Our very own Quintus Curtius has written a book that unearths old wisdom and presents it logically and clearly in essay form so that men of today can learn from men of the past. It’s like The 48 Laws Of Power for masculine men.
The prologue, usually an afterthought for most books, includes a strong tale of fiction that reveals themes Quintus explores later. When he asked me to check out his book, I did so with low expectations, but such a strong beginning pushed me head first into his collection of essays that each focus on a specific topic. Example titles:
- On How A Wise Man Should Reveal His Opinions
- Revolt Against The Excess Of Revolt
- The Reality Of Progress
- The Value Of Sincerity
- How Our Enemies Confer Benefits On Us
- Clash Of Steel And Wills: The Story Of The Battle Of Lepanto
- The Gap Between Theory And Practice
Within these essays, Quintus makes accessible the works that many men simply don’t have the time or will to complete on their own. He reads the difficult books, often in the original Latin translation, so we didn’t have to.
Here are my favorite quotes from the book:
New ideas that contradict the established ways of thinking cannot expect to be welcomed with open arms. Those who parrot the party line of the day, who genuflect before the altars of the established orthodoxy, can expect accolades from the mob and praise from those who control the levers of power. it has always been so. Toadies get their crumbs from the master’s table. But those who contradict the sacred premises du jour can expect very different treatment.
[…]
A man should not waste his time in useless trifles. Those who place the focus of their efforts on foolish pursuits not only exhaust and debase themselves, but they also waste precious time.
[…]
Only the wise man is free, and every foolish man is a slave. How can any man claim to be the master of his soul, the captain of his ship, if he cannot command it? Can he curb his lusts, resist temptations, control his temper, his appetites, and maintain his serenity? He who cannot command himself can hardly hope to command others. He who is always the servant of his desires and passions is not deserving of being called free.
[…]
Trying to deal equitably with a tyrant is a mistake that has been made by many. Power not only corrupts, but it also poisons the soul, and renders it incapable of feeling. The habit of arbitrary exercise of power becomes an addictive tonic to the tyrant, rendering him unfit for human interaction.
[…]
Leaders exercising [strong] powers are riding a tiger, and know that if they dare get off, the raging animal may consume them.
[…]
A wise man ought not to get upset every time he is brought into a contest with fortune, just as it would not be fitting for a brave man to be indignant when faced with the crashing sound of war. Since for each of these the difficulty is of the same substance: for propagating glory, and for fashioning wisdom.
[…]
Cherish your true friends, for you will know who they are when disaster hits you. Do not denigrate those less fortunate than you, for you may find yourself among them. Do not tempt Fate by allowing yourself to be enslaved with pursuits for women, money, and glory. All of these things will be taken away from you in time.
[…]
Men and his tools—even if he has only a rusty knife—are enough for him to master his environment. We don’t negate each other, we complement each other. I am a man, and I am master of my environment.
[…]
Boys have been looked upon as defective girls, needing constant suppression of their healthy instincts to make them more feminine. The consequences of this policy have been disastrous for the transmission of masculine virtues to the next generation.
[…]
We have access to more and more, but seem to perceive less and less. We are drowning in information, but are more ignorant and unfulfilled than ever. The breakdown in discipline is a direct result of the abandonment of our ancient moral code, which sprang from imaginative religion. Every untried youth now belies himself fit to pass judgment on the intellectual heritage of several millenia.
[…]
Constructive criticism should be delivered with delicacy, just as a bit of seasoning will enhance a dish, but not ruin it. Too harsh of a delivery of criticism will sew a lasting resentment into a friend’s heart. A man can forgive nearly anything except an excess of honesty.
[…]
Our society is a sexually repressive one, compared with most others; and for a repressed person, there is a perverse cruelty in denying sexual satisfaction to someone else. Most of the strident advocates of the “rape culture” are abnormal men and women. Miserable and repressed themselves, they wish to make everyone else just as miserable. There is also delight in being an accuser: it confers power and status, and is a form of attention-whoring.
