19, 2009 – Lists - Raoul Pop

Condensed Knowledge – July 19, 2009 – Lists - Raoul Pop — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 09:31:07 +0000

[...] Manvotional: Self-Made Men by Frederick Douglass [...]

By: The self made man - notspace.net

The self made man - notspace.net — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 06:39:34 +0000

[...] Notspace on Jul.18, 2009, under Manliness Self made man – hijacked from artofmanliness.com — I like this concept. It reminds me of my father. There isnt enough of this in the [...]

By: Brucifer

Brucifer — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 21:22:25 +0000

I’d like to make this piece REQUIRED READING for every young black male in America. So-called “Black Culture” would be a whole lot better (as would all of America) if young black males (all young males, actually) would follow the lead of Frederick Douglass instead of like, Snoop Dog.

By: Bjorn

Bjorn — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 19:58:40 +0000

A lot of people like to think that most millionaires are rich because they had things handed to them on a silver platter, or because they were born with a silver spoon in their mouth. The reality is that most millionaires are self made, and had to work hard to get where they are. The book “The Millionaire Next Door” says that fully 80% of millionaires are first generation affluent.

By: BM

BM — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 04:39:45 +0000

Our culture has a unique double standard that adores and admires self made and driven individuals and on the other hand denigrates and despises those men for “Chasing Money” and “Not Spending Time With family”. What a lot of people fail to realize that no one innovates or build up successful business from scratch by working 40 Hrs/Week.

By: Jeff Hodgson

Jeff Hodgson — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 04:26:40 +0000

The problem is cultural.

By: Paul Maurice Martin

Paul Maurice Martin — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 15:29:41 +0000

FD was a wonderful combination of manliness and class. On a cautionary note, I’ve heard more than one news report in recent years that upward mobility in America is at an all time low. Among the industrialized nations, only England ranks lower. The best predictor of weatlh in America? Your parents’ wealth.

By: Ed

Ed — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 14:20:09 +0000

Well said, Ricky.

As it so happens I almost fell foul of the core piece of learning in this lecture; I read the first half and assumed how the rest would go/got bored/got distracted so set about typing a comment a snippet of which is below.

“The thing that must always be considered here is that being a ’self-made man’ with a reference to being someone that’s succeeded in business is not an aspiration that can be applied to everyone. Everyone knows that Alan Sugar isn’t the sharpest tool in the box but he got where he is today through hard work, a bit of in-built business acumen, and a smattering of luck. Well done to him. However, there is nothing about the man that inspires me beyond reminding me that a bit of hard work over and above your course of duty can pay dividends. ”

However, I then checked myself and realised how foolhardy it would be to comment on such a well received lecture without first taking the whole thing in. How correct a course this proved to be.

To what am I referring exactly? Well, in the closing two lines Fredrick holds up my very thoughts that different men have different motivations. So here’s to perseverance and hard work… oh, and AoM, of course!

By: Ricky

Ricky — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 09:39:32 +0000

Anyone who denies the existence of luck denies the existence of probability.

By: Andrew Galasetti

Andrew Galasetti — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 21:27:46 +0000

Excellent post! I’ve always been an admirer of Frederick Douglass. I agree that there’s really no such thing as luck. The way you become “lucky” is by working your ass off and persisting.

-Andrew

By: Stan Geronimo

Stan Geronimo — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 16:35:17 +0000

Add Ralph Waldo Emerson to the list.

By: Self-made men

Self-made men — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 13:27:14 +0000

[...] men interested in becoming more masculine to have a read of the following article I found on the Art of Manliness website. Please [...]