In A Man’s Credo, Ernest Hemingway lays out his personal philosophy on life, masculinity, and ethics. This brief essay, written in Hemingway’s characteristically direct and understated style, emphasizes the values he holds essential for a meaningful life: courage, endurance, honesty, and humility. He expresses respect for those who face hardship without complaint, who remain loyal and do not boast, and who strive to be better than themselves rather than better than others.
Hemingway disdains pretension and cowardice, favoring quiet strength and personal integrity. He underscores the importance of doing one’s job well, regardless of recognition, and of accepting death without fear or self-pity. The credo reads like a distilled reflection of the “code hero” found throughout his fiction—an ideal of stoic resolve and moral backbone in the face of life’s inevitable suffering.
“There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self.”
Ernest Hemingway (verified)
• Title: A Man’s Credo
• Author: Ernest Hemingway
• Type: Article
• Magazine: Playboy (Volume 10, number 1, page 120-124)
• Publisher: Playboy
• Publication time: January, 1963
• Publication place: United States