Hard Times Create Strong Men

Why the World Craves Leadership and How You Can Step Up to Fill the Need

By: Stefan Aarnio

Narrated by: Stefan Aarnio

Length: 16 hrs and 13 mins

Publisher's Summary

What does it mean to be a man in the modern world? Throughout history, being a man has meant different things. Maybe being a man was about being a good hunter, or a good soldier, a good businessman, or maybe good with women. Hard Times Create Strong Men examines what it means to be a man in the modern world relative to money, sex, religion, and politics. This audiobook examines what worked and what doesn’t work based on proven history instead of feelings. This audiobook is raw, real, and politically incorrect. It will threaten and challenge your ideas of what it means to be a man and how to better serve your purpose. As the cycles of history prove over and over again, hard times create strong men, strong men create good times, good times create weak men, weak men create hard times”.

©2019 Stefan Aarnio (P)2019 Stefan Aarnio

The first half is pretty good, the second half...

The first half is pretty good and speaks about weak men and how they got that way. The second half is pseudo-intellectual ramblings which border on plagiarism. The logical connections between statements are tenuous, whole passages are lifted from Marcus Aurelius (Mediations) and Deida (Way of the Superior Man), his musings about religion and atheism equate to making the god of the gaps arguement over and over, and he makes broad sweeping generations about history, society, science, etc which have no backing and no basis in reality.

Special mention needs to be made for the performance which is uniquely terrible. Words are mispronounced, he reads song and rap lyrics to the listener in a quasi-singing fashion, repeats and mistakes are not edited out, swallowing/drinking noises are frequent, and he reads every sentence with virtually the same inflection. If the author is as rich as he claims to be throughout the book, he should have dropped a couple bucks to get a professional to read the book.

I liked the book in the beginning and grew to hate it throughout the second half. The second half is flabby, bloated, and he repeats himself frequently. This book needed an editor badly.

A Nice Change

I could not put this book down. It is a relief from the garbage teachings of today. Facts with some opinions instead of the other way around.

Dad in a box

I feel like this book taught me most of what I should have been taught by my absent father. At times the truths in this book seem very harsh. But sometimes the truth is just that. Put your big boy pants on. It’s a wild ride, this book.

Kind of repetitive

It’s kind of repetitive but a lot of good quotes. It’s a logical argument. Did I mention it’s kind of repetitive. He even says he did very little revision. Oh yeah and it’s also kind of repetitive.

Certainly your Magnum Opus

To the author: encourage every man you coach to read this book first - if they don’t - don’t waste your time on them. Send your dad (you pay expenses) on a trip to a beautiful land to do an extended fast to heal his mind, soul, and body. May he rebound from the legacy he was left from his father - and may he be blessed in his future.

To the potential reader: if you are a man at any age - read this book! You’re life, relationships, and economic well being will benefit. If you are an unmarried woman - read this book. The ingredients of a strong man that are outlined in this book are vital to your future relationship contentment. If you are a married woman, who is not married to a strong man - do not read this book - it will lead to identifying every reason that you are discontent with your man.

Outstanding book, politically incorrect for our times, I LOVED IT!

Dome good stuff but mostly crap

The Author states at the very beggining that this book if filled with facts. Yet it's hard to find many instances where he doesn't rely solely on opinion and observation. He does have some well put together thoughts. But mostly he's contradictory and inconsistent.

Awful

I've been a regular listener since 2007. This is the worst book I ever downloaded.

*NOT FOR THE SENSITIVE*

Given the hate that I'm seeing in the reviews, this book did exactly what it set out to do: Challenge beliefs and tell the cold hard truth about our society and reality. Stefan did a great job with this one, and I found out a lot about the hidden truths behind what it means to be a man today. The ancient stories and references to past civilizations gave this book a really awesome theme. Thoroughly enjoyed it. 5/5

A man’s bible

This book is by far the most influential piece of literature that I’ve read, outside of scripture.
Before finishing this book, I went ahead and ordered a bundle of all 4 volumes to “Hard Time Create Strong Men”.
I challenge all men to listen to these words.

could have been condensed

struggled to finish this book. A lot of stuff of re-stated at nauseam, not sure if on purpose or not. I feel like this book could be condensed to really hit harder.

Written by a boy

This will be the first Audible book I return after being a subscriber for two years.

In general I do agree with the concepts and sentiments expressed in this book and I would genuinely like to read something like this.

