Quintus Curtius

History distinguishes the Athenian general Iphicrates for the superlative quality of his leadership, the extent of his martial innovations, and his understanding of the psychological dimension of war. He lived from about 418 B.C. to 353 B.C. We will discuss some of the leadership principles that may be distilled from the writings of two ancient historians, Cornelius Nepos and Polyaenus.

This is a reading of the essay "Better Exile Than Submission: The Passion of Dante Alighieri" by Quintus Curtius. Publijshed on www.qcurtius.com on April 22, 2023, and read by the author.

The world recently learned that the estate of British author Roald Dahl actually allowed a team of censors to purge words and phrases from the author's works that they deemed "offensive." This is a terrifying escalation in the left's war on the literary record and on artistic expression in general. The idea that censors could reach back into old books and rewrite them would have been unthinkable e...

A reader who is living abroad in France is finding it difficult to meet new people. He has no desire to hang around with expats. People always revert to English when dealing with him, when he is trying to learn French. It is frustrating for him, and he wants to know if there are ways to get out of this dynamic.

This is a reading of Edgar Allan Poe's poem "The Haunted Palace."

A reader asks a question. He has just been assigned to a new position of great responsibility. The previous occupant of this position was a man much older than he. Our friend feels slightly intimidated and inadequate for the new job. To complicate things, the previous holder of the position has not helped our friend, and has implied that he's too young. Our friend asks for some advice.

A young woman from a conservative culture asks a relationship question. She is very fond of her boyfriend, an American man. She wants to move things in the direction of marriage, but the young man is ambivalent. He keeps putting her off. She wants to know what she can do to deal with the situation.

A reader asks a question about the 1982 movie "First Blood." Why, he asks, was Sheriff Teasle so hostile to John Rambo? What could have been his reasons? We offer some explanation. We then move into another related subject: an opossum in my backyard, and how I dealt with it.

We should periodically "revisit" things that once meant something to us years earlier. Every 7 to 10 years or so, we grow significantly in outlook, perspective, and attitude. Things that once meant something to us, may mean something very different to us years later. This holds true of books, movies, individuals, and many other things. To measure how far you've progressed, revisit old things, and...

Some guys think that they need to wait for some magical confluence of circumstances to exist before they can pursue their goals. The world doesn't work like this. Sometimes you have to announce yourself, declare your purpose openly, and let your will shape the environment to your own purposes. You're never going to receive anyone's permission. We use the example of Charles De Gaulle in 1940.

Our minds often play tricks on us. We come to believe things are much worse than they really are. Once we get through what we're worried about, we realize that things were not as bad as we thought--and we also realize that things ended in a way that was different from what we expected.

At the end of the movie "The Maltese Falcon," Sam Spade explains his personal code to Mary Astor. He tells her, "When your partner is killed, you're supposed to do something about it. It doesn't matter what you thought of him. You're supposed to do something about it..." When problems exist, you have to do something. Running away to live a life of narcissism and selfishness is not what men do. Thi...

This podcast is a reading of the text of the Declaration of Independence, one of the keystone documents of the American Revolution.

One of John Paul Jones's leadership principles was this: don't accept "half-confidences" from people. This means that if you are in charge, you have a right to expect people to give you a reasonable chance at doing the job. If you are being constantly questioned, undermined, micromanaged, and doubted, then your superiors or your people are not giving you their full confidence. You need to take ste...

There are some who see themselves as twigs spinning endlessly in mighty rivers, or as tufts of grass being blown around by the winds. There are also some who see ambiguity in everything, and refuse to draw meaningful conclusions about events right in front of their noses. This view is not only crippling to morale, it is also destructive, because it leaves you open to suggestion and manipulation by...

This podcast is a reading of the short story "Silence: A Fable" by Edgar Allan Poe. Published in 1838, it is a very short, mysterious prose poem with evocative imagery and dark symbolism. After the reading, we discuss a possible interpretation of the tale.

Some guys look upon knowledge with a purely utilitarian view. They think that if something is not helping them that very instant, then it has no value. This view is shortsighted and terribly wrong. You never know what life has in store for you, and if you're presented with an opportunity to learn, you take it and soak it up. We use a recent incident to discuss this point further.

Most people never realize that good fortune can be suddenly and brutally replaced by bad fortune. What once seemed like heaven can quickly be transformed into a hell. The reverse is also true: a man can find himself in terrible straits, but can extricate himself through great efforts, and reach a kind of "heaven." This observation leads us to make five (5) important conclusions. We list and discus...

The military theorist Carl Von Clausewitz used the term "coup d'oeil" to describe a special, innate ability to grasp the military possibilities presented by a specific situation. We may broaden this idea to describe an instinctive talent in some field of endeavor. Each of us possesses a special skill that distinguishes us from others; too often, however, those talents languish, or remain undiscove...

In this podcast we discuss the importance of focusing on what matters, not on what does not matter. We illustrate this principle with a few anecdotes.

A young reader from Britain has a question about his relationship with his girlfriend. He wants something long-term, but has some nagging doubts as to whether his girlfriend is the right one. He's not certain how to proceed. I read his email, and offer my thoughts.

In this podcast we discuss Alexandre Moratto's 2021 film "Seven Prisoners." The movie describes the experience of a young man named Matheus, who is basically sold into a modern form of industrial serfdom in Sao Paolo. He tries to rebel at first, but quickly learns the futility of resistance. And being ambitious, he gradually begins a series of accommodations with his oppressors that strip him of h...

When it comes to learning, were things better back in the 1980s and 1990s, or are they better now? How has the internet contributed to the "instant gratification" mentality? What are the parameters of the tension between the availability of resources, and the ease of gratifying our baser desires? We discuss.

Far too often, we base our opinions on what we absorb from others. But if you have done the homework, if you have done the heavy lifting, and if you know the material, you should have the confidence to form your own thoughts. People read your writings because they want to know what YOU think, not what some other nibbler thinks. A critical step in intellectual independence is having the courage to...

In this podcast I discuss my new translation of Cicero's "Tusculan Disputations." The work deals with five critical problems that face all of us: the fear of death, how to endure pain, how to alleviate mental distress, the various disorders of the mind, and why virtue is important for living a happy life. What questions could be more essential and fundamental than these?