"...It is also of critical importance for you as a boy to take it upon yourself to strive to learn everything you can from your school studies and life itself. A man is no man if his mind isn't as strong as his body. In this world, an education is simply not an option. It is pre-requisite to success. This world is full of stupid and ignorant people and it is your duty to avoid the pitfalls and snares into which those lesser men will blindly and ignorantly stumble. A sound and rational mind that is capable of arriving at the correct answers to life's riddles is encouraged by studious and scholarly research. I cannot express to you strongly enough how critical it is that you not set aside your assignments nor fail to excel in your schoolwork and exams just because your peers are doing just that. Remember this; Ignorance is a shame and a great dishonor and it breeds others. Ignorant people will spend the rest of their lives struggling and never have a thing unless they win the lottery, and even then, they'll be broke again within 5 years I'd bet...they'll keep making the same stupid decisions that kept them poor in the first place. By allowing their scholastic efforts to fail in their early years, life's losers have programmed themselves for future failures in other facets of their lives. You show me a willing loser and I'll show you a loser. Don't be "That Guy"! To fail after doing your best is no dishonor, but to fail by default is loathsome to manly virtue..."
 

"...Once a young man becomes a willing underachiever, he will by default continue to be so, save through an exercise of will. Failure comes easily to those accustomed to it. But we as men strive to be extraordinary. It is the true nature of manliness. With an education, you can make your mark in the world and your courage and intellect are the only limits to what you can achieve. Lesser men give in to doubt and uncertainty when a challenge comes along. They literally remain locked away in a prison who's bars are made of the stuff of their own fears and ignorance.  
 
Now, just as exceptional young men are rarely common, so too are exceptional young women commonly rare. You may well spend a lot of time looking before you find the one for you, but don't settle for anything less than a standout. If she is someone you can talk to and feel perfectly comfortable around, she may well be worth considering. If she is of impressive intellect and holds high personal standards of integrity for herself, she is definitely worth getting to know better. If you would be proud to have her at your side when you stand for what is right because she holds to the same principles as you yourself, such a woman deserves your focused attention. Go get her!

 
   If all goes well, she'll feel the same about you. If not, hold fast to your courage and you will find the right one in due time. You can't win all the time. Never settle for less than the best from yourself or the young woman you hope to make your own. To do otherwise is to potentially waste an awful many long years on disappointment and unhappiness. Casual relationships are for those of casual mind and often lead to two thoroughly miserable human beings. Lasting relationships are for two strong minds that can work together to achieve their goals. A great woman is a pleasure to share your time and life with. She supports you when you're right and she'll lovingly discuss her concerns when she thinks you're wrong. When you find a good one, treat her right and always be on your honor. You're in this life together so mutual respect is of utmost importance..."

 
 
"Men in the Popular Culture"
 
 
 "... One major contributor to the massive confusion surrounding manliness is certainly today's pop culture icons, self-aggrandized idols and the media outlets that foist them upon us at every turn. Can you think of anyone in the current media eye that is a worthy role model for manly virtue? Think quickly. It's not so easy is it? If you're struggling for an answer, you're not alone. And it just gets worse every day. It really takes a great deal of effort to find a man in the public eye in this time and place that you could point out to your own son and say "Grow up to be like him"...that's why he has to be able to look to you!  
   
You destroy manliness and rugged individualism by destroying the family. Who will teach the youth to be men if they can't learn the lesson at home from you in their formative years? The media and the pop icons it props up would be happy to. When your kid tries desperately to get your attention and you are always too busy to get involved and take your rightful role in shaping and molding him, the mass media and their heinous product is only one fumble of a button away twenty four hours a day, seven days a week. Pay attention to what is viewed and listened to in your own home.  If you won't teach your ideals and manly virtue to your own boy, some drugged out and/or violent media icons just may teach him their values and you will be to blame..."
 
 (Excerpts from "The Handbook of Manly Virtue: Every Man's Guide to Living as a Beacon of Reason in a World Shrouded in the Darkness of Irrational Emotionalism"  by Christopher Smith)