The Quote Garden ™

I dig old books. ™

Est. 1998
Quotations about Men
SEE ALSO:
WOMEN,
FATHERS,
BEARDS,
MUSTACHES
How beautiful maleness is, if it finds its right expression. ~D. H. Lawrence, "Cagliari," Sea and Sardinia, 1921 ["And how perfectly ridiculous it is made in modern clothes." —tg]
In man thought and will prevail, and a desire for liberty and honor. He must act and work, toil and labor, and can preserve his dignity and standing in the world only by acting from principles and clear comprehensions. ~Frederick A. Rauch, "Of Man," Psychology; or, A View of the Human Soul: Including Anthropology, Being the Substance of a Course of Lectures, Delivered to the Junior Class Marshall College, Penn., 1840
A single Man.... is an incomplete Animal. He resembles the odd Half of a Pair of Scissars. ~Benjamin Franklin, letter, 1745 June 25th
We men are such hard, inconsiderate pieces of old granite... ~Frederick W. Robinson, Wildflower, 1857
In the mouths of many men soft words are like roses that soldiers put into the muzzles of their muskets on holidays. ~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807–1882), "Drift Wood, A Collection of Essays: Table-Talk," Prose Works of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, 1857
All women become like their mothers. That is their tragedy. No man does. That's his. ~Oscar Wilde, The Importance of Being Earnest: A Trivial Comedy for Serious People, 1895
The one thing I envy in woman — The right to own when she's afraid. ~Charles Searle, Look Here!, 1885
...women are never disarmed by compliments. Men always are. ~Oscar Wilde, An Ideal Husband, 1893
In the absence of ideal men the market for real men continues active. ~"Poor Richard Junior's Philosophy," The Saturday Evening Post, 1903, George Horace Lorimer, editor
Manhood, and not manners, captivates the true woman; she cannot resist it. ~Simeon Carter (1824–1911), Poems and Aphorisms: A Woodman's Musings, 1893
The longer you keep a man feelin' like he's on a red-hot stove the better he loves you... ~Kate Trimble Sharber (b.1883), The Annals of Ann, 1910
[T]rain — acquire for yourself firm fibres, a stomach clear and capable, the brain-action unabused, the stream of vital power full and voluminous, a bright eye, a strong voice, a proper degree of flesh, a transparent complexion — a fine average yet plus condition; and sympathy, attraction, and a heroic presence will follow. Are these trifles? Not a bit of it. They lie close to the heart of a man, and are among his secret, most cherished aspirations. With men, with women, with friends, with strangers, who is there that does not crave to be admired, to be beloved? ~Mose Velsor (Walt Whitman), "Manly Health and Training," New York Atlas, 1858 October 10th ["To teach the Science of a Sound and Beautiful Body." Thanks, Zachary Turpin! —tg]
Gentleman — An animal of the male sex so rare, that little or nothing is known for certain regarding him. ~Charles Searle, Look Here!, 1885
I know many married men; I even know a few happily married men; but I don't know one who wouldn't fall down the first open coal-hole running after the first pretty girl who gave him a wink. ~George Jean Nathan (1882–1958)
Men have braved the torments of death for a glance from a woman's eye... ~William Ellis, 1904
He's a male man, my dear. If you want him to have an even higher idea of your genius than he has already, tell him — tell him you owe it all to him. ~May Sinclair, "The Gift," 1908
Women have served all these centuries as looking-glasses possessing the magic and delicious power of reflecting the figure of man at twice its natural size. ~Virginia Woolf, A Room of One's Own
Anybody who believes that the way to a man's heart is through his stomach flunked geography. ~Robert Byrne, The Third — and Possibly the Best — 637 Best Things Anybody Ever Said, 1986
Alas! it is not the child, but the boy that generally survives in the man. ~Arthur Helps, Thoughts in the Cloister and the Crowd, 1835
...the man's soul, lonely, self-reliant though it were, yet sometimes needed the woman's aid. ~Elizabeth Godfrey (Jessie Bedford), The Winding Road, 1902
The women are tired of their job and the men are too proud to do it unless the window shades are pulled down. I don't blame men for being proud. They have something to be proud of, for they can do exactly as they please, from wearing out the seats of their trousers when they're little to being president when they're big. ~Kate Trimble Sharber (b.1883), The Annals of Ann, 1910
But when a man is spoons... well — vulgar, gentle, or simple — they're all the same when they're in love! ~Stanley J. Weyman, The Great House: A Story of Quiet Times, 1919 [a little altered —tg]
What do we get who meddle with men?
Only a minute's thrill and then
A grief that lasts our whole life through:
That's what I got. Didn't you?...
