--- title: "1 Selfish Interests Quotes By David Brooks" description: "1 Selfish Interests quotes by David Brooks. Plus more from David Brooks and more Selfish Interests sayings from other authors." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0cf/david-brooks-644_character_across-the-centuries-the-moral-systems-f_1251010.png" --- > [“Across the centuries the moral systems from medival chivalry to Bruce Springsteen love anthems have worked the same basic way. They take immediate selfish interests and enmesh them within transcendent, spiritual meanings. Love becomes a holy cause, an act of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-brooks/across-the-centuries-the-moral-systems-from-medival-chivalry-to-bruce/) [david brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-brooks/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0cf/david-brooks-644_character_across-the-centuries-the-moral-systems-f_1251010.png) ## More by David Brooks > [The brain is not the mind. It is probably impossible to look at a map of brain activity and predict or even understand the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-brooks/the-brain-is-not-the-mind-it-is-probably-impossible-to-look-at-a-map/) [David Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-brooks/) > [When you're running for president, you're a guest in the living room for four years. And if people don't think you're going to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-brooks/when-you-re-running-for-president-you-re-a-guest-in-the-living-room/) [David Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-brooks/) > [“I’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,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-brooks/i-ve-come-to-think-that-flourishing-consists-of-putting-yourself-in/) [David Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-brooks/) > [We have rapidly increasing technology, which is making life very good for people who are good at using words, and not so good for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-brooks/we-have-rapidly-increasing-technology-which-is-making-life-very-good/) [David Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-brooks/) > [I think Barack Obama's foreign policy will be regarded more failure than success.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-brooks/i-think-barack-obama-s-foreign-policy-will-be-regarded-more-failure/) [David Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-brooks/) > [If you know that most processing is below the level of awareness, you learn the value of sleep. You're brain is working on the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-brooks/if-you-know-that-most-processing-is-below-the-level-of-awareness-you/) [David Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-brooks/) > [Trade has suddenly become massively unpopular. I think that's massively unjust. I think free trade has been wonderful for America on balance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-brooks/trade-has-suddenly-become-massively-unpopular-i-think-that-s/) [David Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-brooks/) > [Politics is based on social identity, and so, again, there is going to be differences between rural and urban and between left and right.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-brooks/politics-is-based-on-social-identity-and-so-again-there-is-going-to/) [David Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-brooks/) > [Pain now is better than pain deferred.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-brooks/pain-now-is-better-than-pain-deferred/) [David Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-brooks/) > [It’s worth noting that you can devote your life to community service and be a total schmuck. You can spend your life on Wall…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-brooks/it-s-worth-noting-that-you-can-devote-your-life-to-community-service/) [David Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-brooks/) > [If it feels all right for you, it's probably OK.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-brooks/if-it-feels-all-right-for-you-it-s-probably-ok/) [David Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-brooks/) > [I do think Donald Trump is a fundamentally unstabilizing force and that the people who swore to uphold the Constitution are going to have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-brooks/i-do-think-donald-trump-is-a-fundamentally-unstabilizing-force-and/) [David Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-brooks/) > [Tim Kaine has been obviously a governor. He's been a senator. He's one of the smartest rising stars in the Democratic Party. He is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-brooks/tim-kaine-has-been-obviously-a-governor-he-s-been-a-senator-he-s-one/) [David Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-brooks/) > [“Women, in general, are less visually aroused than men, a trait that has nearly cut the market for pornography in half.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-brooks/women-in-general-are-less-visually-aroused-than-men-a-trait-that-has/) [David Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-brooks/) > [I wasn't born with a tie or with Mark Shields stapled to my left hip. I have another life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-brooks/i-wasn-t-born-with-a-tie-or-with-mark-shields-stapled-to-my-left-hip/) [David Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-brooks/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "ItemList", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/selfish-interests/david-brooks/#itemlist", "name": "1 Selfish Interests Quotes By David Brooks", "numberOfItems": 1, "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Across the centuries the moral systems from medival chivalry to Bruce Springsteen love anthems have worked the same basic way. They take immediate selfish interests and enmesh them within transcendent, spiritual meanings. Love becomes a holy cause, an act of self-sacrifice and selfless commitment. But texting and the utilitarian mind-set are naturally corrosive toward poetry and imagination. A coat of ironic detachment is required for anyone who hopes to withstand the brutal feedback of the marketplace. In today's world, the choice of a Prius can be a more sanctified act than the choice of an erotic partner. This does not mean that young people today are worse or shallower than young people in the past. It does mean they get less help. People once lived within a pattern of being, which educated the emotions, guided the temporary toward the permanent and linked everyday urges to higher things. The accumulated wisdom of the community steered couples as they tried to earn each other's commitment. Today there are fewer norms that guide that way. 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