In the courageous pursuit to become the man you want to be, make your experiences tough, adventurous, and true. Becoming a man is more than working a nine-to-five and owning an electric toothbrush. It’s facing humiliation, falling in love, not getting what you want, and knowing how to grill a steak.
Plenty of great men — from burly badasses to eclectic artists and iconic movie characters — have been exactly where you are now, developing into the emotionally and physically strong guy you know you can be. These forefathers have a word or two of wisdom to pass down, so man-up, kid.
Related Reading
Take your time going through this list of best manly quotes and let each one soak in, preferably with a stiff drink in hand and a moment of quiet away from the demanding world.
For more inspiration, check out the best quotes about beer, whiskey, and food, and some inspirational last words from famous men.
Steve McQueen
“When I believe in something, I fight like hell for it.”
Malcolm Wallace
“I know you can fight, but it’s our wits that make us men.”
Rumi
“Die to your ego, and become a true human being.”
Paul Newman
“If you’re playing a poker game and you look around the table and can’t tell who the sucker is, it’s you.”
Ray Charles
“Love is a special word, and I use it only when I mean it. You say the word too much and it becomes cheap.”
Clint Eastwood
“Improvise, adapt, and overcome!”
Saul Bellow
“A man should be able to hear, and to bear, the worst that could be said of him.”
John Lennon
“As usual, there is a great woman behind every idiot.”
Ernest Hemingway
“There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self.”
Michael Jordan
“I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life and that is why I succeed.”
Voltaire
“Judge a man by his questions rather than by his answers.”
Stan Lee
“No one has a perfect life. Everybody has something that he wishes was not the way it is.”
Stone Cold Steve Austin
“Why have you not broken from the pack? You’re playing it safe. Safe ain’t gonna get you shit in this world”
Vincent Van Gogh
“The heart of man is very much like the sea; it has its storms, it has its tides, and in its depths, it has its pearls too”
Craig Ferguson
“If a man doesn’t know how to dance, he doesn’t know how to make love — there, I said it!”
Milan Kundera
“A man is responsible for his ignorance.”
Rocky Balboa
“You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain’t about how hard you hit. It’s about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward.”
Bill Murray
“Life is so damn short. For fuck’s sake, just do what makes you happy.”
George Costanza
“I was in the pool!”
Ron Swanson
Pretty much anything ever said by Ron Swanson, including:
- “There is no wrong way to consume alcohol.”
- “It’s always a good idea to demonstrate to your coworkers that you are capable of withstanding a tremendous amount of pain.”
- “I’ve never known what bangs are and I don’t intend to learn.”
