new thread
“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! . . . How to constitute one’s self a man? Nothing harder, if one knows not how to will it; nothing easier, if one wills it.”—Alexandre Dumas.
Diogenes sought with a lantern at noontide in ancient Athens for a perfectly honest man, and sought in vain. In the market place he once cried aloud, ” Hear me, O men”; and, when a crowd collected around him, he said scornfully: “I called for men, not pygmies.”
Over the door of every profession, every occupation, ever-calling, the world has a standing advertisement: “Wanted—A Man.”
Wanted, a man who will not lose his individuality in a crowd, a man who has the courage of his convictions, who is not afraid to say “No,” though all the world say “Yes.”
Wanted, a man who, though he is dominated by a mighty purpose, will not permit one great faculty to dwarf, cripple, warp, or mutilate his manhood; who will not allow the over-development of one faculty to stunt or paralyze his other faculties.
Wanted, a man who is larger than his calling, who considers it a low estimate of his occupation to value it merely as a means of getting a living. Wanted, a man who sees self-development, education and culture, discipline and drill, character and manhood, in his occupation…
Wanted, a man of courage who is not a coward in any part of his nature.
Wanted, a man who is well balanced, who is not cursed with some little defect of weakness which cripples his usefulness and neutralizes his powers.
Wanted, a man who is symmetrical, and not one-sided in his development, who has not sent all the energies of his being into one narrow specialty and allowed all the other branches of his life to wither and die. Wanted, a man who is broad, who does not take half views of things; a man who mixes common sense with his theories, who does not let a college education spoil him for practical, every-day life; a man who prefers substance to show, and one who regards his good name as a priceless treasure.
Wanted, a man “who, no stunted ascetic, is full of life and fire, but whose passions are trained to heed a strong will, the servant of a tender conscience; who has learned to love all beauty, whether of nature or of art, to hate all vileness, and to respect others as himself.”
The world wants a man who is educated all over; whose nerves are brought to their acutest sensibility; whose brain is cultured, keen, incisive, broad; whose hands are deft; whose eyes are alert, sensitive, microscopic; whose heart is tender, magnanimous, true.
The whole world is looking for such a man. Although there are millions out of employment, yet it is almost impossible to find just the right man in almost any department of life, and yet everywhere we see the advertisement: “Wanted—A Man.”
When Garfield as a boy was asked what he meant to be, he answered: “First of all, I must make myself a man; if I do not succeed in that, I can succeed in nothing.”
It is a sad sight to see thousands of students graduated every year from our grand institutions whose ob ject is to make stalwart, independent, self-supporting men, turned out into the world saplings instead of stalwart oaks, “memory-glands” instead of brainy men, helpless instead of self-supporting, sickly instead of robust, weak instead of strong, leaning instead of erect. “So many promising youths, and never a finished man!”
The character sympathizes with and unconsciously takes on the nature of the body. A peevish, snarling, ailing man can not develop the vigor and strength of character which is possible to a healthy, robust, cheerful man. There is an inherent love in the human mind for wholeness, a demand that man shall come up to the highest standard; and there is an inherent protest or contempt for preventable deficiency. Nature, too, demands that man be ever at the top of his condition…
The first requisite of all education and discipline should be man-timber. Tough timber must come from well grown, sturdy trees. Such wood can be turned into a mast, can be fashioned into a piano or an exquisite carving. But it must become timber first. Time and patience develop the sapling into the tree. So through discipline, education, experience, the sapling child is developed into hardy mental, moral, physical mantimber.
If the youth should start out with the fixed determination that every statement he makes shall be the exact truth; that every promise he makes shall be redeemed to the letter; that every appointment shall be kept with the strictest faithfulness and with full regard for other men’s time; if he should hold his reputation as a priceless treasure, feel that the eyes of the world are upon him that he must not deviate a hair’s breadth from the truth and right; if he should take such a stand at the outset, he would... come to have almost unlimited credit and the confidence of everybody who knows him.
