The True Measure of a Man by Richard E. Simmons was an incredible book that dives into how perceptions of success, achievement, and recognition fail men and mess with our minds.

It was an incredible read full of truths that we all know deep down in our spirit… but that we often push to the side or don’t recognize in ourselves.

So today, I just want to share some of my favorite success quotes for men from the book.

Success Quotes for Men:
True Measure of a Man

Part I- What Will They Think of Me?

“If we are going to be healthy, vibrant people, we must come to terms with the reality that we are not masters of the universe.” -Richard E. Simmons

“God made man simple; man’s complex problems are of his own devising” -Ecclesiastes 7:29, author paraphrase

Part II – Free to Choose

When you have to make a choice and don't make it, that is in itself a choice. -William James Click To Tweet

“I worry that without all my wealth and privilege I will not be considered a man.” -Anonymous Businessman

“A person gets his identity in life based on how the most important person in his life sees him.” (Human Development Theory)

“Success now has more to do with public image and the appearance of success than it does with the quality of our work and our character. Success today is often divorced from real substance.” -Richard E. Simmons

No matter how much a man accomplishes, he does not believe he is successful unless others know about it. -Richard E. Simmons Click To Tweet

“We now regard success as achievement plus proper recognition of our achievement.” -Richard E. Simmons

Men would rather be envied for their material success than respected for their character. -Christopher Lasch Click To Tweet Until you have given yourself up to Him, (your creator), you will not have a real self. -C.S. Lewis Click To Tweet

“Choose for yourselves today the god whom you will serve: the god of wealth, the god of prestige and power, the god of pleasure, the god of achievement. But as for me and my family, we will serve the Lord.” -Joshua 24:15 Author Paraphrase

“Each of us must choose the god we are going to serve, and then we will have to live with all the consequences that flow from that choice.” -Richard E. Simmons

“Fear is created from uncertainty over the future, even if the ultimate outcome has only the slightest potential to be negative.” -Richard E. Simmons

Fear is created by uncertainty over the future. -Richard E. Simmons Click To Tweet

“We have two basic psychological needs in our lives- the need for security and the need for significance.” -Larry Crabb

“This search for significance is one of the chief explanations for why most men are haunted by the prospect of failing, particularly failing in front of the people in their community.” -Richard E. Simmons

“The thought of failure for most men is such a nightmare that most men are not driven to succeed; on the contrary, they are driven not to fail.” -Richard E. Simmons

The thought of failure to most men is such a nightmare... that most men are driven not to fail. -Richard E. Simmons Click To Tweet

“Fear of failure and our inability to deal with that fear creates shallow personal relationships.” -Richard E. Simmons

Fear of failure causes individuals to play it safe in life. We find ourselves avoiding reasonable risks that we should take. -Richard E. Simmons Click To Tweet

“Men try to arrange their lives so that everything is predictable and under their control. They pursue endeavors where they feel competent and can hide their inadequacies, avoiding what they fear and thereby creating a feeling of safety.” -Richard E. Simmons

A survey of people who were at least 95 years old were asked one question: If you could live your life over again, what would you do differently?… The most common answer was “I would have taken more risks”.

“The most common reason people struggle so much in life is because they have false ideas about reality.” -Philosopher Blaise Pascal

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
Nor are your ways My ways,” declares the Lord.
“For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
So are My ways higher than your ways,
And My thoughts than your thoughts.” (Isaiah 55:8-9)

“If our struggles and pain seem purposeless, over time we will become dysfunctional. Our minds will snap.” -Richard E. Simmons

Finding meaning and purpose behind what we are experiencing in life is everything. -Richard E. Simmons Click To Tweet

“Suffering is good for us. There is purpose in it. It makes you focus on what is really important.” -Cancer Survivor

Suffering is good for us. There is purpose in it. It makes you focus on what is really important. -Cancer Survivor Click To Tweet Some of life's most sacred truths can be learned only as we walk through our individual storms in life. -Richard E. Simmons III Click To Tweet

“God can solve all of our problems, instant solutions are not important to Him. What is important to Him is how we respond to our struggles.” -Richard E. Simmons III

“So many men instinctively respond to their negative circumstances with anger and bitterness.” -Richard E. Simmons III

“Caught up in the process of cursing the realities of life, we most often discover that the pain actually continues to increase.” -Richard E. Simmons III

“For My people have committed two evils: They have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters, to make for themselves cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.” (Jeremiah 2:13, author paraphrase)

“So many men spend their lives looking for some other stream to finally and forever quench the thirsts of their souls. However, Jesus says there is no other stream.” -Richard E. Simmons III

-From The Silver Chair (C.S. Lewis)

Jill grows unbearably thirsty. She can hear a stream somewhere in the forest. Driven by her thirst, she begins to look for this source of water- cautiously, because she is fearful of running into the lion.