I think this book falls short because the author hasn't fully integrated the philosophy he expounds. It's a lot of ranting along the lines of "suck it up snowflake" interspersed with quotes by Marcus Aurelius and Ayn Rand.

His concept of manhood is essentially egotism and arrogance and a 'might is right' mentality. While he clearly expresses that weak men are a problem, he does not seem to believe that a real man would understand that there are limits to the 'alpha male' attitude that separate a strong man and a tyrant. By that I mean that the author would likely consider Stalin, Hitler, Mao, Mugabe etc. as 'real men'.

If you are looking for books that help you learn how to act in the world then you would be better off with Jordan Peterson or stoic philosophers such as Marcus Aurelius etc. or Robert Greene's books. Stefan Aarnio is an ant next to these giants.

He could probably do with another decade or so of life experience before writing this book. The book is not well thought out, the best parts are taken from other writers, and the narration can be quite fumbling.

Given all of that, I think that many of the reviews are fake. While some people will enjoy it and get something out of it, it is by no means a for or five star book.

30% useful content, 70% useless preaching

Poor audiobook when you consider just how much potential the title has. It's basically preaching the virtues of Christian beliefs with the backdrop of "I've made the mistake so avoid it" with many of the mistakes being something a masculine man would have never made in the first place. Good guide for a weak Christian boy who lacks complete fortitude. 70% useless for anyone who has already read books on real masculine history and self improvement. The guy was a salesman when he was alive and this is what he is doing throughout - selling his view with sprinklings of legitimate symbols of masculinity such as Marcus Aurelius. I wish I downloaded the kindle so I could have skimmed through it and returned it. Nothing here you wouldn't be able to find in better books.

A must for any man

Great book and really opens your eyes to how mankind and men in general have become. How toxic feminism and the western world has pretty much made it a sin to be a white Christian straight male.

If you need to find your place and the tools you need to succeed in this world then either buy the book or listen to the audio book.

Really was worth the 16h listen!

Fantastic audible...this really is a 'Bible' for the younger generation. Although I'm familiar with the harsh nature of reality we live in, we cannot ignore the facts that there could also be external factors that are playing a role in the system we live in.

For example, this book talks about leaving the 'EU' as a negative point, however if you actually look in to the formation of the EU, the outstanding debt, the system is flawed itself, and it has not even been around for three decades. Therefore why would you stay in a broken system?

Other points such as the analogy of comparing the Roman Empire to the USA, more specifically the analogy of 'Muslims' taking over the 'West'. This book does not take in to consideration that it is because of the US constant invasion of the middle east, that there are so many refugees who have nowhere else to go. Therefore, your leaders, (Government) are to be blamed.

Overall, good book, but like with everything, don't take everything you read as a 'fact', do your own research on the topic.

Lastly, not every soul want's this 'Hardship' life, remember we are born in to this world without a choice, therefore you cannot blame some individuals who struggle.

Insightful BUT

This is an insightful book. My concern however is that in chapter 4 the author claims to be an expert in human nature however he makes sweeping general statements about human behaviour and belief systems with disregard to the varied systems in society that form traditions and cultures.

The book presents the candid insight on particular issues that relate to the male gender however, the vulgarity of his marks does not aid his points but highlights weaknesses in the right use of the English language.

This then limits to whom I can share this book with as the men I know detest bad language. It is a note worthy book to read as it shares a unique male perspective.

great book!

really enjoyed this book and i will be listening to again! This is the second book by Stefan ive listened to i like his philosophys

Idk about this one

The beginning was really repetitive and boring (stuff everyone knows) and Chapter 5 felt like watching fox news for eternity. The most I learned from this book is the title it self 'Hard times create strong men' everything else in the book is just garbage.

Top read !!

Great book, and definitely recommend every man who’s in their early 20s the quicker they listen or read it. It will make more sense on how to be a man not boy!

More applicable than ever

The barbarians are at the gates , us men mustn't let them in , we must resist this communist tyranny that has infiltrated the west and is being expedited with covid

Interesting Book With Powerful Insights

It’s a very good and important book that I would recommend to most men to read for sure. Will be getting my little brother a copy.
There were instances were lyrics from a whole song were read out - which I found pointless, as it could’ve been more succinct.
Otherwise, it’s a great read for men out there to be helped in understanding their value and reason to live amongst the rest of the world