Manly Pages

I received Harvey Mansfield's Manliness on Friday. It's pretty good so far. It prompted me to go through my study and pull out ten manly books.

The glared-out one is A'Kempis' On the Passion of Christ. What's more manly than what Christ did? Stupid Docetists.

You'll notice two volumes by Stoic philosophers: Aurelius and Epictetus. Mansfield refers to Stoicism as the philosophy of men, and he's right. It's also a good philosophy for Christians. Although tainted at serious points, for pagans, they did a good job cogitatin'.

What's Flannery O'Connor doin' in there? Sure, she's a woman, but if Mansfield can include Margaret Thatcher in his list of people who showed manly-like character, I can include this book by O'Connor. If more men showed her virtue--especially resignation and courage (heck, if just this blogger showed her virtue), the world would be a better place.

With respect to the Modern Drunkard book, I just put that in there for laughs. Drinking is a manly thing, but the MD is a bit excessive.

The Flying Inn is the only fiction book in the mix. There were other candidates, but the image of Patrick Dalroy standing up to the Muslim-tainted do-gooder is one of the most humorous examples of manliness that you'll find in literature.