17.01.2025
The eternal battle between elegance and power: A reader’s reflection
Horvat II shares a poignant reflection on the tension between power and elegance, drawing parallels from history, art, and sports. How can modern men redefine manly qualities beyond dominance?

Catherine, Princess of Wales, with Roger Federer at Wimbledon 2023.
Photo credit: Getty Images
Letter from Mr. Horvat II.
Dear GC,
My name is Horvat II, and I'm from the U.S. Reading your article on the eternal tension between power and elegance stirred something in me. It made me think of my grandfather – a man who could command attention with a whispered word more effectively than others could with a shout.
Your exploration of this duality touches on a crisis at the heart of modern masculinity. We live in an age of chest-pounding LinkedIn posts and performative displays of success, yet something feels hollow about it all. I'm reminded of a recent gallery exhibition I attended in New York, where a single delicate brush stroke in a centuries-old painting held more raw power than all the bold, aggressive modern pieces surrounding it .
The parallel your writer drew between Rome and Greece particularly resonates. While Rome's legions conquered the known world, it was Greek philosophy, art, and architecture that conquered Rome itself. Even the mighty Romans Emperor found themselves adopting Greek customs, sending their children to Greek tutors, and measuring their own civilization against Greek ideals. The Roman Emperors even adopted Greek King - Alexander The Great - as their role model, instead of Prince Aeneas, the founder of Rome, which fled from Troy during the Trojan War.
In sports, we see this play out in real time. When Roger Federer announces his retirement, stadiums full of people weep . When the strongest power-hitter in tennis steps down, we merely note their statistics. Why? Because Federer gave us something beyond power – he showed us how athletic greatness could be balletic, even poetic.
This brings me to a question that keeps me awake at night: One day, before I drawing my last breath, what will flash before my eyes? Will it be the deals I strong-armed, the competitors I crushed, the moments of domination? Or will it be the times I chose elegance over power, when I lifted others up instead of pushing them down, when I created beauty over my speech, attire, code of conduct - instead of merely flexing strength?
I believe we're at a crossroads. Young men and aspiring executives today are bombarded with messages about dominance, about "crushing it," about power at all costs. Yet they're hungry for something more meaningful. They're searching for models of strength that don't require sacrificing their humanity.
How do we show them that true power often lies in restraint? That lasting influence comes not from how hard you can hit, but from how eloquently you can move through the world?
I would deeply value your thoughts on this. How do we begin to rewrite this narrative for the next generation?