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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  • Storm Tactics: Bypassing Strong Points, Attacking Weak Points

    The obvious failure of conventional infantry tactics in the early years of the First World War led to agonized soul-searching in the leadership elements of the belligerent nations.  How could the stalemate be broken?  How could ground forces move forward, and restore some sort of war of maneuver?

  • “I Don’t Like How She’s Acting” (Podcast)

    A reader doesn’t like how his girlfriend is behaving. She’s pulling away from him, and not responding in the way he would like. He feels like he’s not being valued.  He wants to know if he can do anything to “make her appreciate him” more.

  • Breakout: The Escape From The Maze Prison

    It was touted as the “most secure prison in Western Europe.”  It was supposed to be a place for the “safekeeping” of IRA (Irish Republican Army) paramilitaries arrested in Northern Ireland.  It was Her Majesty’s Prison Maze, or more commonly known as “The Maze.” And it became the scene of one of the most daring, well-executed…

  • Some Wisdom From Libanius

    It is a pleasant thing to discover pearls of wisdom buried in the tomes of forgotten writers.  We are reminded of the persistence of human wisdom, and its ability to persist down the arches of the years in all conditions and environments, whether favorable and unfavorable.

  • Is Progress An Illusion?

    Many years ago I read a book called The Next Ten Thousand Years.  The author, Adrian Berry, argued that no matter what happened to mankind–good or bad–he would survive, prosper, and go on literally to reshape the solar system and explore the galaxy.

  • The Bad Luck Of The Gardener Sinerus

    Injustices thrive in atmospheres of fear and intolerance.  I came across one story recently that illustrates this point.  It could just as easily have come from Stalinist Russia, or modern-day North Korea.  The tale is found in Giuseppe Riciotti’s Age of Martyrs, and concerns the accidental martyrdom of a man named Silenus, who lived during…

  • The “Side-Principal” Rule And Unrestricted Warfare In Chinese Military Doctrine

    In 1999, two colonels in the Chinese Army, Qiao Liang and Wang Xiangsui, published a treatise that would heavily influence Chinese military planning for the following decades.  The book was called Unrestricted Warfare.  Its central theses were these:

  • “I’m Facing A Crisis Of Doubt” (Podcast)

      A reader writes that he is beginning to doubt some of the tenets of the religion he grew up with. He is dealing with doubt, and is not sure how to handle it.  He wonders of masculist doctrines can serve as a substitute for religion.

  • Blaise Pascal On The Universe And Man

    Some statements of philosophers are so transcendent, and so soaring in imaginative power, that they require little or no comment.  I found one such passage today in a book that in recent years has come to be one of my favorites:  Pascal’s Pensées.  I love Pascal because I can open his book at random, any time…

  • Petrarch Reflects On Ignorance And Happiness

    The great humanist Francesco Petrarca (Petrarch) had opportunity to reflect on the fact that the more he gained in knowledge and experience, the less and less certain he became of his own judgments.  These thoughts were recorded in an essay called On His Own Ignorance And That Of Many Others (De sui ipsius et multorum…

  • Jan Scruggs And The Vietnam Veterans’ Memorial

    I was recently watching the film Maya Lin:  A Strong Clear Vision.  It is a 1994 documentary about the architectural work of Maya Lin, the designer of the Vietnam Veterans’ Memorial on the Mall in Washington D.C.  One of the key figures interviewed in the film was an honest-faced, frank man named Jan Scruggs.

  • The Need For A Fighting Ideology

    There is a scene at the end of the film Apocalypse Now where Colonel Kurtz delivers a monologue on the ruthless tactics of the Viet Cong guerrillas.  He relates how the Viet Cong had come and “hacked off” the arms of child villagers that the Americans had inoculated as part of an effort to win…

  • A Tasmanian Travel Experience (Podcast)

      I interview Ace Johnson, the co-founder of the knife manufacturing company Delta2Alpha, about his recent extended trip to Tasmania. Great experiences and adventure…with a 18 mile march to the airport thrown in for good measure.

  • Xenophon On Cyrus’s Leadership Qualities

    Xenophon’s Anabasis is one of the primary classics of ancient Greek literature.  For students of ancient Greek, it has served much the same function as has Caesar’s De Bello Gallico has for Latin; that is, it has been used as a foundational text in the study of the language.

  • “I Don’t Feel Challenged By My Job” (Podcast)

      I comment on an article written by a junior officer who doesn’t feel challenged by his job and is disillusioned with it.  This is the article I’m referring to: We’re Getting Out Of The Marines I respond with some thoughts of my own.

  • John Locke’s Theory On The Education Of The Young

    In my Thirty-Seven, I wrote at length (Ch. 7, “A Program of Education”) on the educational views of the Renaissance humanist Paolo Vergerio.  His ideas stressed the importance of character and discipline as the foundations and prerequisites for intellectual study; not to master one’s desires, he knew, was fatal to any meaningful progress in education.

  • Questions On Dealing With Negative People And Thriving In A Politically-Correct Environment (Podcast)

      Today we deal with two separate questions from two different readers: 1. How do I get rid of negativity in my life from people around me? 2. How can I get along best in a politically-correct environment?

  • The Wreck Of The Brig “Polly”: Staying Alive At Sea With Ingenuity

    I recently came across a remarkable story of endurance and survival.  It hammers home the point–made repeatedly on this site–that when disaster strikes, one must dig in and use all available resources to fight on to final victory.

  • Hard-Core Travel Survival Tips From Robert Young Pelton

    I recently wrote an article that featured some great adventure travel equipment tips from Robert Young Pelton, the hard-core author of The World’s Most Dangerous Places.  As I was thumbing though my old copy of this classic (my edition is one of the first, and dates to the mid-1990s), I realized that there is some…

  • Questions About Carelessness, Frivolity, And Career Choices (Podcast)

      This podcast answers unrelated questions from two different readers: 1. What did I mean in a certain sentence from “Thirty-Seven”? 2. What guidance should a young guy get who isn’t sure he’s in the right career?

  • Sir Stephen Spender’s “I Think Continually Of Those Who Were Truly Great”

    Here’s something for you to start (or end) your week with.  I hope it speaks to you. It resonates with me, and celebrates some of the themes of Fortress of the Mind.

  • You Can’t Save People Who Won’t Participate In Their Own Rescue (Podcast)

    This podcast discusses the following topics: 1. How some knowledge comes suddenly, and some gradually.2. Discovering the Nautilus bodybuilding system in college.3. How leadership principles are absorbed gradually.4. How you can’t save people who won’t save themselves, and why this is the most difficult thing for a man of action to accept.   Click below…

  • Robert Young Pelton’s Travel Gear And Equipment Tips

    Robert Young Pelton has done what the rest of us should aspire to do:  he’s turned a love for travel and adventure into a career.  He’s the author of The World’s Most Dangerous Places (which has gone through multiple editions), as well as a journalist, documentary producer, and television personality.  His specialty was producing on-the-spot…

  • Why You Should Follow Your Passions: The Example Of Michael Punke

    Some time ago I wrote a review of a film I admired very much, The Revenant.  I’ve recently learned more about the author of the book on which the movie was based.  His name is Michael Punke, and his story provides a good example of why you should stick to your guns and pursue your…

  • Are Psychic Phenomena Real? (Podcast)

      In every culture in every historical age, there has been interest in some version of psychic phenomena. But are these phenomena “real,” or simply delusions? And how can it help us in our quest for answers?  I offers some suggestions based on my own travels, studies, and experiences.

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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.