To be a man is first to be human:
- To be a man is to seek virtue.
- To seek virtue, a man must seek adventure. Courage requires risk.
- To be a man is to build.
- To build is to restore the past or to create the future.
- To be a man is to destroy and incorporate that which opposes building. The fur of the predator becomes the pelt of the hunter. The cave of monsters becomes a home. The fire becomes a tool.
- To build is to reason. To be a man is, therefore to seek truth.
To be a man is inherently sexual:
- To be a man is to love women.
- To be a man is to find a woman.
- To be a man is to be desirable to women.
- To be a man is to be desirable, in particular, to the woman.
- To be a man is to not be a woman.
- To be a man is to be strong, durable, and steady.
- To be a man is to fight. Man builds and destroys, woman builds and sustains.
- To be a man is to need the company of men apart from women.
To be a man is tribal:
- If a man needs the company of other men, then their families become a tribe.
- To have a tribe is to have honor.
- To have honor is to know shame. Men shame other men when their behavior is unbecoming of their status, family, the group norms, or the truth.
- To have a tribe is to be wary of danger.
- To be a man, then, is to preserve the old ways. For just as to be human is to build the future, to be a man is to ensure that the progress of the past is not lost.