The 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. David Brooks More Quotes by David Brooks More Quotes From David Brooks Almost every successful person begins with two beliefs: the future can be better than the present, and I have the power to make it so. David Brooks future success inspirational We don't have the choice to control our emotions, but we do have the power to educate our emotions. And we do that through literature and through art and music to give ourselves a repertoire of emotional experiences. David Brooks emotional giving art Much of life is about failure, whether we acknowledge it or not, and your destiny is profoundly shaped by how effectively you learn from and adapt to failure. David Brooks destiny acknowledge life-is The moral foundation of the society, the way we interact with each other is more fundamental than the Supreme Court. David Brooks foundation fundamentals way How 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 in the ground? The meritocratic culture hones strivers on every aspect of their lives save one - how to cultivate character. David Brooks arrows honesty character One of the things this world is finding is that emotion is the basis of reason. We really have to trust our emotions, which are much smarter than our reason in some ways. David Brooks emotion way world Things that change history tend to be organized. David Brooks organized I have seen [Betsy DeVos] present a few times. I don't really know her. But I have seen her present on education policy, and she's not a stupid person. David Brooks policy persons stupid The message of the summoned life is that you don't need to panic if you don't yet know what you want to do with your life. But you probably want to throw yourselves into circumstances where the summons will come. David Brooks messages graduation inspirational The 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 who do that get remembered. David Brooks discipline teacher world It’s only useful to ask, what wisdom have you learned from your misjudgments that will help you going forward? David Brooks asks helping Certainly, the country can't have two presidents at once, so the tradition has been to hang back if you're the president-elect and wait for your time in office. [Donald] Trump is not a hang-back kind of guy. David Brooks office two country The 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. David Brooks mind desire brain Recovering from suffering is not like recovering from a disease. Many people don’t come out healed; they come out different. They crash through the logic of individual utility and behave paradoxically. Instead of recoiling from the sorts of loving commitments that almost always involve suffering, they throw themselves more deeply into them. Even while experiencing the worst and most lacerating consequences, some people double down on vulnerability. They hurl themselves deeper and gratefully into their art, loved ones and commitments. David Brooks people commitment art I 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 emotional reaction to the coin flip. Are you happy or sad it came up heads or tails? David Brooks heads-or-tails emotional graduation There is the English language and then there's the Trump language. David Brooks english-language trump language Friendship allows you to see your own life but with a second sympathetic self. David Brooks sympathetic self In my view, success is earned externally by being better than other people. But character, that sort of unfakeable goodness, is earned by being better than you used to be. And it's about self-confrontation. David Brooks self views character Your DVD collection is organized, and so is your walk-in closet. Your car is clean and vacuumed, your frequently dialed numbers are programmed into your cordless phone, your telephone plan is suited to your needs, and your various gizmos interact without conflict. Your spouse is athletic, your kids are bright, your job is rewarding, your promotions are inevitable, everywhere you need to be comes with its own accessible parking. You look great in casual slacks. David Brooks phones jobs kids We have rapidly increasing technology, which is making life very good for people who are good at using words, and not so good for people who are not good at using words. David Brooks using-words technology people