[…]
The actions of our enemies make us appreciate the good things in life, and cause us to value more dearly the positive things of this world. Who can know love, without having experienced the sting of rejection? Who, never having gone hungry, can appreciate the satiety that comes from a full stomach? And who can appreciate the intoxication of victory, who has not felt the bitter sting of failure?
[…]
As character determines fate, there is no escape from the pitiless confrontation between man and his individual destiny.
[…]
I have seen some men laid low by defeat, never to recover. Others have learned from their experiences and gone on to greater achievement, fortified by the gauntlet of hardship. Defeat is a stimulus for reform for some, and a death-knell for others.
It’s important to note that Quintus doesn’t hold your hand. He passes on the wisdom to you but you’ll have to figure out a way to implement it into your life, if you can at all.
This book was almost tailor-made for me and my interests in history and wisdom. While there was some inconsistency in the quality of the essays, and a bit too many pages devoted to learning foreign languages, there is no other book I know of that does what Quintus has achieved here.
It’s the best book for men I’ve read since getting my hands on The Way Of Men by Jack Donovon a couple years ago. Even more exciting is that I think we may very well be seeing the birth of a new book genre: red pill wisdom.
Since reading his book, I’ve privately encouraged Quintus to keep writing, not just for his or your sake but for the selfish reason that I want even more of what Thirty Seven has offered.
Read More: “Thirty Seven: Essays On Life, Wisdom, And Masculinity” on Amazon
Fantastic, this will be an excellent addition to my reading list. I plan to get my father a copy as well, I’m trying to start him down the path of reading some red pill wisdom, and this will be a perfect start. Thank you for this Quintis!
I like Quintis
Buying his book
Nice. I’ll have to add this to my ever-growing list.
I bought it and consumed it quickly on Kindle, right after reading the review on Taki’s. I’ve had some really rough times throughout the last year – death of my best friend, my wife leaving, took my dog, got no home, etc. Your basic country music song. Feeling very low and despondent. But Curtius’ book quickly made me realize I actually have it pretty good, lots to be thankful for. I had to look at the stories of men, far greater than I, from antiquity. And thus I resolved to stop being a whiny little bitch. I still have lots to work on, but I’m feeling pretty damn good these days. Wish I could buy Quintus a beer! I highly recommend Thirty Seven to any and all here!
I’m sorry about your friend but losing your cunt of a wife is like winning the lottery, assuming the alimony isn’t a killer, which is probably a stupid assumption. Head to Cuba and get yourself a 19 year old chew-toy. Wife leaving? You just had a 20 pound tumor removed from your scrotum.
Thanks for the sentiment, melmoth. The loss of my friend last May to cancer was indeed devastating. Got served with papers about the same time. While fighting with/paying for lawyers the past 8 months has been pure misery, the ordeal is over, and I got out alright. No alimony, just a fat 1-time check. Good riddance. And it helps to simply use different phrasing when thinking about a stressful situation. Whereas before I had been moping around mumbling “my wife has left me,” later I simply looked at it from a new angle and said “thank God she’s gone and I am relatively unscathed.” Just a matter of perspective, really. Your observation that a tumor has been removed from my scrotum is metaphorically accurate and gave me a chuckle.
I’m sold.
The two Red-Pill books that have influenced me the most thus far have been Jack Donovon’s “The Way of Men”, and Esther Villar’s “The Manipulated Man.”
I’ve been meaning to collect some classical wisdom and Quintus’ book seems to solve the problem of having to wade through endless hours of interpretation of classical text.
Having read Quintus’ work on RoK, “37” seems like a focused effort to bring some time-tested wisdom to the post-modern world… What is worse? Spiritual blindness in the dark-ages, or spiritual blindness in the era of flashing neon-rainbow lights?
Cheers to you Quintus,
Looking forward to reading your book.
