aggression

occupation / innovator as

university teacher

nationality

American

translator

academic

political scientist

non-fiction writer

is, in men, stubbornness added to rationality. It is a synonym for manliness, and manliness is the brute spirit of aggression. It is a claim on your attention and the willingness to challenge nature combined with confidence that one can succeed.

Imagine the shock to the feminine logic-loving mind, then, when within two pages the definition is, if not withdrawn, at least ignored, and quite different formulations, inconsistent with it, trot forward like eager children vying for attention. Manliness is aggressiveness, combined with promiscuousness in sex. It is the 'brute spirit of aggression.' It is not mere aggression, but only 'aggression that develops a cause it espouses.' It is 'a claim on your attention.' It is the 'willingness to challenge nature combined with confidence . . . that one can succeed.' 'In the end aggression is all there is.' It is 'stubbornness added to rationality.'

Harvey Mansfield

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Harvey Mansfield