Toughest of Men

Over the past months, I’ve grown quite fond of adding short quotes to the beginning of many of my writings. I like to equate this first line to the opening song of a movie before the picture begins. It sets the stage.

Sometimes, these quotes are from great thinkers like Socrates or Theodore Roosevelt, but I often like to compose my own witty one-liners.

Today, I have compiled a few of my favorite stage-setters that I have written so far.

In parentheses, I added the link to the original essays in case one of the lines piques your interest and you want to check out the entire writing.

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• “Few instances shake us so deeply that we recognize our inability to save ourselves. Do not dismiss them. Hold on to them. Wrestle with them.” (Tomahawk – Short Story)

• “Vagueness marks the graveyard where intentionality, action, and change lie buried.” (Sisyphus - Contemplation)

• “The fool will go to great lengths to not appear as one. The wise man will not hesitate to appear a fool so long as he is not one.” (Start with Failure - Contemplation)

• “If my body is the temple, surely my ribs must be the altar, and my heart the offering to God.” (Temple - Contemplation)

• “Every day is lived as today.” (Barstool – Short Story)

• “Being proud of humility – oh, how beautifully human.” (Humility - Contemplation)

• “It seems a lifetime ago that I struggled with temptations I have now conquered – but man cannot kill his spiritual enemies; he can only lame them” (What Hope Remains? – Short Story)

• “Do not give voice to your fears. Feel them, understand them, overcome them. But do not give voice to them, or they will grow strong.” (The Brush – Short Story)

• “A man who thinks he can stand alone against the world is not defined by his strength but by his foolishness. Pride blinds his sight as he rushes toward destruction, for this world has broken the toughest of men.” (Pornography - Contemplation)