Aces High: A Maverick Journal

[Duke.Togo]

The variation of the quote differs based on who did the translation of the book. The closest that I found is the following - generally speaking, the way of the warrior is resolute acceptance of death. 

Historians basically came to view that quote as a warrior has to go into battle ready to die, and ultimately that is what leads to a warriors survival. 

The book of five rings is many things, a fantastic book on strategy is one of its many things. 

Another great book I recommend for all men to read is Meditations by Marcus Aurelius. 

I think you will find a lot of wisdom from both books. 
Generally speaking, the Way of the oil

Thanks man,

Meditations have been on my reading list for a while now, I started reading Seneca but it was a bit too dense for me at the time. I've ordered meditations, perhaps I'm in a more adequate place to take texts like that in. I read Aurelius based some of his work on Seneca so perhaps it's a bit of a synthesis.

I ordered the five rings as well, looking forward reading it. I like eastern philosophy in general and really appreciated reading Tao te ching, it really gives you some food for thought if you stay with its texts and reflect upon them.

By the way - I'm currently reading the works of an russian-american philosopher called Ayn Rand, I've finished her magnum opus Atlas Shrugged and I'm currently reading The Fountainhead. If you enjoy reading about human (and mans) ultimate potential, I think you would enjoy her writings. I think they are marvellous, potentially my favourite books of all time. Previously having Steinbeck as an all time favourite, a little different focus, but also a wonderful writer describing human lives and conditions. Ayn Rand is more romantic in that sense, writing about "what could be", while I find Steinbeck more about "this is what is".

Just a little rant about literature. Happy new year! 

PS. Really looking forward getting my hand on the product description of Maverick, being a bit envious about you being a bit down the journey in discovering it.

EDIT:

By the way you were saying that Maverick made you more masculine, have you noticed being more masculine toward women and they responding more feminine to you?

Sorry for the late reply.  I have read Ayn Rand, loved Atlas Shrugged and The Fountainhead.  It's been a while since I read either of those books, I should pick one of them up again for a read.  There is another great book from around that same time period that I loved called Foundation by Isaac Asimov.  There were many books in the series, however the original Foundation was and still is my favorite.  

Another great series of books is the Enders series, starting with Enders Game.  If you've seen the terrible movie, don't judge the book on the same merits.  Enders Game was an incredible book on strategy. 

Regarding Maverick and Masculinity, have women responded to me differently...  I'm not sure how to answer that question because now I need to think of all of my interactions with women.  I will say that women tend to be more demure with me in general, but that could also be because I tend to have a very direct approach and I don't care to play by someone else's rules.  I don't like using terms like dominance, because that's someone actively trying to over-power someone else.  As I mentioned, I just prefer to play by my own rules and people will have variations of what that means depending on my interaction with them, whether it's dominant, an asshole, a masculine man, etc.  I think if you want a straight answer to that question you'd have to ask some of the women that are vying for my time. 

I think a good indication of what Maverick will do over a longer period of use is, if something isn't worth your time, you won't waste it either speaking or doing something you don't want to do.  You become much more focused on how your time is spent and with who.  If you stop and think about it, that brings about a level of self respect and self value that will obviously have an impact on everyone you interact with, because people who value their time are generally perceived very different than those that don't. 

The reality when it comes down to women is that at the end of the day, and biologically speaking, they are hardwired to look for someone who can give them a sense of safety and security and quite frankly, there aren't a lot of real old school kind of men like that left.  This is also why so many books are written for men on how to become more masculine and why we constantly hear about the dropping levels of testosterone in the world.  It's why things are at such an extreme in terms of money and security and movements like the red pill now exist.  

This basic biological need is also why many women go after the bad boys, because, and to quote one of my favorite movies, Rumble Fish, "Even the most primitive of societies have an innate respect for the insane."  I'll let you read between the lines to figure out what that means and how it applies to what I'm trying to say.  

The bottom line though, the longer you run Maverick, the less you just give a shit about other's opinions or rules or what society expects of you and the more you become closer to who you are.  I'm not saying you're gonna turn into a psychopath or get on youtube and start spouting shit like Andrew Tate.  It's more of a personal thing.  Ironically, the less you care, the more everyone else tends to linger on your word, especially women, because you become something of an anomaly.  

I'll end this by saying that when a woman finally does catch my eye, she ends up being mine, irrespective of where she falls in the hotness scale and how many guys at the bar are trying to buy her a drink.  Because at the end of the day, those guys aren't me and she knows that.