~Mary Carolyn Davies, "Men," Marriage Songs, 1923
The analysis of man discloses three chemical elements — a job, a meal and a woman. ~Martin H. Fischer (1879–1962)
You keep asking what it means to be a man, and the truth is, there's not just one way. Every morning you get up there's a thousand chances to do the right thing, be a good man. Hopefully you get most of them right; you're not gonna get all of them right. ~The Middle, "The Man Hunt," 2016, written by Roy Brown [S7, E16, Mike to Brick]
Most men are two men — when they aren't three or four. ~Reginald Wright Kauffman, "Talking Like a Real Man," 1922
Men feel that women somehow drag them down, and women feel that way about men. It's possible that both are right. ~Mignon McLaughlin, The Neurotic's Notebook, 1963
Many a bachelor could be lured into society if someone would start sewing-on button parties. ~Mary Wilson Little, Reveries of a Paragrapher, 1897
Women are the right age for just a few years; men, for most of their lives. ~Mignon McLaughlin, The Neurotic's Notebook, 1963
Our French professor is simply a duck. His moustache would give you kerwollops of the heart. ~L. M. Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables (Josie)
'Tis strange what a man may do, and a woman yet think him an angel. ~William Makepeace Thackeray, The History of Henry Esmond, Esq., 1852
Many men believe that to be manly, a man shouldn't show any feelings, so a big strong man isn't supposed to cry, to feel hurt, to be scared, to need help, or to feel lonesome. Trying to be a big strong man is like trying to be King Kong. You have to pretend not to be human! ~Pat Palmer (1928–2015), Liking Myself, 1977
There are lots of men in this world, just like a BRAGGING ROOSTER. Take off his spears and tail feathers, and I'll be hanged if you could tell one of him from a hen. ~Josh Billings, revised by H. Montague
Men are the devil — that's one thing sure.
Close your windows and lock your door,
Shut your eyes and shake your head.
Get your fun somewhere else, she said.
Men are the devil — they all bring woe.
In winter it's easy to say just "No."
Men are the devil, that's one sure thing,
But what are you going to do in spring?
~Mary Carolyn Davies, "Men Are the Devil," Marriage Songs, 1923
This, of course, is rubbish, as are most of the things we say about the sexes. ~Robert Lynd, "Dresses," Solomon in All His Glory, 1923
N is for Nipples
Which infants hold dear;
Why fellows should have them
To me's not quite clear.
~Cyril Barnert, M.D., "The A. B. C. of Surgery," 1917
RANTALLION: one whose scrotum is so relaxed as to be longer than his penis; i.e. whose shot pouch is longer than the barrel of his piece. ~Francis Grose, ed., A Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue, 1785
PUDENDA, the Privy Parts.
PENIS, (in Anat.) a Man's Yard, a nervous and skinny Part, well furnish'd with Veins and Arteries, and containing the Canal of the Ureters.
PENIS CEREBRI, a part of the Brain otherwise call'd Conarium and Glandula Pinealis.
CYNODESMUS, (in Anat.) the band which ties the little Skin of the Penis to the Glans, or Nut.
FRÆNULUM or FRÆNUM PENIS, a Membrane or thin Skin, which ties the Fore-skin to the lower part of the Glans, or Nut of the Yard.
GLANDULÆ ODORIFERÆ, certain small Glandules discovered by Dr. Tyson, in that part of the Penis or Yard where the Præputium is joyn'd to the Balanus, and he gives them this Name from the great scent which their separated Liquor sends forth.
ERECTORES PENIS, (in Anat.) a pair of Muscles that arise from the outward knob of the Os Ischium, and help to cause the Erection of the Yard.
SPERMA, (Gr.) Sperm, the Seed of any Living-Creature.
SPERMATICAL or SPERMATICK, belonging to, or full of sperm.
SPERMATICK PARTS AND VESSELS, (in Anat.) are those Arteries and Veins, which convey the Blood to the Testicles; also those Vessels thro' which the Seed passes; also all whitish Parts of the Body, which by reason of their Colour, were anciently thought to be made of the Seed; as Bones, Sinews, Gristles, &c.
To SPERMATIZE, to eject or throw out Sperm.
~The New World of Words: Universal English Dictionary, or Compleat Glossography, compiled by Edward Phillips, Gent., seventh edition, revised by John Kersey, philobiblist, 1720
A penial bone is found in many animals. Man ought to have it, but he has lost it in the course of ages, and this is doubtless fortunate, for a permanent rigidity, or one too easily obtained would have increased, to madness, the salacity of his species. ~Remy de Gourmont, The Natural Philosophy of Love, 1900, translated by Ezra Pound, 1922 [a little altered —tg]
...through the magic of the human body, where everything connects — except sometimes penis and mind... ~The Great, "Sweden," 2023, Hulu, written by Tony McNamara, Ava Pickett, Constance Cheng, and Maisie Parker, based on the 2008 play by Tony McNamara, said by the character Peter III [S3, E5, Peter III]
When it comes to hiding porn, every man is a CIA agent. ~S. A. Sachs, 2003
For in spite of the convention which women sedulously foster and even sometimes believe, man is not by nature a domestic animal. He has been partially tamed by centuries of restraint, his spirit has been broken by the manifold burdens laid upon him; for generation after generation, all the pillars of society have struggled to convince him that the greatest blessings he can hope to win in this world are a wife and children and that his highest privilege is to labour to support them; all the forces of law, of civilization, of public opinion, have conspired to hobble, shackle and coerce him. And yet, in spite of everything, he sometimes manages to break loose; while few women suspect what moments of desperation often overwhelm even the meekest father of a family. ~Burton E. Stevenson, The Kingmakers, "Chapter XIX: Selden Takes an Inventory," 1922
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Last saved 2025 Jan 24 Fri 13:16 CST
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