“What is a man?”
—from the cover of the new Barney’s fall catalogue, which I just received.

The catalogue then includes various quotes purporting to answer the question.

“A wise man puts his eggs carefully in one basket and then watches the basket.”
—Andrew Carnegie

Or this:

“Man is the only animal that blushes, or needs to.”
—Mark Twain

Although if you ask me, Twain is referring to “man” as a species here, and not a gender, in which case his quote doesn’t really belong. On the other hand, perhaps I am asking too much of the Barney’s catalogue people.

But here’s the really interesting thing: Watch how these quotes take on a new dimension of moral authority and existential despair when you add to them a small image of a hideous albino monster living deep in a cave.

“The happiness of a man in this life does not consist in the absence but in the mastery of his passions.”
—Alfred Lord Tennyson

“No great genius has ever existed without some touch of madness.”
—Aristotle

“The average man has carefully cultivated ignorance about household matters.”
—Chrystal Eastman (Ed: Who the heck is Chrystal Eastman?)

“Manly men defend their turf, just as other male mammals do.”
—Harvey Mansfield

(Okay, Barney’s didn’t really use that last quote. I found it online. But it kind of works, no?)

Your thoughts welcome on this important topic. What is a man?