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.
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Charles Sturt: A Pioneer Of Australian Exploration
The student of the history of exploration and discovery cannot fail to notice certain recurring patterns in the lives of great explorers. Many of them come from modest or poor backgrounds; many have military experience; many are driven by an inner conviction that they are destined for great achievements; many have a high tolerance for…
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Ibn Zafar’s Principles Of Power And Success In Leadership
We have previously mentioned the political philosopher Ibn Zafar Al-Siqilli (“The Sicilian”), who lived from 1104 to about 1171. Very little is known of his early life; his entry in Ibn Khallikan’s Biographical Dictionary reveals little more than a few sad anecdotes. We do know that he was born under the Norman rule of Sicily,…
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Michael Crichton Sobre As Virtudes Masculinas De Sean Connery
[The article I published yesterday on Sean Connery was translated into Portuguese by Mr. Daniel Castro]. Tradução por Daniel Castro. Em suas memórias de 1988 Travels, o autor Michael Crichton lembra-se da época que ele passou com o ator Sean Connery durante as filmagens de The Great Train Robbery na Irlanda em 1978. Crichton, o famoso autor…
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Michael Crichton On The Masculine Virtues Of Sean Connery
In his 1988 memoir Travels, author Michael Crichton recalls the time he spent with actor Sean Connery during the shooting of the film The Great Train Robbery in Ireland in 1978. Crichton, the famed author of Jurassic Park, Sphere, Congo, Disclosure, and a number of other popular novels, was also once a film director. Connery…
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How Benito Mussolini Took Power
Originally posted on Quintus Curtius: Stalin biographer Stephen Kotkin spends several pages of his book discussing the lessons to be learned from Mussolini’s seizure of power in Italy in the early 1920s. It was something that happened gradually, in stages, when institutions that should have been able to bring him to heel did nothing, either…
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Carsten Niebuhr: Sole Survivor Of The Danish-Arabian Expedition
Of the German explorers of the eighteenth century, the only man whose accomplishments rival those of Alexander von Humboldt is Carsten Niebuhr. His extensive travels and surveys in the Near East and India resulted in specific geographical data, surveying information, and historical insights. This was no dreamy wanderer; this was a trained professional, a man…
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Why We Must Seek The Divine Within Us
Upon his accession to the throne of Augustus in A.D. 364, the emperor Valentinian gave a short address to his troops. The speech is related in Ammianus Marcellinus’s history (XXVI.1). The historian tells us that Valentinian appeared on an open expanse of ground and mounted a platform that had been arranged for this purpose; he…
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Why We Should Not Rely On First Impressions
It is often said that a man should rely on his first impressions of things when trying to form a final judgment. There is some merit to instinct; but it seems to me that reasoned deliberation will always provide more accurate results than the shifting sands of sense-perception. We cannot know all things, or even…
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Carl Friedrich Philip Von Martius’s Daring Explorations In Brazil
Men undertake explorations and great journeys for many reasons. Some expeditions–such as those undertaken by Denham, Burton, Burckhardt, and others like them–are primarily focused on expanding geographical knowledge, commercial information, and ethnographic data. Others, such as those of Humboldt, Rondon, Lewis and Clark, and von Barth, are more interested in the collection of scientific information…
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The Wrath Of Least Persistence
Everyone has heard the tired phrase, “path of least resistance.” It represents a principle that I have no objection to. Of course there is no reason to make more work for oneself without good reason. No one is arguing with this idea. All things being equal, the shortest path to a goal is usually the…
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John Lewis Burckhardt’s Travels And Explorations In Nubia
In a previous article we have sketched the life of John Lewis Burckhardt. He was born in Lausanne, Switzerland in 1784 of a prominent family. At the age of 16 his father moved the family to Leipzig; and four years after this they moved again to Göttingen. His family was staunchly opposed to the new…
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David Mamet’s Film “Redbelt” (2008) (Podcast)
