Unitarian minister Robert Collyer wrote Talks to Young Men to those whose life is ahead to help them find a straight path forward. It is number 79 on The Hundred Best Books for Children by Baldwin.
Robert Collyer was a well-known “pulpit orator” who was quite popular in his time. His strong anti-slavery stand led to his joining the Unitarian Church. He served the equivalent of the Red Cross during the Civil War. He also wrote several hymns.
Among the books Collyer wrote was Talks to Young Men with Asides to Young Women.
And so if we have won any worth out of all the years, may not this be counted with the rest, and allowed, that we stand somewhat above the maze, on this vantage-ground to which we have found our way, it may be, through much losing, alas for us! and through listening, too, for our direction, as we want our youth to listen; and cry to them also of the way they shall take into the heart of life, and then out again; and so the play of a summer’s holiday becomes a parable of the maze into which we must all venture.
This is what we may be to the youth of our time, if they will hear and heed us; and this is what I would claim for worth, again, in these pages.
Topics covered include:
- Cultivating joy.
- Standing strong in the face of temptations.
- Reputation.
- Sacred in the everyday.
- Intentions vs. doing.
- The consequences of following sin.
- A good wife.
- Avoiding debt.
- Investing in sleep.
- Noble anger.
- Spending time with good books.
Early in our home educating career there were several books offered for sale in the homeschool catalogs that attempted to train young men in thinking through life before impulsively making bad decisions. After sampling several, we gave it up in favor of reading Proverbs.
Yet Collyer’s style is very engaging. Young men (and young women) may find gems that will serve them well as they move forward in life.
Free eBook
- Read online
- EPUB (convert to Kindle)
Suggestions
- Young men and women can work through the book one chapter at a time and provide narrations. Each chapter is “chatty.” What ideas is the reader taking away?
- What questions does the reader have? Oral narrations will provide times of interesting (and hopefully fruitful) discussion.
- What details might the reader find helpful in navigating life? He or she can write these in a copybook.
Additional Resources
Character Study {Free Download}
Free 9-week study from the C.S. Lewis Institute.
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