The charioteer may err by failing to hitch the white horse to the chariot at all, or not exercising him to build up his strength. The Greeks said that a man’s thumos could be “sluggish,” and certainly there are a good number of men today who match that description. A man lacking in thumos is the “nice guy” who can’t stand up for himself when others push him around. He is placid. Nothing arouses him. He has no ideals for which he fights and no real drive or ambition in life. He is content with mediocrity, or at least doesn’t have the will to figure out how to make things better. He’s the kind of guy who thinks the whole idea of “manliness” is really rather silly and feels he is above the kind of “unenlightened” competitions and jockeying for position that occur amongst men, when really, deep down, he’s simply ashamed that he doesn’t think he could make the cut and stand among them.
via Thumos and Why Passion Must Be a Driving Force of Your Life | The Art of Manliness.
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