I've come to think that flourishing consists of putting yourself in situations in which you lose self-consciousness and become fused with other… — David Brooks Copy Share Image
“Plato believed the soul was divided into three parts: reason, spirit, and appetite. Reason seeks truth and wants the best for the… — David Brooks Copy Share Image
“There must be some supreme creative energy, he thought, that can take love and turn it into synapses and then take a… — David Brooks Creative energy Copy Share Image
I do think Donald Trump is a fundamentally unstabilizing force and that the people who swore to uphold the Constitution are going… — David Brooks Constitution Copy Share Image
On the [Betsy] DeVos case, I agree that the gun - her gun position is kind of weird, kind of crazy, but… — David Brooks Copy Share Image
If you withdraw from the game, you're out of the game. And we have withdrawn from the game. And we said Bashar… — David Brooks Israel Copy Share Image
It's part of Donald Trump's psychodynamics to always care about his press coverage intensely. He's more interested in that than anything else. — David Brooks Care Copy Share Image
“Male desire is pretty steady and only dips in response to some invisible awareness of their partner's menstrual cycles. Studies in strip… — David Brooks Strip club Copy Share Image
If there is a series of attacks like that or, God forbid, if ISIS is really sending soldiers across Europe and maybe… — David Brooks Copy Share Image
“[The public intellectual] will also describe how she can work a pop culture reference into her essay, comparing the Supreme Court to… — David Brooks Pop culture Copy Share Image
If you're running a successful administration, then you're loyal to people who are basically good who make a mistake. And that seems… — David Brooks Copy Share Image
The things that make them similar - their machismo, their expansionary braggadocio - is going to turn them I think into bitter… — David Brooks Copy Share Image
We pretend to be a middle class, democratic nation, but in reality we love our blue bloods. ... We love the prep… — David Brooks Aristocratic Copy Share Image
“(William) Deresiewicz offers a vision of what it takes to move from adolescence to adulthood. Everyone is born with a mind, he… — David Brooks Actualization Copy Share Image
Self-actualization is what educated existence is all about. For members of the educated class, life is one long graduate school. When they… — David Brooks Actualization Copy Share Image
The zooming wealth of the top 1 percent is a problem, but it's not nearly as big a problem as the tens… — David Brooks Copy Share Image
I generally think the president [Donald Trump] should get his Cabinet picks, unless they're egregiously out of the range, either ethically or… — David Brooks Copy Share Image
I think we are all disgusted by the way George W. Bush's administration has allowed honesty and candor to seep into the… — David Brooks Administration Copy Share Image
Donald Trump didn't emerge from the orthodoxy of the Republican Party. And so there's going to be bigger differences than normal. — David Brooks Copy Share Image
“In the educated class even social life is a series of aptitude tests; we all must perpetually perform in accordance with the… — David Brooks Aptitude Copy Share Image
[Donald Trump] has shifted - President [Barack] Obama has shifted American policy in a much more critical way in Israel with the… — David Brooks Copy Share Image
The idea that Russia felt emboldened and apparently fearless to go into our election and manipulate our own election process, whether successfully… — David Brooks Election Copy Share Image
Institutions do all the things that are supposed to be bad. They impede personal exploration. They enforce conformity. But they often save… — David Brooks Community Copy Share Image
When your institution is under assault, you're feeling like the weight is on it and the history might be flowing away, don't… — David Brooks Assault Copy Share Image
Trade has suddenly become massively unpopular. I think that's massively unjust. I think free trade has been wonderful for America on balance. — David Brooks America Copy Share Image
I think the Democrats are right to protest, but I don't think Jeff Sessions is so far out of the range of… — David Brooks Democracy Copy Share Image
For those of us who believe in it, there has to be a movement that says, "We still believe in trade. We… — David Brooks Copy Share Image
America is not just a democracy, it represents a certain culture of competitive mobility and personality aspirations, politics is not merely a… — David Brooks America Copy Share Image
“Angela Duckworth has shown how important grit and perseverance are to lifetime outcomes. College students who report that they finish whatever they… — David Brooks Character Copy Share Image
“Nearly every parent on earth operates on the assumption that character matters a lot to the life outcomes of their children. Nearly… — David Brooks Bureaucracy Copy Share Image
The politics is broken up and down. And Trump may emerge from a reality TV world that is much more powerful than… — David Brooks Copy Share Image
Almost every successful person begins with two beliefs: the future can be better than the present, and I have the power to… — David Brooks Being successful Copy Share Image
Economists sometimes do try to reduce behavior to law-like predictability. But people respond differently to different primes, to different contexts even from… — David Brooks Behavior Copy Share Image
“First, they had good character. They were energetic, honest, and dependable. They were persistent after setbacks and acknowledged their mistakes.” — David Brooks Character Copy Share Image
Donald Trump tried to set up this debate where it was going to be globalists vs. nationalists, and the Republicans were going… — David Brooks Debate Copy Share Image
It’s worth noting that you can devote your life to community service and be a total schmuck. You can spend your life… — David Brooks Community Copy Share Image
I have come to think we have to treat Donald Trump's tweets like Snapchat. It's just something that is going to go… — David Brooks Brain Copy Share Image
“You should start your life with the illusion that you are completely in control of what you do. You should finish life… — David Brooks Copy Share Image
I wouldn't say philosophy and theology are dead. Brain science doesn't invent new philosophies but it helps remind us which of our… — David Brooks Brain Copy Share Image
I do think trying to live each day as a bunch of moral occasions, did I live up to what I would… — David Brooks Copy Share Image
![“On the [Betsy] DeVos case, I agree that the gun - her gun position is kind of weird, kind of crazy, but I do think she does know about public schools.” quote by David Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/q/img-quotes/529/david-brooks-644_agree_on-the-betsy-devos-case-i-agree-that-the_1710640.png)
![“If there is a series of attacks like that or, God forbid, if ISIS is really sending soldiers across Europe and maybe across the world for a barrage of these things, then the political climate is revolutionized here. And maybe the [Donald] Trump speech will look like a precursor to a climate that…” quote by David Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/q/img-quotes/96f/david-brooks-644_attacks_if-there-is-a-series-of-attacks-like-tha_2798089.png)
![“[The public intellectual] will also describe how she can work a pop culture reference into her essay, comparing the Supreme Court to the creature in the number-one box office movie of the moment. Editors like this sort of mass-media integration, first, because it gives them a way to illustrate the…” quote by David Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/q/img-quotes/689/david-brooks-644_pop-culture_the-public-intellectual-will-also-descri_637408.jpg)
![“I generally think the president [Donald Trump] should get his Cabinet picks, unless they're egregiously out of the range, either ethically or intellectually out of the range of what's acceptable.” quote by David Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/q/img-quotes/36d/david-brooks-644_acceptable_i-generally-think-the-president-donald-t_1369550.png)
![“[Donald Trump] has shifted - President [Barack] Obama has shifted American policy in a much more critical way in Israel with the settlements than the previous presidents.” quote by David Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/q/img-quotes/527/david-brooks-644_barack_donald-trump-has-shifted-president-barac_2991202.png)
