My father didn't raise me. The lessons of manhood came from other men. Where did I find my mentors? The lessons of manliness came primarily from reading biographies. It seems to be an amazing phenomenon to me that great men will readily share their entire life story - the good and the bad - for a few dollars. Your son will not only learn the successes from these great men, but will learn the most important lesson of bouncing back after defeat and overcoming adversity. That's the value of their stories.

By reading biographies, your son can be saved from an enormous amount pain simply by learning the lessons of other men. Here's a list of five men that your son needs to know:

Sam Walton

The primary reason that I recommend Mr. Walton is that his story is rarely known beyond the obvious success of Walmart. His innovations in retail merchandizing are truly amazing. The fact that he built his wealth by focusing on driving prices down for the average household is a true testament to his frugality and common sense practicality.

Boone Pickens

The lesson to learn from Mr. Pickens is to always look beneath the surface to discover wealth. His business skills originally were sharpened at the age of twelve when he expanded his paper route. This lesson became his mantra of business as he became the "take over" king of business.

Benjamin Franklin

Have your son learn lessons that are beyond the obvious of Mr. Franklin. He was a brilliant man. His use of language is masterful. His ability to imagine beyond the restraints of his era is remarkable.

David Green

I haven't read a biography that I've learned more practical wisdom from than Mr. Green's More Than a Hobby. The son of a minister and as a small town merchant, his devotion to doing business with Biblical principles is inspirational.

Dave Ramsey

I continue to be amazed at the skill set of Mr. Ramsey. I don't know of anyone who has done more for educating people regarding common sense financial management than Dave. His "baby steps" are a perfect outline to live financially free from debt.

This is a short list. We need to write sequels to this article, but this will get your son started with some great men to emulate. I also recommend this one resource I continue to go back to often. Read The Richest Man in Town, written by Randall Jones._