In this podcast we discuss David Mamet’s 2008 film Redbelt. This is a great movie, and a worthy addition to his long line of films that explore the moral and ethical problems that men face as they try to reconcile their personal creeds with the world’s corrupting influences. How we resolve this struggle will define…
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The Boar And The Wolf Of Sant’ Antonio
I will turn again to Biondo Flavio’s geographical compendium of Italy called Italia Illustrata, which was published in 1453. Flavio traveled all over the Italian peninsula and recorded historical information, anecdota, and local customs of the Italian countryside in the late medieval period. During his tour of Tuscany, he found himself in the region near…
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The Painted Books Of The Maya: Surviving By A Hair
Sometimes the precious things of this world survive by just a hair. Just a hair. The difference between victory and defeat, between survival and ruin, between conquest and destruction, between glory and despair: these are not differences of tremendous magnitude. They are fine-line distinctions. And when I say fine-line, I mean very fine. Fortune loves…
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How The Plutocratic Insurgency Targets You Personally: The Use Of AI For Targeted Shakedowns
In our discussions on the “plutocratic insurgency” here, we have focused on the malfeasance and corrupt practices of the moneyed elites, their political lackeys, and a few of the major corporations. Some people, reading these pages, may be tempted to think, “Well, so what? It doesn’t affect me personally! What do I care!” But the…
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Impressions Of Belo Horizonte, Brazil
I spent the recent holidays in Belo Horizonte, which is the capital of the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais. It was a fantastic trip, and I wanted to give readers my impressions of the city.
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Vanguard Of The Plutocratic Insurgency: Apple Inc. Plies Its Trade
Previous articles here have described in detail a phenomenon called the “plutocratic insurgency.” The term was coined by Robert J. Bunker and Pamela L. Bunker in a series of articles that have appeared in Small Wars Journal. I have discussed the Bunkers’ conclusions in my own articles here:
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The Wisdom Of Ibn Zafar al-Siqilli And Abu Bakr al-Khowarizmi
The writer and scholar Ibn Zafar al-Siqilli lived from 1104 to about 1170. The cognomen al-Siqilli (“the Sicilian”) was given to him because he was born on the island of Sicily. There are a number of important works credited to his name, the most famous of which is a book of ethical and political philosophy…
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The Top 10 Articles At Fortress Of The Mind For 2017
Below is a list of the top 10 viewed articles at Fortress of the Mind for the year 2017. Now might be a good time to re-read the essays from last year that spoke to you:
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A Portuguese Translation Of “On The Forgetting Of Offenses And Insults”
My essay On the Forgetting of Offenses and Insults has graciously and capably been translated into Portuguese by Mr. Daniel Castro, proprietor of the site Nuvem de Giz. The translation can be found here.
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To Comprehend, You Must Have The Desire To Comprehend
If you want to understand someone, you must have the desire to hear that person. You must have the willingness to open up your mind, to open up your heart, and be prepared to receive the communication that he or she is sending out. If this open-mindedness is not there, you will not hear the…
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The Symbols Of Power Are Not Substitutes For Real Power
Some are tempted to confuse the symbols of power with the reality of power. They are not the same thing. Power is the one thing that cannot be faked. For a time, perhaps, the bluffer can maintain an illusion of authority; he can go through his empty pantomime, imagining he is fooling everyone; but sooner…
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The Guardian Spirit And The Idea Of “Genii”
Most of us are familiar with the idea of the “patron saint” in Christianity. The doctrine is even found in some branches of Islam. It is a comforting thing to believe that there is someone out there watching over us, and protecting us in an hour of need. I never used to give this idea…
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Forensic Linguistics: The Footprint Of Language
There is a very good miniseries playing on Netflix right now called Manhunt: Unabomber. It is a drama about the pursuit and capture of Theodore Kaczynski, the so-called “Unabomber” who confounded law enforcement for decades until he was finally captured in 1996. His case had been the longest and costliest in American law enforcement history. …
Original copy of Cicero’s De Officiis (On Duties) published in Holland in 1642. From the collection of Fortress of the Mind.
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