Manvotionals

While traveling in France, author William J. Lederer was so touched by the actions of an American Navy Sailor on Christmas Eve that he sent the following letter to the Chief of Naval Operations in Washington, D.C, Admiral David L. McDonald. Admiral David L. McDonald, USN Chief of Naval Operations Washington, D.C. Dear Admiral McDonald, Eighteen [...]

A Psalm of Life By Henry Wadsworth Longfellow What the heart of the young man said to the psalmist Tell me not, in mournful numbers, Life is but an empty dream! — For the soul is dead that slumbers, And things are not what they seem. Life is real!  Life is earnest! And the grave [...]

Aesop’s fables might seem like “kid’s stuff,” and certainly their short nature and anthropomorphic characters make them an easy read for the younger set. But reading through a book of them recently I was delighted by the quick kick in the pants they provide; their short, pithy messages can assuredly be appreciated by men as [...]

“Heroic Education” From Courage by Charles Wagner THE old stoics had this saying among themselves, Nihil mirari, — “Do not be astonished at anything.” The sense of it is plain; it means that we must not allow ourselves to be overawed by men or things, to be frightened or disconcerted. A man should retain his [...]

George Lorimer, an editor at the Saturday Evening Post, published a series of fictional letters in that magazine in which a father, John Graham, imparts advice to his son, Pierrepont, throughout the different stages of the young man’s life. The letters were then compiled in the hugely successful 1901 book Letters from a Self-Made Merchant [...]

Excerpt from Woodcraft by Nessmuk (George W. Sears) “With a large majority of prospective tourists and outers, “camping out” is a leading factor in the summer vacation. And during the long winter months they are prone to collect in little knots and talk much of camps, fishing, hunting and “roughing it.” The last phrase is [...]

“Wanted-A Man” from Pushing to the Front, 1911 By: Orison Swett Marden “All the world cries, Where is the man who will save us? We want a man! Don’t look so far for this man. You have him at hand. This man,—it is you, it is I, it is each one of us! . . [...]

The Greatness of Simplicity From Self Control, Its Kingship and Majesty by William George Jordan, 1905 No character can be simple unless it is based on truth—unless it is lived in harmony with one’s own conscience and ideals. Simplicity is the pure white light of a life lived from within. It is destroyed by any [...]

Unseen Influences By Henry F. Kletzing and Elmer L. Kletzing, 1899 “How do you know there is a kite in the air?” said a man to a boy who was holding a string leading skyward. “I see nothing and you see nothing.” “But I feel it pull!” was the prompt reply. So with many unseen [...]