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David Brooks on The Road to Character

David Brooks, New York Times columnist and author of The Social Animal, is one of the leading public intellectuals of our times. Here he shares the insights of his latest book, The Road to Character.

New York Times columnist David Brooks is one of the leading public intellectuals of our times. His book The Social Animal, a study of the unconscious mind and the triggers that drive human behaviour, was one of the most talked about publications of 2011. David Cameron instructed all the members of his Cabinet to read it.

In May 2015, Brooks came to the Intelligence Squared stage to share the insights of his latest book, The Road to Character. Brooks will argue that today’s ‘Big Me’ culture is making us increasingly self-preoccupied: we live in a world where we’re taught to be assertive, to master skills, to broadcast our brand, to get likes, to get followers. But amidst all the noise of self-promotion, Brooks claimed that we’ve lost sight of an important and counterintuitive truth: that in order to fulfil ourselves we need to learn how to forget ourselves.

To make his case, Brooks distinguished two sorts of virtues: resumé virtues and eulogy virtues. Resumé virtues are the skills you bring to the marketplace: wealth, fame, status and a great career. Eulogy virtues are the things people will say about you at your funeral: that you were honest, loving, and steadfast. Most of us would say that eulogy virtues are more important, but it’s the resumé virtues we tend to think about the most.

By interweaving politics, spirituality and psychology, and citing examples from some of history’s greatest thinkers and leaders – St. Augustine, Dwight Eisenhower and Samuel Johnson – Brooks showed that by cultivating the eulogy virtues we can create depth of character and restore balance to our lives.


Speakers

Chair

Andrew Solomon

Writer and lecturer


Writer and lecturer on psychology, politics, and the arts. He is an activist in LGBT rights, mental health, and the arts. His latest bestselling book, Far From the Tree: Parents, Children, and the Search for Identity, won numerous prizes and was described by the New York Times as ‘a book everyone should read… there’s no one who wouldn’t be a more imaginative and understanding parent — or human being — for having done so… a wise and beautiful book.’
Featuring

David Brooks

Author and columnist


Columnist for The New York Times, frequent broadcaster and political commentator. His books include the international bestsellers The Social Animal: The Story of How Success Happens and Bobos in Paradise: The New Upper Class and How They Got There. In 2013 he began teaching a course on philosophical humility at Yale University, from which some of the ideas explored in The Road to Character originated.