Comments on: In Praise of Sprezzatura: The Compleat Gentleman Giveaway

By: The Masks Men Wear | The Art of Manliness

The Masks Men Wear | The Art of Manliness — Mon, 09 Aug 2010 01:54:38 +0000

[...] This is doesn’t mean we should be an entirely open book. Some men, spurning any kind of social mask, go in another extreme, what is often termed, “the overshare.” They spill their guts and emotions to anyone who shows them the least bit of attention. A man should always operate with a healthy sense of sprezzatura. [...]

By: Rob

Rob — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 14:45:04 +0000

I agree with Jack, below.

By: Rev. Adrian L. Piazza

Rev. Adrian L. Piazza — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 03:06:18 +0000

For a compleat lack of sprezzatura, my nomination is Brett Favre. From his weepy goodbye in Green Bay to his super public argument/transfer to NY. Finally, his constant jabbering about going to the Vikings, which did not happen. He talks to everyone and has the emotional fortitude of a feminine fourteen year old.

I learned Sprezzatura from Rev. Dr. Norman Nagel. He could skewer a phony at a 100 yards, but, was invariably polite and genuinely helpful to those who were seeking to learn. He could weave a tale (seemingly pointless) that would keep your attention until he revealed the crux of the matter, followed by an question that kept your mind busy for days. Conducted the Liturgy with a genuine reverence with hair mussed from putting on the surplice. From Australia through Germany and England was always dressed as a Dr. Professor ought: three piece suit or sweater vest and jacket, tweeds in the spring and summer. Only dressed down in his own back yard. Smoked thick black cigars, pipes and drank Foster’s from the can. Never shared, but spoke when he needed and was silent when he listened.

By: Corey

Corey — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 22:57:18 +0000

I would say that Robert Heinlein, wile an excellent writer, is an example of a lack of sprezzatura. When safe in his career and unhindered by public opinion, his later books (Glory Road, Number of the Beast, Stranger in a Strange Bed, &c.) were all very vocal, and crassly and unrestrainedly vocal, in urging ungentlemanly behavior. Mike the Martian urges faithlessness in marriage and disregard of human life; Lazarus Long is the embodiment of cowardice.
For reasons listed above, C. S. Lewis and his protagonists are far better practicioners of this virtue. For true sprezzatura, I will agree with those who have said George Washington – here is a man who has won vistory against the mightiest military of the day, has won the highest office of the newly formed country, and when asked how he would be addressed, simply said “Mr. President.”

As an aside, I find it interesting that the Victorian gentleman and the Edo-period samurai both found restraint to be the most telling demonstration of proper behavior: note the similarities in the colors of fabric – subdued dark blues, browns, blacks, sometimes with subtle pin-stripes. Fascinating.

By: Joey

Joey — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 22:17:30 +0000

Tupac Shakur made it looks easy for the smallest man in the room to be the most feared.