The Road to Character

By: David Brooks

Narrated by: Arthur Morey, David Brooks

Length: 12 hrs and 17 mins

Publisher's summary

Number-one New York Times best seller

David Brooks challenges us to rebalance the scales between the focus on external success - “résumé virtues” - and our core principles.

Named one of the best books of the year by The Economist

With the wisdom, humor, curiosity, and sharp insights that have brought millions of readers to his New York Times column and his previous best sellers, 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.

Looking to some of the world's 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.

“Joy,” David Brooks writes, “is a byproduct experienced by people who are aiming for something else. But it comes.”

Praise for The Road to Character

“A hyper-readable, lucid, often richly detailed human story.” (The New York Times Book Review)

“This profound and eloquent book is written with moral urgency and philosophical elegance.” (Andrew Solomon, author of Far from the Tree and The Noonday Demon)

“A powerful, haunting book that works its way beneath your skin.” (The Guardian)

“Original and eye-opening... 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 parts.” (USA Today)

©2015 David Brooks (P)2015 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

"Brooks himself delivers the introduction, clearly and engagingly explaining how a career as a pundit, often rewarded for shallow cleverness, has made him yearn for more depth and significance. But how to achieve it? As read by Arthur Morey with lovely pacing and an interested inflection, he finds that one looks to those who have gone before." (AudioFile)

“[Brooks] 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 Augustine. The voice of the book is calm, fair and humane. The highlight of the material is the quality of the author’s moral and spiritual judgments.” (Michael Gerson, The Washington Post)

“If 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 it.” (The Economist)

Counter cultural wisdom

David Brooks resurrects an old language and set of ideals in a balanced and honest way. It takes a little while to figure out where this is going but ties it all together beautifully. This is not the same old advice on how to find your passion. Real truth often lies between opposing ideas. Brooks recognizes real progress in many aspects of our lives but also takes us back to a deeper truth. This is a beautiful book.

Enlightening and Inspiring

Brooks eloquently illuminates the subtle yet sinister nature of human pride and reveals through real life stories how we too can change, and overcome, to rise above the programmed banality of our culture, to perhaps catch glimpses of the sublime... if only with our peripheral vision.

Deep book for a deep topic: Character

Highlights several historical figures and their live journies and resulting character development. Augustine was my favorite.

Should be required reading for every student .

I've purchased copies for all my grand kids in the hope that their parents will read the book too.

Such a great read!

Loved this book. SO inspiring and needed. Thought provoking. I love Arthur Morey's reading, always.

Refreshing meditations on values

Even as just a collection of biographical essays of historical figures, The Road to Character is a good listen. It’s an inspiring look at imperfect individuals and their struggles to live good lives and do the right thing even in the absence of immediate gratification.

The Road to Character isn't something I would urgently recommend to everyone, but if you're looking for an exploration of the values associated with character that modern society would do well not to forget, then this is a great place to start.

A much needed critique on the ME culture.

Bears more than one listening! And Brooks lists a great number of other sources to help a pilgrim trudge through the difficult territory of the self.

Blessed to find these truths!!!! Must have!!! ♡

SoooooDeep!!!!!!!!!!
must not get physical copy to hylight and review until is a part of me!!!

So thankful to the person that referred this book to me!

To God be the Glory for our little lives!

Splendid book. So-so narrator

This is a powerful book. With warmth, honesty and clarity, David Brooks makes the case for humility over pride - the eulogy life as opposed to the resume life. Sadly, the narrator was not the right choice for this book. He did play the role of author. The author has a twinkle in his eye, a spring to his step. I didn't hear that in the narration.

Brilliant,!!! Must read!

Excellent in depth analysis of never changing moral values and today's society. My favorite was chapter 10 for objectivity and clarity. Should be mandatory for all college students, especially sociology and literature.