A lot of confused young people head to the library thinking that they will find that one book that answers every question, solves every problem, unlocks every trait they ever wanted. (I went through all this and I’m talking about me). Then I realized it’s not that easy. One book can’t do those things. I’ve since become a bibliophile and understood that reading in general just helps you along but the fantasy of one magical book just coming along and absolutely fixing your emotional mind in a few evenings of reading is not going to happen. Then I read Manipulated Man and realized that, yes, it can happen. That book changed me. Read together with Rollo’s ‘The Rational Male’ and Cappy’s ‘Enjoy the Decline’ ‘Way of Men’ by Donovan and you are ready to spit fire. I never knew books could sort you out like those ones did. They were all written directly for me, it seemed. That’s not even the obligation of a book at all, but it happened anyway. The Manipulated Man is an absolute must read for any 15 year old. Though I’m not sure what happens to a culture that can see reality with that degree of clarity. Esther Vilar, Wow. I have oneities, pedestalization, supplication, lost frame issues with that woman. The things I would have done to please a young Esther Vilar. I would go extreme Beta for that woman. Of course it wouldn’t work though. I’ll get Curtius books’ too because I think he’s on the same track.
Currently reading “Rational Male” and what a gem it is. “The Way of Men” will be the next one on my list.
Wow. That’s me too. Iwas looking for that magic book. The one that would enlighten me within the first page. I quickly realized that no such book exist. I’m doing what you’re doing now and reading many books and gathering as much info from them to help motivate myself to change.
Have a few books to get through at the moment but will buy it after that. The beginning of the red pill revolution.
“I have seen some men laid low by defeat, never to recover. Others have learned from their experiences and gone on to greater achievement, fortified by the gauntlet of hardship. Defeat is a stimulus for reform for some, and a death-knell for others.”
in The Rocky Horror Show:
But a deltoid and a bicep, a hot groin and a tricep
Makes me shake, makes me wanna take Charles Atlas by the… hand.
In just seven days (hip, hip) I can make you a man.
It really is a tremendous piece of work. I can’t recommend it highly enough.
I bought Thirty Seven the first week it came out and still read portions of it from time to time – it’s a thoroughly good book. You can tell from Quintus’ articles alone that he takes his writing seriously and it really shines through in Thirty Seven. I recommend spending the $9.49 and supporting the guy and his talent if you can – it’s worth the money.
I will add that I’ve never corresponded with Quintus through ROK and don’t know the guy. So, I’m not saying his book is good because we’re buddies – I’m saying it’s good because it’s good.
Impartiality is a golden character trait.
I plan on buying it bc of his work on here anyway, but your cosign definitely put the pep in my step.
I’ve enjoyed your articles/comments from the past. One question, East Coast or West? I’m a PAO and I’m sure you know the mentalities you have to beat away from you on a daily basis in our gig, so it’s always refreshing to see your outlook, knowing a ton of pilots with a 180 view on things.
Hey King, didn’t know you were a fellow pilot – very nice. There are a handful of us around here on ROK from what I can tell from the comments section. But yeah, the prevailing attitude amongst our peers tends to be… well, bluepillish you could say. There’s a few guys who get it, though. In the cockpit, I tend to keep my opinions to myself about most things… even when guys start talking about their divorces, women problems, and other issues in that department.
I would recommend ROK to some of these guys, but I wouldn’t want anyone to figure out about my contributions here: no one in my real life has any clue that I write and that will never change. Rather safe than sorry when you’re dependent on an employer for a living. Especially when writing in the somewhat inflammatory way that I do. With that said, I’m going to keep my region to myself – nothing personal and I’m sure you understand.
I’m glad you enjoy my writing, by the way, thanks for that – I don’t plan on stopping anytime soon. And as for QC’s book – go for it, you won’t regret it.
No public affairs officer, further blue haha.
And yes, I keep professional recommendations to ROK at a minimum [1]. But I do understand keeping your region under wraps.
Either way keep at it, you provide good information, thanks.
