Steven D. Ward's Blog

Life is too short to be little. Man is never so manly as when he feels deeply, acts boldly, and expresses himself with frankness and with fervor.

-Benjamin Disraeli

A man does what he must – in spite of personal consequences, in spite of obstacles and dangers and pressures – and that is the basis of all human morality.

-Winston Churchill

Do not pray for an easy life. Pray for the strength to endure a difficult one.

-Bruce Lee

No man is more unhappy than he who never faces adversity. For he is not permitted to prove himself.

-Seneca

The world breaks everyone and afterward many are strong in the broken places.

-Ernest Hemingway

The Birth of Korean Cool: How One Nation is Conquering the World Through Pop Culture by Euny Hong


My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I have to say at the outset, that I found this book a thought provoking and interesting read. The author’s sense of humor and personal stories alone make the book worth reading.

That being said, I found plenty of nits ripe for picking. I think most of them stemmed simply from a lack of detailed research on some of the topics. Some areas of Korean history that represent dee...

Courage – a perfect sensibility of the measure of danger, and a mental willingness to endure it.

-William Tecumseh Sherman

Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer


My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I read this book as an exercise in deliberately challenging my own beliefs. I’m not on the fence about being a meat eater myself; more than that, I am an aspiring hunter. Surprisingly, I found that the author was preaching to the choir because I am already fairly well educated on issues regarding factory farms and modern farming practices.

That being said, there wasn’t much in the way of new information contained in the book that...

We need the iron qualities that go with true manhood. We need the positive virtues of resolution, of courage, of indomitable will, of power to do without shrinking the rough work that must always be done.

-Theodore Roosevelt

The coward is the one who lets his fear overcome his sense of duty. Duty is the essence of manhood.

-George Patton