She finds the stream, but she is paralyzed by what she sees there: Aslan, huge and golden, still as a statue but terribly alive, is sitting beside the water.

She waits for a long time, wrestling with her thoughts and hoping that he’ll just go away.

Then Aslan says, “If you are thirsty, you may drink.”
Jill is startled and refuses to come closer.
“Are you not thirsty?” said the Lion.
“I am dying of thirst.” said Jill.
“Then drink,” said the Lion.
“May I- could I- would you mind going away while I do?” said Jill.

The Lion answered this only by a look and a very low growl. And just as Jill gazed at its motionless hulk, she realized that she might as well have asked the whole mountain to move aside for her convenience.

The delicious rippling noise of the stream was driving her near frantic.

“Will you promise not to- do anything to me, if I come?”
“I make no promise,” said the Lion.

Jill was so thirsty now that, without noticing it, she had come a step closer.

“Do you eat girls?” she said.

“I have swallowed up girls and boys, women and men, kings and emperors, cities and realms,” said the Lion.

It didn’t say this as if it were boasting, nor as if it were sorry, nor as if it were angry. I just said it.

“I daren’t come and drink,” said Jill.
“Then you will die of thirst,” said the Lion.
“Oh dear!” said Jill, coming another step nearer. “I suppose I must go and look for another stream then.”

“There is no other stream,” said the Lion.

“The first time a young boy questions whether he really measures up is on the playground.” -Richard E. Simmons III

“Coach Ehrmann points out that when boys reach puberty, a second component of false masculinity rears it’s ugly head: sexual conquest.” -Richard E. Simmons III

“The final component of false masculinity… becomes a factor when men hit the workforce. It is of course measured by financial success.” -Richard E. Simmons III

“The summarization of our cultural progression of false masculinity is… from ball field to bedroom to billfold.” -Author Marx

“As time goes by, the ball field, the bedroom, and the wallet are never able to convince us in our innermost being that we truly measure up as men.” -Richard E. Simmons III

Now Mama said there is only so much money a man really needs, and the rest is just for showing off. -Forest Gump Click To Tweet God is more concerned with the type of men we are becoming. -Richard E. Simmons III Click To Tweet Character, wisdom, and love make up the essence of what it means to be an authentic man. -Richard E. Simmons III Click To Tweet

“At the heart of character is the ability to restrain our desires.” -Richard E. Simmons III

“Many men do not realize that a good reputation is a by-product of a strong character.” -Richard E. Simmons III

“When pleasure and achievement become the driving forces in a man’s life, it generally leads to the unintended consequence of an erosion of character.” -Richard E. Simmons III

As a man grows in character, he builds the muscles of self-restraint. -Richard E. Simmons III Click To Tweet

“Most men over the age of 35 have no authentic friends.” -Richard E. Simmons III

Your greatest fear should never be fear of failure, but fear of investing your entire life in something that does not really matter. -Richard Simmons Click To Tweet

“As I get older, the sad truth I find in so many men’s lives is that they do not want God. They may believe in Him, they may seek His favor by going to church, they certainly want Him to bless them,  but they do not want to know Him, be close to Him, or allow Him to guide them through life.” -Richard E. Simmons III

“If you seek Him, He will let you find Him; but if you forsake Him, He will reject you forever.” (1 Chronicles 28:9)

Part III – A Life Well Lived (Pride and Humility Quotes)

Life's great paradox is that true strength is found in humility. -Richard E. Simmons III Click To Tweet

“True strength comes from acknowledging our weaknesses as we humble ourselves before Him. It is a strength that carries us through the toughest of times. It is the strength that provides us the power to change our lives.” -Richard E. Simmons III

