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3.39 AVERAGE
3.39 AVERAGE
The book is interesting, but definitely targeted towards an older generation. There is wonderful insight into the phycology, habits, and lives of prominent people in history. The book isn't as much about changing your character as it is recognizing potential faults and looking to others on how to fix them.
Solid book of vignettes demonstrating “eulogy skills” vice “resume skills” to explain how to build a meaningful life. This book made me reevaluate how I approach relationships and reminded me of the need to prioritize character over success.
This book is about how people can have good character and how to build that. Brook uses a lot of Christian principles in this book, but he tries to separate these principles from Christianity, which makes the argument for having these characteristics weaker.
David Brooks explores what it means to become a person of (good) character by dissecting the lives of a handful of historical figures who are generally well esteemed as "moral giants." Brooks' insights into character formation are interesting on their own but not necessarily novel reads if you follow his writing in the NY Times. To me, the highlight of this book was that it was like reading an anthology of biographies.
Brooks shares the story of several historical figures that embody various qualities: dignity, love, self-mastery, etc.
“We can be knowledgeable with other men’s knowledge, but we can’t be wise with other men’s wisdom... That’s because wisdom isn’t a body of information. It’s the moral quality of knowing what you don’t know and figuring out a way to handle your ignorance, uncertainty, and limitation.”
“We can be knowledgeable with other men’s knowledge, but we can’t be wise with other men’s wisdom... That’s because wisdom isn’t a body of information. It’s the moral quality of knowing what you don’t know and figuring out a way to handle your ignorance, uncertainty, and limitation.”
I was fascinated by a few of the biographies (Perkins, Eliot, Johnson), but didn't find a compelling discussion in Brooks' conclusions or opinions.
Interesting and well-written summaries of the lives of 10 people that overcame adversity to achieve great things, and as Brooks puts it - develop character.
For me this is a 4 star book for the 2/3 in which he's giving life histories of fascinating individuals, and a 2 start book for the 1/3 in which he's philosophizing about what character means.
For me this is a 4 star book for the 2/3 in which he's giving life histories of fascinating individuals, and a 2 start book for the 1/3 in which he's philosophizing about what character means.
An interesting read with a very conservative lean on morality and character. I liked some of the stories of real life people and the circumstances that made them who they were, as well as the author's personal thoughts on why it developed them into people of good character. There is a heavy reliance on religion being the moral compass for good character and most things that deviate from a more conservative/traditional bent are dismissed as not being the right type of character traits to have. It is an interesting read and interesting perspective, but does rely heavily on a personal interpretation of what makes people inherently 'good'.
challenging
informative
slow-paced