Ah, okay – I saw PAO and thought Public Aircraft Operator for some reason, thought maybe you were a rotary-wing guy. But yeah, you’re in a bluepill world for sure in that environment – I imagine you keep your mouth closed about a lot of stuff. I’ll keep at it, and you do the same King. Take it easy.
At last! A hard copy is available for us throwbacks who prefer the physical version. I’m eagerly awaiting the quiet night in my library under the low light with this book in my hands as all the secrets of the universe are revealed.
I’ve read a couple of your terrific works as well, Roosh, along with those of several other manosphere writers. Perhaps the next step in this blossoming genre of red pill wisdom is a collection of original Return of Kings pieces from a vast array of contributors we all know and respect from the site, handpicked and handsomely bound in a possible annual series? I can see it debuting at the top of the charts now…
any negative reviews so far?
I highly, highly doubt it. I should read it myself just to see how much of the praise is from circle-jerking fan boys.
I gave my son a hard copy for Christmas.
On my shopping list for sure.
First congratulations on the book.
I haven’t read it but from the quotes in this article I don’t understand why it is labeled as red pill wisdom? It’s the kind of wisdom you can find by the buckets on brainyquote.com
I personally would like to see red pill book as a compilation of opinions placed in the thread Unpopular Opinions on rooshvforum and/or on the comments section here on RoK.
Here’s a small compilation I’ve made:
ON DEMOCRACY, SOCIETY, CULTURE AND POLITICS
Women should not be allowed to vote.
Bureaucrats and other people employed by the government should not be allowed to vote.
People on welfare should not be able to vote.
Actually, I don’t think people should be allowed to vote.
All political parties are dumb and if you believe in one, you’re dumb.
Democracy is one of the worse systems possible.
Even if global warming was real and a serious threat to humanity I still wouldn’t give a shit.
I trust businessmen more than politicians.
We should allocate more funds for space exploration. Instead of gay shit like iPhones, I want to see colonies on the moon.
The Israeli occupation of Palestine is unnecessary. They should have been given Alaska.
Men who complain about racism are pussies.
Most people are completely delusional and have no clue how little power they have over their own lives.
Charity and Humanitarian aid is a huge form of attention whoring.
Most technological “progress” of the last 150 years has, on the balance, not been truly beneficial for the happiness of man or the health of society.
Most music created after 1900 or so is rubbish, and Classical/Baroque represents the height of mankind’s musical achievements to date.
ON PEOPLE
Only boring people get depressed.
Being boring and being stupid are the same thing.
There is nothing wrong with men peeing in public so long as they do not flash anyone.
People with smartphones are stupid.
People who use Facebook are stupid.
Most people get a secret thrill and buzz of excitement when something terrible has happened in the news.
Every race on earth worships the white being.
Many celebrities are closet homosexuals and attend ritualistic satanic parties.
Most stereotypes exist for a reason, and should be kept in mind.
ON FAMILY
Most people who have kids are giving up on their dreams.
Feminism destroys the family structure
ON SEX AND LOVE
I would rather jerk myself off, than receive an unenthusiastic blowjob.
Most women have zero interest in sex for the sake of sex.
Women would rather f— a good looking girl than an average looking guy.
Only losers fall in love.
Love is four letter word.
True erectile dysfunction is a rare thing. Most older men have trouble getting boners because their wives have become fat/ugly/old.
Sex is a race. If the man cums quickly, it’s because he won.
ON WOMEN
Women are lesser human beings. I would even use the word “Subhuman”.
Deep down, all women on earth, even lesbians, all want to submit themselves to a man.
If a woman hits you then you should be able to hit her back.
White hit the wall the fastest.
Plastic surgery should be a medical discount for women.
All women are whores for the right man.
I think women mostly prefer the idea of ______ to the reality of ______.
ON MEN
Deep down, all men on earth, even the most hardened badasses, want to be taken care of by a woman.
Fighting duels to the death for the purpose of honor should be allowed.
OTHER
The only thing I truly fear is my internet connection breaking down.
