A soldier and his dog, Okinawa, World War Two. Source: Australian War Memorial
‘How beautiful maleness is, if it finds its right expression.’
DH Lawrence
‘It is a wise man who knows where courage ends and stupidity begins.’
Jerome Cady
‘To me the definition of true masculinity – and femininity too – is being able to lay in your own skin comfortably.’
Vincent D’Onofrio
‘This is the test of manhood: How much is there left in you after you have lost everything outside of yourself?’
Orison Swett Marden
‘The opposite of bravery is not cowardice but conformity.’
Robert Anthony
‘Only when manhood is dead – and it will perish when ravaged femininity no longer sustains it – only then will we know what it is to be free.’
Andrea Dworkin
‘We have gained a legend: a story of bravery and sacrifice and,
with it, a deeper faith in ourselves and our democracy,
and a deeper understanding of what it means to be Australian.’
Paul Keating MP
‘As far as I’m concerned, being any gender is a drag.’
Patti Smith
‘In a modern war…you will die like a dog for no good reason.’
Ernest Hemingway
‘The bravest are surely those who have the clearest vision of what is before them, glory and danger alike, and yet notwithstanding, go out to meet it.’
Thucydides
‘Fiction never exceeds the reach of the writer’s courage.’
Dorothy Allison
8 comments
Comments feed for this article
October 4, 2013 at 9:16+00:00Oct
Sarah St Vincent Welch
Thank you so much for this. After the last election I have become convinced that we must talk more. And not just to each other. To those that don’t agree with us. To find the bravery and hone the skils to do it. I used to. And I still do in my own way. But life damages us and we wish to survive. We also learn. We need to do more. As much as we can. Great set of reflections. They are helping me think how to proceed. This comment is sent with an open heart and good will. Thanks again.
October 4, 2013 at 9:16+00:00Oct
Nigel Featherstone
Wow, Sarah, thanks so much for that wonderful whoosh of a response. And I love your take on it, situating the selected quotes in the contemporary context, and focusing on the need to talk more. Clearly our current government doesn’t want us to have a public discussion, so – yes – let’s do that. Thanks to you.
October 5, 2013 at 9:16+00:00Oct
Gabrielle Bryden
quite an eclectic mix of people 🙂 My favourite is the quote from Vincent D’Onofrio (and I love him too) followed by Thucydides – for how can someone really be called brave if the ‘hero’ is not aware of the real picture, and if they are, they really are brave.
October 5, 2013 at 9:16+00:00Oct
Nigel Featherstone
Thanks Gabe. Yes, the D’Onofrio is excellent, isn’t it. And perhaps the key one in this list, and the only way we can truly ‘measure’ bravery.
October 6, 2013 at 9:16+00:00Oct
Sarah St Vincent Welch
All the quotes are wonderful and sit well together but the Dworkin is the one that really speaks to me. It’s about freedom, not hurting each other to attain it.
October 8, 2013 at 9:16+00:00Oct
Nigel Featherstone
Hi Sarah, I agree: the Dworkin is excellent.
October 9, 2013 at 9:16+00:00Oct
Tristan
Interesting and occasionally contrasting selection of quotes here, Nigel. I’m actually not quite sure what to make of them as a whole – I look at the photo and think this is a clue. Are these the ideal characteristics of a man? Or if not a man – because what does it mean, really, if anything, to be a man – then a human? (And what I think Patti Smith is saying is that it can be a drag to be a human.) But then there’s a couple of things among them that grapple with what it means to be Australian – including the photo of the soldier with the dog in the dust…
I like Robert Anthony’s quote – that it’s become a bit of a cliche or a platitude doesn’t make it less true, and worth keeping in mind when we go out to meet it.
October 10, 2013 at 9:16+00:00Oct
Nigel Featherstone
Hi Tristan, I think you’re absolutely right – the link between the quotes is reasonable tentative. Perhaps the though-line is men and war and what courage might mean; all that heads into nationalism territory, so hence the inclusion of the Keating. If anything, this post is just a suggestion, or a series of suggestions. Needless to say, what manhood means is something that occupies a fair bit of my brain power. That’s why I find the image so intriguing – it’s not the sort many would usually associate with the Australian War Memorial.