ARTICLES ARCHIVE

 

You can find a complete listing of all the articles on this site here. They are listed in reverse chronological order, and are all clickable links. Twenty-five articles are displayed per page, with the publication date included. To find older articles, click on the page numbers at the bottom.

To search the site by subject, topic, or name, you can use the “Search” function on the right sidebar.

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  • The Fittest Sharers Of Your Joys

    Wise sayings can soothe life’s hardships by reminding us that past travelers on the road have met with similar trials.  Adages are distillations of lived wisdom, condensed for mental retention and seasoned, in many cases, with pathos and humor. We will first consider a saying by Ibrahim Ibn Al Abbas Al Suli, a poet who…

  • A Conversation With Will Spencer (Podcast)

    I recently had a great conversation with Will Spencer, the proprietor of the site Renaissance of Men. I’m posting the podcast links here. I think you’ll find it to be a very informative and entertaining discussion. It’s available in different formats: Spotify, Apple, and YouTube.

  • Fortune May Stumble In Her Gait, But Arrives At Her Destination

    Al Fadl Ibn Al Rabi (الفضل بن الربيع), who lived from around A.D. 757 to 823, was a powerful minister of the Abbasid Caliphate in Baghdad.  He served the caliphs Harun Al Rashid and Al Amin, the sixth Abbasid ruler.  It was during his tenure in office that the caliphate descended into civil war. 

  • The Mutilation Of Responsibility

    The historian Ammianus Marcellinus, writing around A.D. 385, contrasts the indolence and effeminacy of the Romans with the vigor and truculence of the Gauls.  He tells us (XV.11) that the average Gaul is tall, insolent, proud, and “enthusiastic about fighting” (avidi iurgiorum).  His wife is even stronger than he is, and capable of landing punches…

  • “How Do I Expand My Social Circle In A Foreign Country?” (Podcast)

    A reader who is living abroad in France is finding it difficult to meet new people. He has no desire to hang around with expats. People always revert to English when dealing with him, when he is trying to learn French. It is frustrating for him, and he wants to know if there are ways…

  • The Bull Of Chrysame, And The Gold Of Pythopolis

    The reckless pursuit of advantage and material gain inevitably leads the unwise to ruin.  It is a truth antique with age, yet fleeting in historical memory.  Two compelling tales buried in the forgotten pages of the historian Polyaenus (VIII.42—43) remind us of the lesson’s permanence.  We now resurrect them for our amusement and edification. 

  • You’ve Got The Job: Now Get In There And Do It (Podcast)

    A reader asks a question. He has just been assigned to a new position of great responsibility. The previous occupant of this position was a man much older than he. Our friend feels slightly intimidated and inadequate for the new job. To complicate things, the previous holder of the position has not helped our friend,…

  • A Conversation With Thorin (Podcast)

    I recently had a great talk with the esports historian Thorin on his podcast “Thorinquiry.” The discussion ranged over a wide variety of subjects. His Twitter account can be found here. I’m posting the YouTube link to the podcast below.

  • The Terrors Of The God Pan

    Those who have held leadership positions know that there are times when a group can become gripped by a sudden wave of panic or consternation.  It can happen without warning; there may even be no readily discernible reason for this collective psychological seizure.  Unless a leader takes stern and decisive measures without delay, such a…

  • The Top Ten Articles Of 2022

    Year’s end is a time of reflection. We survey the landscape, and evaluate the passage of time. The ten most popular articles of 2022 are listed below. Some of them are surprises; others, less so. If you have not had a chance to check these pieces out, now might be a good time. The list…

  • You Can’t Stampede People (Podcast)

    A young woman from a conservative culture asks a relationship question. She is very fond of her boyfriend, an American man. She wants to move things in the direction of marriage, but the young man is ambivalent. He keeps putting her off. She wants to know what she can do to deal with the situation.

  • The Serpent Of Pindus

    The following tale is related by Aelian in his treatise On Animals (X.48).  In very ancient times the region of Emathia in northern Greece had a king name named Lycaon.  This king’s son was named Macedon; and it is from this name that the word for the country called Macedonia has come about.