“When the Bible speaks of pride, it refers to arrogance, “a feeling of superiority.” The Greek word for pride is Hubris, “taking too high view of oneself.” -Richard E. Simmons III

“Our pride as men explains why we fear the threat of shame and why we are always trying to hide our weaknesses, our failures, our fears, our addictions, and our struggles with depression.” -Richard E. Simmons III

In essence, pride is what leads us to hide who we really are. -Richard E. Simmons III Click To Tweet

“All of us, without God’s help, live lives of illusion. We spend almost all of our lives trying to prove to other people and ourselves that we are something other than what we really are.” -Tim Keller

“I realized I don’t help the poor to help the poor; I do it so I can feel noble. So, I can be recognized. I do it for me, out of pride and self-centeredness.” -Martin Luther

“Arrogance is looking at your life, your abilities, and your achievements, and thinking in your heart that it is your strength, your power, and your ability that has led to all your success.” -Richard E. Simmons III

“Humility helps you recognize that all you are and all you have is a gift from God and a result of other people contributing to your life.” -Richard E. Simmons III

A heart of gratitude is the single most nourishing attitude for a person's good health and well-being. -Dr. Hans Selye Click To Tweet

“The word meekness comes from the word praus, a powerful animal that knows how to restrain it’s power.” -Richard E. Simmons III

“The idea here is that meek and humble people are powerful people, though they do not flaunt their strength and power.” -Richard E. Simmons III

“Humble people enjoy fortitude, an inner strength that comes only through God’s grace. The know who they are. Their lives are not consumed by trying to please and impress others.” -Richard E. Simmons III

“The proud are extremely needy. They need to feed their egos; they need compliments; they need to be stroked; they need to be recognized. Though they do not realize it, the proud are clearly quite weak.” -Richard E. Simmons III

Though they do not realize it, the proud are clearly quite weak. -Richard E. Simmons III Click To Tweet

“Humility comes powerfully into our lives when God becomes the audience we perform for. When this happens, human opinion becomes less and less important to us.” -Richard E. Simmons III

Humility comes powerfully into our lives when God becomes the audience we perform for. -Richard E. Simmons III Click To Tweet

“What’s in the box? What’s in your box?… What is the primary loyalty in your life?” -Richard E. Simmons III

“If you’re not happy with your life you can change it in two ways: either improve the conditions in which you live, or improve your inner spiritual state. The first is not always possible, but the second is.” -Leo Tolstoy

Fear, worry, and anxiety all result from uncertainty. -Richard E. Simmons III Click To Tweet

“Fear can keep us from living a really good, joyful life in the present.” -Richard E. Simmons III

Men seem to have this amazing tendency to arrange their lives around future expectations of happiness. -Richard E. Simmons III Click To Tweet

“We never actually live, but hope to live, and since we are always planning how to be happy, it is inevitable that we should never be so.” -Blaise Pascal

“Most people never find God’s plan because they are seeking to execute their own plans for their lives.” -Richard E. Simmons III

Woe to the obstinate children, declares the Lord, to those who carry out plans that are not mine... (Isaiah 30:1 author paraphrase) Click To Tweet

“If there is no meaning or purpose behind difficult outside circumstances, then life will always be bleak and disappointing, especially when we go through trying times.” -Richard E. Simmons III

It is a terrible thing to see but have no vision. -Helen Keller Click To Tweet

“Over time we begin to realize that we cannot make sense of all the struggles we experience, private struggles concerning internal issues and spiritual questions that no one sees or talks about.” -Richard E. Simmons III

“It is as if we live a divided self. On the one hand, we have our outer public life. On the other hand, we have our private inner life, where what is truly going on within us remains hidden from the rest of the world.” -Richard E. Simmons III

Many men meet God only through a wilderness experience. -Richard E. Simmons III Click To Tweet We find ourselves in the wilderness, and we recognize that we are absolutely alone in a severely harsh environment. -Richard E. Simmons III Click To Tweet

Quotes don’t do a book like this justice.

If you enjoyed these Success for Men Quotes from ‘The measure of a Man’ then you should consider ordering the book from Amazon and diving a little deeper.

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God Bless,

Jason and Daniele
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