David BrooksThe prevailing view is that geniuses are largely built, not born. ✨ David Brooks (2011). The Social Animal: A Story of How Success Happens, p.130, Short Books353Reading
David BrooksThe rich don't exploit the poor, they just out-compete them. ✨ The Trouble With Diversity by Thought Matters, www.huffingtonpost.com. June 14, 2016.332Thought
David BrooksTo explain the unknown by the known is a logical procedure; to explain the known by the unknown is a form of theological lunacy.345Humor
David BrooksIf you do have to look at polls, you should do it no more than once every few days, to get a general sense of the state of the race. I've seen the work on information overload, wh… ▶334HumanityPoliticsThought
David BrooksHighly educated young people are tutored, taught and monitored in all aspects of their lives, except the most important, which is character building. When it comes to this, most u… ▶301Humanity
David BrooksStairway to Wisdom”) David Brooks detailed the needed ingredients to gaining a deep understanding of a social problem, beginning with the data and moving on to first-hand accounts… ▶313DeathLovePhilosophy
David BrooksI've observed a few things about the few really great people I've had a chance to meet and cover...They need to be around people. You and I require sleep. They require people.379Humanity
David BrooksPalin is smart, politically skilled, courageous and likable. Her convention and debate performances were impressive. ✨ David Brooks on Palin: A Profile in Cowardice by Greg … ▶358Politics
David BrooksIt’s worth noting that you can devote your life to community service and be a total schmuck. You can spend your life on Wall Street and be a hero292Life
David BrooksBill Clinton pandered by telling you what you wanted to hear. John Kerry panders by never telling you what you don't want to hear. This is negative pandering; he talks a lot witho… ▶347Love
David BrooksCreativity is not a solitary process. It happens within networks... when talented people get together, when idea systems and mentalities merge.303HumanityThought
David BrooksIt’s not that Egypt doesn’t have a recipe for a democratic transition. It seems to lack even the basic mental ingredients. ✨ Defending the Coup. www.nytimes.com. July 4, 201… ▶304DeathTime
David BrooksPeople want a reality that tells them they're right all of the time.282HumanityTimeTruth
David BrooksThe brain is not the mind. It is probably impossible to look at a map of brain activity and predict or even understand the emotions, reactions, hopes and desires of the mind. 3510HopeThoughtTime
David BrooksWhen you cover politics, you realize that knowing how to talk about character matters more and more. The way we hold ideas is more important than the ideas.261PoliticsThought
David BrooksLearning was a by-product of her search for pleasure ✨ David Brooks (2011). The Social Animal: A Story of How Success Happens, p.314, Short Books294Reading
David BrooksI could tell you that when you have trouble making up your mind about something, tell yourself you'll settle it by flipping a coin. But don't go by how the coin flips; go by your … ▶294SadnessThought
David BrooksWe shouldn't just allow gay marriage. We should insist on gay marriage. We should regard it as scandalous that two people could claim to love each other and not want to sanctify t… ▶296HumanityLove
David BrooksPeople generally overestimate how distinct their lives are, so the commonalities seemed to them like a series of miracles. ✨ David Brooks (2011). The Social Animal: A Story … ▶241HumanityReading
David BrooksThe daily activity that contributes most to happiness is having dinner with friends. The daily activity that detracts most from happiness is commuting. Eat more. Commute less.329Humanity
David BrooksThe point of being a teacher is to do more than impart facts, it's to shape the way students perceive the world, to help a student absorb the rules of a discipline. The teachers w… ▶286ReadingTruth
David BrooksThe roots of great innovation are never just in the technology itself. They are always in the wider historical context. They require new ways of seeing. As Einstein put it, 'The s… ▶264Thought
David BrooksPeople used to complain that selling a president was like selling a bar of soap. But when you buy soap, at least you get the soap. In this campaign, you just get two guys telling … ▶298Humanity
David BrooksIf done correctly, these techniques can allow the Bobo pilgrim to have 6 unforgettable moments a morning, 2 rapturous experiences over lunch, 1,5 profound insights in the afternoo… ▶3110LifeTime
David BrooksI've come to think that flourishing consists of putting yourself in situations in which you lose self-consciousness and become fused with other people, experiences, or tasks. 266HumanityLifeThought
David BrooksResearch by Donald A. Redelmeier and Sheldon M. Singh has found that, on average, Oscar winners live nearly four years longer than nominees that don't win.2910Reflection
David BrooksSelf-actualization is what educated existence is all about. For members of the educated class, life is one long graduate school. When they die, God meets them at the gates of heav… ▶268DeathLife
David BrooksHow can we expect young people to be rooted in things such as character, morality and honesty? How is one supposed to be at once an arrow soaring skyward and an oak planted firmly… ▶192HumanityTruth
David BrooksWe are primarily the products of thinking that happens below the level of awareness. ✨ David Brooks (2011). The Social Animal: A Story of How Success Happens, p.5, Short Boo… ▶226ReadingThought
David BrooksThe school asks a person who has achieved a certain level of career success to give you a speech telling you that career success is not important.194Life