  • The Tolerant Wisdom Of Ibn Al Jawzi

    We turn now to the wisdom of those who are able to extricate themselves from the ensnaring brambles of theological thickets.  The scholar and theologian Abd Al Rahman Ibn Al Jawzi, or more commonly Ibn Al Jawzi (ابن الجوزي), was born in Baghdad around 1115, and died there in 1201.    

  • The Re-Examiner

    The rhetorician Libanius, who lived from about A.D. 314 to 392, wrote a letter of consolation to the emperor Julian after the city of Nicomedia was devastated by an earthquake in A.D. 358.  The letter contains the following sentence:

  • The Opossum (Podcast)

    A reader asks a question about the 1982 movie First Blood. Why, he asks, was Sheriff Teasle so hostile to John Rambo? What could have been his reasons? We offer some explanation. We then move into another related subject: an opossum in my backyard, and how I dealt with it.

  • The Resolution Of Mevius

    We find a stirring anecdote in the history of Valerius Maximus that does not appear in any other ancient source.  There was once a centurion named Mevius who fought for Octavian (who would eventually become Caesar Augustus) during the civil war between him and Antony.  Of Mevius we know very little; even his full name…

  • The Horses Of Sybaris

    Sybaris was an ancient city of Magna Graecia in southern Italy.  Its ruins are located in the modern Italian province of Calabria.  The historians tell us that it was founded around the year 720 B.C., and that it persisted as a community until around 440 B.C. 

  • Not Seeing What Is In Front Of Our Eyes

    Gavan Daws, in his Prisoners of the Japanese, recounts many harrowing stories of suffering and survival in the Asian prison camps of the Second World War.  I recall one anecdote. 

  • Do Not Tamper With What Belongs To The Gods

    Homer tells us:  “He shall have dread hereafter when some god shall come against him in battle; for hard are the gods to look upon when they appear in manifest presence.”  (Iliad XX.130—131). 

  • Dire Circumstances Arouse Latent Powers

    The advent of extreme circumstances either activates the latent abilities of the brave man, or smothers the spirit of the timid soul.  Of the many historical examples that verify this, we will discuss one that is unlikely to be familiar to most readers.

  • The Testimony Of Language

    The words and syntax of a speaker are as revelatory of identity as a fingerprint, a ballistics test, and a DNA sample are to a criminologist.  The critical inquiries of the scholar, or the practiced eye of the native speaker, will as readily deduce the origin of a written text from an examination of its…

  • Michael Bonner’s “Defense Of Civilization”: Review And Commentary

    It is an unhappy commentary on the state of societal affairs when a scholar is compelled to remind readers of civilization’s benefits.  Have things become so bad that we need to lay out arguments in favor of order, discipline, and our cultural patrimony?  Is what was believed to be self-evident for centuries, now not self-evident…

  • Revisitations (Podcast)

    We should periodically “revisit” things that once meant something to us years earlier. Every 7 to 10 years or so, we grow significantly in outlook, perspective, and attitude. Things that once meant something to us, may mean something very different to us years later. This holds true of books, movies, individuals, and many other things.…

  • The Four Pillars Of Self-Confidence

    So much has been written on the subject of self-confidence that a few more observations are unlikely to draw an objection.  It seems to me that self-confidence rests on four pillars:  (1) one must accurately and honestly assess one’s value; (2) self-confidence should never veer into the territory of arrogance or insolence; (3) self-confidence must…

  • You Declare Yourself (Podcast)

    Some guys think that they need to wait for some magical confluence of circumstances to exist before they can pursue their goals. The world doesn’t work like this. Sometimes you have to announce yourself, declare your purpose openly, and let your will shape the environment to your own purposes. You have to declare yourself. You’re…

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Original copy of Cicero’s De Officiis (On Duties) published in Holland in 1642.  From the collection of Fortress of the Mind.