What are palaces and equipages; what though a man could cover a continent with his title-deeds, or an ocean with his commerce; compared with conscious rectitude, with a face that never turns pale at the accuser’s voice, with a bosom that never throbs with fear of exposure, with a heart that might be turned inside out and disclose no stain of dishonor? To have done no man a wrong; to have put your signature to no paper to which the purest angel in heaven might not have been an attesting witness; to walk and live, unseduced, within arm’s length of what is not your own, with nothing between your desire and its gratification but the invisible law of rectitude;—this is to be a man.
“Wanted-A Man”
from Pushing to the Front, 1911
By: Orison Swett Marden
What a incredible "teaser"....Shame on me, I have never read "Pushing the Front"....however, I have a 22 hour flight coming up, that will be the perfect book to take on board.
Thanks for Sharing that wonderful piece. It could be the "Mission Statement" for the MLHH, as it does in fact reflect much of what those of us on the longhair journey are really about.
Keep Well my Friend
Walter
WOW, what an interesting post, Validus!
Looking back on my own life ("so-far"... I haven't died yet, -- so maybe there's still hope - LOL), honesty compels me to say that, although at times I've felt very strong in my quality of character, personal ethics, and "manhood"; conversely, at other times in my life, I've felt very inadequate, even sometimes a bit of a failure in many ways...
I remember the year I turned 21, I did something very stupid on the day of my birthday. It turned out to be a bad day in general, anyway; but whatever dumb thing I did that day on top of the rest of all the other stuff only made me feel worse. (I can't even remember what it was now....) I was working back in IL as a summer camp counselor that year, enjoying working w/ kids in general; but had 2 extremely spoiled bratty kids, a brother & sister combo from hell, who refused to cooperate w/ even the most basic of requests for any help in clearing the lunch table. "It's my birthday!", I finally pleaded in desperation, "Won't you at least help out a little bit?" NOPE, no way. And then I lost it -- blew up at them (which only ruined my 21st birthday all the more)...
That evening, in baring my soul to a close fellow-counsellor friend, I told her that somehow I assumed that by age 21, I was supposed to not only know almost "everything" in life by that age; but also assumed that I would be more mature than to get so angry at 2 annoying bratty little kids like that.
"Don't worry", she said, "becoming a fully mature adult is really an on-going process, no matter what your age -- even my parents are still working on it!"
Then we had a good laugh over it, and I guess I decided from that day forward never to worry about it too much ever since.
Years later...
When my nephew was still young enough to want to invite a house full of kids over to have Easter egg hunts, my brother and sister-in-law would do all the hiding, then announce to the large gathering, "OK, time for all the kids and the immature adults to all line up over here..."
I always knew right away that I was one of the 3 "immature adults" mentioned that were usually present every year, and that she hoped I would of course just step forward and participate in this event right alongside the kids, no questions asked!
What does this have to do with becoming a man? Well, I guess I'm simply confessing that, even though in many ways I feel I am one (and a pretty good & decent one at that), I'm also a rather idiosyncratic Uncle to my 3 nephews and 6 nieces -- and they would all probably still agree with my sister-in-law in her description of me as an, "immature adult!"
Rest assured, though, I'm still working on becoming the man I'm supposed to be!
- Ken
and they would all probably still agree with my sister-in-law in her description of me as an, "immature adult!"
Ken, sounds like you need the same bumper sticker one of my friends has on the back of his truck. It reads:
"Cleverly disguised as a responsible adult"
I know I want one!!
Thanks for this "baring of the soul," my friend! Truth be told, as far as I'm concerned, the best of men are those who have kept the ember of youth glowing brightly in their hearts. I have no doubt that you are such a man, and all the better for it!
Best regards,
Val
Maturity is over-rated
Severely over-rated, even. I might have to grow older, I don't have to grow up. :D