William George Jordan (1)

I read this book as part of the Art of Manliness reading list.

I found that the book's tone was the typical, humanistic excitement and encouragement to self-actualize. The power is in the individual and he can do it! I find that attitude naive. I believe real optimism needs to grow from the soil of reality. Although he mentions lose, setbacks, and even death, Jordan does not seem to deeply know those hurts. The tone is too superficial for someone who has lived life.

Here are some of the quotes which I found useful: "At each moment of man's life he is either a King or a slave. As he surrenders to a wrong appetite, to any human weakness; as he falls prostrate in hopeless subjection to any condition, to any environment, to any failure, he is a slave. As he day by day crushes out human weakness, masters opposing elements within him, and day by day recreates a new self from the sin and folly of his past,--then he is a King. He is a King ruling with wisdom over himself." (page 3)

"We envy the success of others, when we should emulate the process by which that success came." (page 4)

"The individual can attain self-control in great things only through self-control in little things." (page 6)

"Each moment then must be a victory for it or for him. Will he be King, or will he be a slave?--the answer rests with him." (page 6)

"Giving food, clothing and money to the poor is only the beginning, the kindergarten class, of real charity. Charity has higher, purer forms of manifestation." (page 20)

"Worry is discounting possible future sorrows so that the individual may have present misery." (page 29)

"Everything that is great in life is the product of slow growth; the newer, and greater, and higher, and nobler the work, the slower is its growth, the surer is its lasting success." (page 72)

"Education, in its highest sense, is conscious training of mind and body to act unconsciously." (page 102)… (mer)