The Road to Character â€� Reader Q&A

Questions About The Road to Character

Reader Q&A

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Answered Questions (5)

Anyone else see this resource list that follows the end of this article (including works by Carl Jung and Joseph Campbell) for those interested in the topic: https://newworkplace.wordpress.com/2015/04/15/david-brooks-and-his-moral-bucket-list/?

Portia No, definitely not. Biographical sketches and opinion, not a story.

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This seems to be a book for our book club discussion. I wonder what you all think? Is this a book for people who like to stir things up? Thoughtful and interesting? Will we learn something?

John Andrew Definitely one worth discussing. Answering your questions in turn: Yes, yes and yes! Brooks is a deep thinker, and insightful observer of life and theâ€¦m´Ç°ù±ðDefinitely one worth discussing. Answering your questions in turn: Yes, yes and yes! Brooks is a deep thinker, and insightful observer of life and the things that make it worth living. Most people are attracted to people who exemplify traits of good character, but few people spend a lot of time or effort trying to improve their own character. Brooks packs the first part of the book with wave after wave of deep, thought provoking insights. After a deep dive into the lives of several historical figures, he summarizes the most important lessons learned in the last chapter. My opinion is that the middle chapters are too long and detailed, and that's the reason I didn't give it 5 stars. I do plan to go back to it again and again to pursue growth in my own character, which is, I believe a worthwhile pursuit for everyone. This book fills a much-needed and underserved niche in every library.(less)

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BIG CHANGE: Did anyone else see that in David Brooks's 2019 book The Second Mountain, he pulls away from many of the messages of The Road to Character? In the introduction to TSM he says, "When I wrote The Road to Character, I was still enclosed in the prison of individualism... I no longer believe that character formation is mostly an individual task..."

Alexis I noticed this as well. I read TSM first and it lead me to want to read TRTC. I find TSM considerably better than the TRTC.

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I'm looking for a non-fiction book focusing on kindness and introspection. Would this be a good or bad read for that sort of thing?

Sukha Sounds like a good fit to me. There are a variety of famous individuals profiled--some kinder than the other, but all search for a more developed moraâ€¦m´Ç°ù±ðSounds like a good fit to me. There are a variety of famous individuals profiled--some kinder than the other, but all search for a more developed moral compass I would say.
I appreciated his insights and he gives tons of quotes that could lead you to other authors that you might profit from.(less)

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can i have some quotes from the road to character?

Lisa Hardy " . . .I was utterly sincere in the desire to avoid what had happened so much in other wars- the consideration of the feelings of the individual ratheâ€¦m´Ç°ù±ð" . . .I was utterly sincere in the desire to avoid what had happened so much in other wars- the consideration of the feelings of the individual rather than the good of the country" - George Marshall, pg 124

"When we are young we think our troubles a mighty business- that the world is spread out expressly as a stage for the particular drama of our lives and that we have a right to rant and foam at the mouth if we are crossed. I have done enough of that in my time. But we begin at last to understand that these things are important only to one's own consciousness, which is but as a globule of dew on a rose-leaf that at midday there will be no trace of. This is no high flown sentimentality, but a simple reflection which I find useful to me every day." - George Eliot, pg 166

"In his essay on sorrow he observes that most passions drive you to their own extinction. Hunger leads to eating and satiety, fear leads to flight, lust leads to sex. But sorrow is an exception. Sorrow doesn't direct you toward its own cure. Sorrow builds upon sorrow.
That's because sorrow is "that state of mind in which our desires are fixed upon the past, without looking forward to the future, an incessant wish that something were otherwise than it has been, a tormenting and harassing want of some enjoyment or possession we have lost." Many try to avoid sorrow by living timid lives. Many try to relieve sorrow by forcing themselves to go to social events. Johnson does not approve of these stratagems. Instead, he advises, "The safe and general antidote against sorrow is employment . . . Sorrow is a kind of rust of the soul, which every new idea contributes in its passage to scour away. It is the putrefaction of stagnant life and is remedied by exercise and motion."- Brooks & Samuel Johnson pg 226

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