The Art of Manliness has been posting a series aimed at young men (and presumably young women, as well) regarding what is appropriate and necessary for them to learn as they embark on their journey out into the World.
The most recent is entitled Heading Out on Your Own: Day 26 — 15 Maxims for Being a Reliable Man.
As one who wrestles with my own neuroses on a daily basis, I love stuff like this. Many of these are things that were taught to me by my Father and Grandfather, but never codified. And I don’t think there’s an age limit to when one needs to learn them.
Being reliable.
The word reliable has its origins in relier, Old French for “fasten” or “attach;” the reliable man was an immovable pillar of strength on which you could hang your hat, someone you could lean and depend on, a man you could trust.
Compare that image with its opposite: the flake. Floating, drifting, fragile. Melting as soon as it meets any resistance.
We’ve all known reliable men, and we’ve all known flakes. We admire the former, and avoid the latter. To become the kind of man you’ve grown up trusting and counting on, read on.
Please visit the link and pass them down to your youth. Or refresh your own memory.
It couldn’t hurt.
I’d rather have 15 Brownings than 15 Maxims…. 😉