The Male Mind: Unlocking His Deepest Thoughts

"In early September, on my daughter's first day of kindergarten. I fear it's all downhill from here." —Larry Bean

"I wish I could cry more for myself." —Benoit Denizet-Lewis  

Q: What advice would you give teenage boys trying to figure what it means to be a good man?

"The same advice my sister gave to her stepson when he was approaching his teen years: 'You’re handsome, smart, charming, and girls are going to like you,' she told him. 'So don't be an a*****e to them.'"—Larry Bean 

"In an increasingly complex world, keep it simple. Find someone you respect and jot down a couple of words about why you respect that person. Try to live by those words yourself. Keep checking your actions against them. Oh, and if that person you respect is a woman, that is totally fine. Good people are good people." —Andrew Seibert

"You can’t become a man until you step away from the crowd. Learn to be independent. See yourself separately and nurture and trust your own beliefs and ideas. Keep close to you only those friends who treat you with the respect you afford them, and move away from those who ultimately do not have your best interests at heart. Seek out good, honest, and caring men to learn from and to model. They will show you the steps of becoming a man. Choose men who are kind and strong at the same time, and who know the difference between real manhood and bravado." —Dr. Anthony Rao, author and child psychologist

"My wife and I were guardians for a teenage boy. We raised him from age 14 to 18, so this is not a theoretical question for me. I'm not sure if I gave him any important advice on how to be a man, but I like to think I showed him. Show; don't tell—that's what they teach writers. But if I found myself repeating one thing with Jeff, it was this: If you want something, you have to work for it." —Jonathan Eig 

Read essay excerpts and blog posts from all 10 "good men" at The Good Men Project.

Watch the trailer for the Good Men Project DVD below.