Quotes and passages on men

women

men	A man too good for the world is no good for his wife. Yiddish proverb

All the world cries, Where is the man who will save us? We want a man! Don't look so far for this man. You have him at hand. This man--it is you, it is I, it is each one of us!. . . How to constitute one's self a man? Nothing harder, if one knows not how to will it; nothing easier, if one wills it. Alexander Dumas

If a man hasn't what's necessary to make a woman love him, it's his fault, not hers. W. Somerset Maugham The Painted Veil

If men can run the world, why can't they stop wearing neckties? How intelligent is it to start the day by tying a little noose around your neck? Linda Ellerbee

Yes, I am crying although I am a man. But has not a man eyes! Has not a man hands, limbs, senses, thoughts, passions? Is he not fed with the wine food, hurt by the same weapons, warmed and cooled by the same summer and winter as a woman? If you prick us do we not bleed? If you tickle us do we not laugh? And if you poison us, do we not die? Why shouldn't a man complain, a soldier weep? Because it is unmanly? Why is it unmanly? August Strindberg The Father

Men of sensitivity are like good, much-played violins
which vibrate at each touch of the bow.

Wassily Kandinsky

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Men are like steel. When they lose their temper, they lose their worth.

Chuck Norris

Waste no more time arguing about what a good man should be. Be one.

Marcus Aurelius

Behind their façade of arrogance and self-confidence, men are extremely
fragile and ingenuous; they come equipped with some mighty primitive
levers; all you have to do is pull one and its owner slides down
into the skillet like a fish ready for frying.

Susanna Tamaro

This is the journey that men make to find themselves
If they fail in this it doesn’t much matter what else they find...
Money . . Position. . . Fame. . . Many Loves. . . Revenge. . .
All are of little consequence.
For when the tickets are collected at the end of the ride. . .
They are tossed into a bin marked failure.
But, if a man happens to find himself. . .
If he knows what he can depend upon himself to do. . .
The limits of his courage. . .
The position from which he will no longer retreat. . .
His Boundaries!
The degree to which he can surrender his inner life to a woman. . .
The secret resources of his determination. . .
The extent of his dedication. . .
The depth of his feeling for beauty, for honesty. . .
Then he has found a mansion which he can inhabit with dignity
All the days of his life.

James A. Michener

No man stands so straight as when he stoops to help a child.

Knights of Pythagoras

Look for the heart in a man before you look at what he has.

Jonathan Anthony Burkett

What do women do when they get together? We sit around
and talk! Men, not so much. My theory is that this difference
is genetic and dates back to the hunter-gatherer societies,
when the men had to be quiet as they hunted, lest they scare
away the bison and then everyone starved to death
and it was all their fault.

Jenna McCarthy

To Every Man Who Has a Daughter, Read This Carefully

Being a man means showing your daughter the kind of respect, love, and care that sets a standard for her future relationships. It’s about being present, listening to her, and making sure she feels valued and heard. Your actions today will shape her expectations and understanding of what a good man should be.

Being a man means treating your wife with the utmost respect and kindness. Your daughter watches how you interact with her mother, and she learns from it. Show her what a loving partnership looks like. Be supportive, compassionate, and communicate openly. Demonstrate that real strength lies in gentleness and understanding.

Being a man means striving to be a real man in every sense. It's about integrity, honesty, and consistency. Show your daughter that being a man is not about dominance but about equality, respect, and partnership. Teach her that a real man is someone who lifts others up and supports their dreams and aspirations.

Being a man means protecting your woman, not just physically but emotionally and mentally. Stand by her side, offer her comfort in times of need, and be her rock. Show your daughter that protection is about creating a safe and nurturing environment where love and trust can flourish.

Being a man means being a father who is involved, loving, and nurturing. Spend quality time with your daughter, be a part of her world, and show genuine interest in her life. Your presence and involvement are invaluable. Let her know she can always count on you, no matter what.

Being a man means setting an example through your actions, not just your words. Be the kind of man you want your daughter to seek in the future. Show her that true masculinity is defined by kindness, respect, and love. Your influence will guide her choices and shape her understanding of relationships for years to come.

