Know Good Men: Jack London
Most men talk about adventure. Jack London lived adventure.
Long before he became a legendary writer, he was a sailor, a gold prospector, a war correspondent, and a relentless seeker of the unknown. Most men sit around and wait for inspiration to strike.
Not Jack — he hunted it down like a wolf tracking prey.
Born in 1876 into crushing poverty, London had every excuse to take the easy road — to settle, to survive, and simply exist. But that wasn’t in his blood.
As a teenager, he worked 12-hour shifts in a cannery as a boy, barely scraping by. But he had no interest in a life spent grinding away in a factory. He wanted more — so he took to the sea as an oyster pirate, stealing from the rich and running from the law.
Later, he flipped the script, joined the other side, and became a member of the California Fish Patrol, hunting down men who lived as he once did.
At 21, lured by the promise of gold, London headed to the Yukon, chasing fortune in the frozen north. What he found instead was unbelievable hardship. Bone-chilling cold, starvation, disease, and the brutal indifference of nature.
He watched men freeze to death, collapse from exhaustion, or lose their minds to hunger.
He didn't find gold, but it was there in the pain and suffering that he discovered his fire, gathering stories from his experiences that would one day make him rich.
Everything he lived through — the struggle, the suffering, the wild, untamed spirit of survival became the foundation of his stories. It was the experiences he lived that gave his stories such depth.
Jack didn't write about adventure from a warm, comfortable study. He lived it first, then sat down and turned those experiences into words that would inspire generations.
His legendary novel, The Call of the Wild, wasn’t just fiction — it was a testament to his own life — harsh, unforgiving, and demanding strength at every turn. London didn’t just write about survival; he wrote about the fight for survival in a world that constantly tries to dull a man’s edge.
He knew that real men don’t shy away from struggle. They step into it, embrace it, and let it forge them into something greater.
He had a simple philosophy, "You can’t wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club.” That's exactly how he lived, and that's how he wrote, pounding out 1,000 words a day, every day, no excuses.
He never waited for the perfect moment, he created it through massive action.
Jack is a powerful example for us all. He showed us life isn't meant to be lived on the sidelines and that growth doesn't happen in comfort. True growth happens in the struggle.
The strength we all want as men is built in the fire of experience. Most men avoid discomfort. They seek ease, security, and routine. But great men?
They chase the challenge. They put themselves in the arena of life, knowing that the pain, struggle, and failure are the price of becoming something greater.
Jack reminds us that adventure and success belong to the man willing to step into the unknown, embrace the work, and refuse to take the “easy path.”
Life belongs to the bold, the one who takes risks and has the courage to chase down the sun.
At the end of our days, my guess is we won’t regret the things we tried and failed; we will regret never trying at all. Jack sums it up best by saying:
The proper function of man is to live, not to exist. I shall not waste my days in trying to prolong them. I shall use my time.
Together, let’s use what little time we have and be inspired by the example Jack set. Use your time, push your limits, and chase the unknown.
Live Brave. Live Bold. Live Bearded.
