In the meanest are all the materials of manhood, only they are not rightly disposed.

The true measure of a man is how he treats someone who can do him absolutely no good.

Every normal man must be tempted, at times, to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin slitting throats.

The search after the great men is the dream of youth, and the most serious occupation of manhood.

War is a way of shattering to pieces… materials which might otherwise be used to make the masses too comfortable and… too intelligent.

He that has not got a wife is not yet a complete man.

If one has a good disposition, what other virtue is needed? If a man has fame, what is the value of other ornamentation?

Youth is a blunder; Manhood a struggle, Old Age a regret.

How hard, how bitter it is to become a man!

The desire to annoy no one, to harm no one, can equally well be the sign of a just as of an anxious disposition.

Rioting is a childish way of trying to be a man, but it takes time to rise out of the hell of hatred and frustration and accept that to be a man you don’t have to riot.

She said the object and color in the materials around us actually have a physical effect on us, on how we feel.

In every real man a child is hidden that wants to play.

No sadder proof can be given by a man of his own littleness than disbelief in great men.

The eyes of some persons are large, others small, and others of a moderate size; the last-mentioned are the best. And some eyes are projecting, some deep-set, and some moderate, and those which are deep-set have the most acute vision in all animals; the middle position is a sign of the best disposition.

Battle is the most magnificent competition in which a human being can indulge. It brings out all that is best; it removes all that is base. All men are afraid in battle. The coward is the one who lets his fear overcome his sense of duty. Duty is the essence of manhood.

Character, not circumstances, makes the man.

There are other measures of self-respect for a man, than the number of clean shirts he puts on every day.

If we may believe our logicians, man is distinguished from all other creatures by the faculty of laughter. He has a heart capable of mirth, and naturally disposed to it.

The youth gets together his materials to build a bridge to the moon, or, perchance, a palace or temple on the earth, and, at length, the middle-aged man concludes to build a woodshed with them.