Temperance is also more than “moderation in all things.”  Plenty of things don’t need moderating – like love and goodness.  Temperance is not just balancing ourselves between extremes, or keeping mild instead of intense.

Leisure, not work, is at the core of manliness, because leisure helps us see and love, because it stops from activity to “behold” – to hold a thing before us and consider, ponder, and wonder at it. 

A man’s concept of God shapes the most significant aspects of who he is.  At the same time, the idea a man has of God is usually not chosen – he learns it by observing the manner in which other men he respects relate to God.

‘Belief’ is for children, says modern man.  To ‘believe’ is cute, like ‘make believing’, but the mature person has no space for ‘belief’ in the strict sense.  Because the strict sense entails that one has not actually seen the thing that is being believed.

Let’s face it, it takes courage to have children. To bring into the world that rebellious fruit of my flesh that melts my heart, keeps me up at night, thrills me with first steps and then crashes the car, is not easy. And to bring multiple children into the world, as is the biological norm for most people, can seem daunting.

Clothes should focus us on our dignity. Clothes direct people to our faces and therefore foster personal relationships. Clothes have a moral, not just a practical purpose. A good question for dress, then, is whether it is “personal” or objectifies us.

Avoiding pornography requires a person to set clear boundaries with people, places, things, technology, and situations that might lead him to return to pornography use.

The experience of beauty brings joy and delight because, for a brief moment, something that feels complete touches our life. Every encounter with beauty is both a promise that fulfillment is possible and a taste of what it might be like.