@00000327@#1 @00000373@NEW YORK TIMES@00000155@ BESTSELLER @00000041@bull; David Brooks challenges us to rebalance the scales between the focus on external success--@00000041@ldquo;r@00000046@sum@00000046@ virtues@00000041@rdquo;--and our core principles.@00000133@@00000341@ @00000327@ @00000133@@00000341@ @00000327@NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY @00000373@THE ECONOMIST@00000155@@00000133@@00000341@ @00000327@@00000373@ @00000155@@00000133@@00000341@ With the wisdom, humor, curiosity, and sharp insights that have brought millions of readers to his @00000373@New York Times@00000155@ column and his previous bestsellers, David Brooks has consistently illuminated our daily lives in surprising and original ways. In @00000373@The Social Animal,@00000155@ he explored the neuroscience of human connection and how we can flourish together. Now, in @00000373@The Road to Character, @00000155@he focuses on the deeper values that should inform our lives.@00000341@@00000341@ Looking to some of the world@00000065@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.@00000341@@00000341@ Blending psychology, politics, spirituality, and confessional, @00000373@The Road to Character@00000155@ provides an opportunity for us to rethink our priorities, and strive to build rich inner lives marked by humility and moral depth.@00000341@@00000341@ @00000041@ldquo;Joy,@00000041@rdquo; David Brooks writes, @00000041@ldquo;is a byproduct experienced by people who are aiming for something else. But it comes.@00000041@rdquo;@00000341@@00000341@@00000327@Praise for @00000373@The Road to Character@00000155@@00000133@@00000341@@00000341@@00000041@ldquo;A hyper-readable, lucid, often richly detailed human story.@00000041@rdquo;@00000327@--@00000373@The New York Times Book Review@00000155@@00000133@@00000341@@00000341@ @00000041@ldquo;This profound and eloquent book is written with moral urgency and philosophical elegance.@00000041@rdquo;@00000327@--Andrew Solomon, author of @00000373@Far from the Tree@00000155@ and @00000373@The Noonday Demon@00000155@@00000133@@00000341@@00000341@ @00000041@ldquo;A powerful, haunting book that works its way beneath your skin.@00000041@rdquo;@00000327@@00000373@--The Guardian@00000341@@00000155@@00000133@@00000341@@00000041@ldquo;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.@00000041@rdquo;@00000327@--@00000373@USA Today@00000155@@00000133@