Elizabeth Gilbert Quotes

Perhaps the most prevailing expectation of men is our Superman expectation: the fear we are merely Clark Kents who won't be accepted unless we are a Superman.

Take away a man's actual sense of manhood - which is conventionally based on the ability to work, to earn money, to be self-sufficient, to provide for children - and you've got to give them something else. And they did.

Not only is it harder to be a man, it is also harder to become one.

I have no right to beauty. I had been condemned to masculine ugliness.

Part of the problem in today's world is that many men are taught that they have to 'make it' before they should even consider committed to a healthy partnership.

In a family of all girls, I was always the 'boy' in my mind - the protector, the masculine one. No one would ever have to worry about me.

The crazy thing is a lot of people - a lot of men, if I'm just speaking for myself - don't really start thinking about the effect of hyper-masculinity and false definitions of what it means to be a man until you get married or until you have kids. Because then, all of sudden, you have something to protect.

Why should men be constrained by antiquated stereotypes of masculinity? What does it even mean to 'Be a Real Man' anymore? Shouldn't we all be celebrating a wide range of definitions of manhood?

I keep myself safe both physically and emotionally in my working environment by 'being one of the boys.' In my head, subconsciously, that was my safe place.

Advice!Nobody tells us how to be men. We just are." "That is probably why you make such a bad job of it.- Perrin and Egwene

One thing I want to teach my son is sensitivity to other people. I want to teach him not to be this macho freak.

a man doesn't prove he's a man by getting an erection. He's only a real man if he can pleasure a woman. And if he can pleasure a prostitute, he'll think he's the best lover on the block" -Nyah

He's a man...and that's no small thing to be.

Masculinity is risky and elusive. It is achieved by a revolt from woman, and it is confirmed only by other men. Manhood coerced into sensitivity is no manhood at all.

He said, "I am a man," and that meant certain things to Juana. It meant that he was half insane and half god.

A man that doesn't have a woman doesn't know if he is one (a "man").

It can never be bad to have a foundation as a man - a black man - in a time when women are dying for men. Women have started to become lovers of each other as a result of not having enough men.

You're young and you're always in pursuit your young manhood. You're trying to figure out - what does that mean? What does - you know, there's a lot of pressure on young men to sort that out. And, you know, we tend to gravitate towards one-dimensional iconography as far as what it means to be a fully grown man. And you can get lost in so much of it out there.

Being a male is a matter of birth. Being a man is a matter of choice.

How can I be a man if there is no role model?

People do not see that the main question is not : "Am I loved?" which is to a large extent the question : "Am I approved of? Am I protected? Am I admired?" The main question is: "Can I love?

The man, most man, works best for men: and, if most man indeed, he gets his manhood plainest from his soul.

You can't marry boys and expect them to be men - and you can't massage them into being men.

The shame of being a man - is there any better reason to write?

I guess in my own life I don't really think much about manliness too much. I feel like a lot of men that I know don't sit around thinking, "How am I supposed to be a man?" I don't think that I have to prove anything.