30 Days to a Better Man

Simplify, simplify.” -Henry David Thoreau
The simple life is a manly life. Some of history’s manliest men lived lives of true simplicity, free from unneeded clutter. The Spartans basically had one piece of clothing they wore all year, a spear, a shield, and some farm tools. Because of their simple lifestyle, they were able to focus [...]

Today we’re going to examine ourselves. And by ourselves, I mean our balls. Why, you may be asking, are we examining our bits and pieces today? Well, testicular cancer is the most common malignancy in young men between the ages of 20 and 34. It’s also is the number one cancer killer among men in [...]

A man has many roles in his life-leader, father, brother, friend, and so on. Yet there’s one name that fewer and fewer men may be called by: lover. Manliness is often ranked by how many random women a dude can bed. But one of the things that separates man from the beasts is the ability [...]

I’ve recently been reading the book Team of Rivals about the men Abraham Lincoln picked for his cabinet. As I was reading it a few night ago, I was struck by this passage concerning the friendship between the future Secretary of State, William H. Seward, and his friend  David Berdan:
“Together, the young men attended the [...]

The following story ran in a newspaper some years ago:
The District of Columbia police auctioned off about 100 unclaimed bicycles Friday. “One dollar,” said an 11-year-old boy as the bidding opened on the first bike. The bidding, however, went much higher. “One dollar,” the boy repeated hopefully each time another bike came up.
The auctioneer, who [...]

A few months ago we wrote about the importance of a mentor in a man’s life. Figuring out what it means to be a man can be tough. And it’s arguably tougher for men today, who are often more socially isolated, don’t have as many friends, and don’t have strong relationships with their fathers and [...]

When I look at photos of men from my grandfather’s and even my dad’s generation, I can see a sense of purpose in the eyes of those men. Yet when I look at men today, I often don’t sense that kind of steely focus. Instead, I see dudes who are just sort of drifting along [...]