Twitter and Facebook have ruined the world to a point where the only way it will begin to recover is if the Internet shuts down completely.
Cars are a colossal waste of money.
Drunk driving is not nearly as dangerous as it is made out to be.
Too many people prioritise more money over more free time.
Ageing really is depressing, anybody who tells you otherwise is full of shit.
Hard work is great and it helps, but luck is a bigger factor in life than most want to admit
If you are lucky, your mother loves and cares about you. No one else does.
Old age is so fucked up. And you cannot outrun it – all you can do is avoid it.
Your hand is 100x dirtier then your dick. Wash your hands before peeing.
“8. The invention of language is the biggest cockblock ever.”
I don’t get that
Women (and modern propaganda) use language as a deception. They rarely say what they mean, which confuses and prevents men from taking bold actions. Imagine without language you’d skip directly to kino and make your intentions to the woman in a far more obvious way.
That’s what I think but you can ask the guy who said it first.
http://www.rooshvforum.com/thread-21413-post-819114.html#pid819114
“Feminism is the communism of sex” .. indeed it is.
18. Society doesn’t really exist. This is true-there is no such thing. It’s a made up construct. It’s a collaboration of millions of individuals, each with their own unique desires and needs. To think that could ever be some kind of cohesive voice is ludicrous. It’s simple a method of control to get everyone to toe the line.
Look forward to it.
Great to see more of this wisdom getting out there to the masses. As great as these sites can be for us, it’s definitely time to spread the word even more so. The Rational Male is another great red pill book all men should read. You know it strikes a nerve when I heard my ex tell me “I don’t want you reading that trash…”. Congrats on the book Quintus!
Bought it on Kindle a while back but I think I’ll need a hard copy for the bookshelf. Reminded me of Montaigne only more focused.
Montaigne is brilliant – every man should own his work.
There’s no excuse not to it’s free on Kindle.
Finally!
Ahh, man! I put all my projects/work on hold for the Twelve Days of Christmas (which ended yesterday), and now Quintus has a book which I will have to read immediately? How am I supposed to get any work done?
I jest; I am sure that, quite the contrary, Quintus’ book will provide excellent fuel for the creative fires, and may help me to work better and faster as we start the New Year. Who can doubt that the book will be anything but a pleasure to read?
My Dear Cui:
I can do no better, at reading your comment, than to quote from a 1496 letter of the humanist Bartolomeo Fonzio to Amerigo Corsini. Fonzio was presenting a published collection of his letters. He said:
“When you’ve read them, provided that you are not offended by them, please keep them with your other books as a memorial to my affection for you. But if they do offend, by all means tear them up with your bare hands, or consign them to Vulcan’s flames, to ensure the destruction of these egregious tokens of my juvenile foolishness.”
A fine thought and a fine compliment, Quintus, for which you have my thanks. I also appreciate the warning, and will be sure to read your opusculum only after I have summoned Hephaestus’ lambent colleagues to my hearth, ad cautelam! Though, when one thinks of the divine wonders thence descended – the glorious Aegis, Hermes’ winged sandals, Eros’ bow and Achilles’ armor, to name but a few – I should think that any author would be honored to think that his manuscript provided a smidgen of the smolder to serve such a smithy! If then, your words should displease me, may they waft on high as incense, and please the gods.
By the by: I have enjoyed some slight reading in the correspondence of a few, more illustrious men; but it seems that you are always ready with the utterances of some forgotten genius of Italy or other. Do you have a convenient florilegium of such things, or is your reading actually so extensive?
Ban me if you want but Quintus is purple pill, not red.
looks good. The best that Quintus offers though is his grounding of the present in the classical world, particularly stoicism which we need more of
You fuckers got me all hooked on this historical stuff to complement my already passionate thirst for, and application of practical philosophy. I immediately start looking for documentaries on UTube, thereafter. Thanks for bringing this kinda stuff to my attention, thanks for having the courage to challenge us and aid us in the discovery of our inner greatness, and thanks for showing us there’s more to life than poon.