Abhikesh

Do not put such unlimited power into the hands of husbands.
Remember all men would be tyrants if they could.

Abigail Adams

Most men, when they think they are thinking, are merely rearranging their prejudices.

Knute Rockne

On the left side of a strong woman, stands a strong man;
he is strengthened by her character.

Ellen J. Barrier

Men make the mistake of thinking that because women can't see the sense
in violence, they must be passive creatures. It's just not true. In one
important way, at least, men are the passive sex. Given a choice, they will
always opt for the status quo. They hate change of any kind, and they fight
against it constantly. On the other hand, what women want is stability,
which when you stop to think about it is a very different animal.

Eric Lustbader

You should know it yourself- a young man is still a boy,
and a boy sometimes has the right to be stubborn.

Markus Zusak
The Book Thief

Men are not gentle creatures who want to be loved, and who at
the most can defend themselves if they are attacked; they are,
on the contrary, creatures among whose instinctual endowments
is to be reckoned a powerful share of aggressiveness. As a result,
their neighbor is for them not only a potential helper or sexual
object, but also someone who tempts them to satisfy their
aggressiveness on him, to exploit his capacity for work without
compensation, to use him sexually without his consent, to seize
his possessions, to humiliate him, to cause him pain, to torture
and to kill him. Homo homini lupus [man is wolf to man]. Who,
in the face of all his experience of life and of history, will have
the courage to dispute this assertion?

Sigmund Freud
Civilization and Its Discontents

A man's manners are a mirror in which he shows his portrait.

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

The sexiest thing about men is how they are with kids. . . . If they
are great with kids they are real men. . . selfless, powerful, comforting.
Too bad so many men suck!

Pamela Anderson
Kant and Theology

Toxic masculinity is not strength. It is the belief that strength comes from dominance and degradation. It frames empathy as weakness and anger as virtue. It teaches men to stay silent instead of honest, closed off instead of curious, hostile instead of reflective. It rewards cruelty and punishes vulnerability.
   It tells men to bury grief. To suppress fear. To turn pain into rage. And then it calls that manhood.
   That belief system harms everyone. It harms men who are never taught how to process emotion. It harms women who live under its weight. It harms the LGBTQ+ community. It harms children who grow up learning that love has conditions and emotions have consequences.
   My work directly challenges that.
   I talk about mental health because real strength requires self awareness. I talk about care and accountability because courage is not pretending you are fine when you are not. I talk about vulnerability because honesty saves lives. And I talk about masculinity because the version many of us were handed is broken.
   Real masculinity looks different.
   Real masculinity understands that kindness is strength. Compassion is strength. Gentleness is strength. Listening is strength. Choosing empathy in a world that rewards cruelty takes far more courage than anger ever will.
   Real masculinity stands up for others. It listens before it reacts. It knows when to speak and when to learn. It is not threatened by difference. It is grounded in empathy and expressed through compassion. It makes room instead of building walls.

Andy Neal

It takes a real secure man to understand it's okay to cry
and an even wiser one to teach that it's okay.

Carlos Wallace

A man of calm is like a shady tree.
People who need shelter come to it.

Toba Beta

If you are a woman, reading my tale, learn to fight for your
rights and the respect you deserve as a human being. But,
if you are a man, reading my tale, learn to respect women
and, likewise, advocate for them.

Yanan Melo
Aggressing the Predatory Lions

There are three kinds of men. The one that learns by reading.
The few who learn by observation. The rest of them have to
pee on the electric fence for themselves.

Will Rogers

In uncertainty I am certain that underneath their topmost layers of
frailty men want to be good and want to be loved. Indeed, most of
their vices are attempted short cuts to love. When a man comes to
die, mo matter what his talents and influence and genius, if he dies
unloved his life must be a failure to him and his dying a cold horror. . . .
we should remember our dying and try so to live that our death
brings no pleasure to the world.

John Steinbeck
East of Eden

A boy is a man in miniature, and though he may sometimes exhibit
notable virtue, as well as characteristics that seem to be charming
because they are childlike, he is also a schemer, self-seeker, traitor,
Judas, crook, and villain--in short, a man.

Robertson Davies
The Deptford Trilogy