The Road to Character

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLERldquoI wrote this book not sure I could follow the road to character but I wanted at least to know what the road looks like and how other people have trodden itrdquomdashDavid Brooks With the wisdom humor curiosity and sharp insights that have brought millions of readers to his New York Times column and his previous bestsellers David Brooks has consistently illuminated our daily lives in surprising and original ways In The Social Animal he explored the neuroscience of human connection and how we can flourish together Now in The Road to Character he focuses on the deeper values that should inform our lives Responding to what he calls the culture of the Big Me which emphasizes external success Brooks challenges us and himself to rebalance the scales between our ldquoreacutesumeacute virtuesrdquomdashachieving wealth fame and statusmdashand our ldquoeulogy virtuesrdquo those that exist at the core of our being kindness bravery honesty or faithfulness focusing on what kind of relationships we have formed Looking to some of the worldrsquos greatest thinkers and inspiring leaders Brooks explores how through internal struggle and a sense of their own limitations they have built a strong inner character Labor activist Frances Perkins understood the need to suppress parts of herself so that she could be an instrument in a larger cause Dwight Eisenhower organized his life not around impulsive self-expression but considered self-restraint Dorothy Day a devout Catholic convert and champion of the poor learned as a young woman the vocabulary of simplicity and surrender Civil rights pioneers A Philip Randolph and Bayard Rustin learned reticence and the logic of self-discipline the need to distrust oneself even while waging a noble crusade Blending psychology politics spirituality and confessional The Road to Character provides an opportunity for us to rethink our priorities and strive to build rich inner lives marked by humility and moral depth ldquoJoyrdquo David Brooks writes ldquois a byproduct experienced by people who are aiming for something else But it comesrdquoPraise for The Road to Character ldquoBrooksrsquos giftmdashas he might put it in his swift engaging waymdashis for making obscure but potent social studies research accessible and even startling Ahyper-readable lucid often richly detailed human story In the age of the selfie Brooks wishes to exhort us back to a semiclassical sense of self-restraint self-erasure and self-suspicionrdquomdashPico Iyer The New York Times Book ReviewldquoBrooks emerges as a countercultural leader The literary achievement of The Road to Character is inseparable from the virtues of its author As the reader you not only want to know about Frances Perkins or Saint Augustine You also want to know what Brooks makes of Frances Perkins or Saint AugustinerdquomdashMichael Gerson The Washington PostldquoOriginal and eye-opening At his best Brooks is a normative version of Malcolm Gladwell culling from a wide array of scientists and thinkers to weave an idea bigger than the sum of its partsrdquomdashUSA TodayldquoThere is something affecting in the diligence with which Brooks seeks a cure for his self-diagnosed shallowness by plumbing the depths of othersrdquomdashRebecca Mead The New Yorker ldquoIf you want to be reassured that you are special you will hate this book But if you like thoughtful polemics it is worth logging off Facebook to read itrdquomdashThe Economist.