Quotes from Arthur C. Brooks

Henry David Thoreau, who wrote, Two sturdy oaks I mean, which side by side, Withstand the winter's storm, And spite of wind and tide, Grow up the meadow's pride, For both are strong Above they barely touch, but undermined Down to their deepest source . . . Admiring you shall find Their roots are intertwined Insep'rably.[53]

No matter how you find your passion, early on, pursue it with a white-hot flame, dedicating it to the good of the world.

So what are you going to do about it? There are really only three doors you can go through here: 1. You can deny the facts and rage against decline—setting yourself up for frustration and disappointment. 2. You can shrug and give in to decline—and experience your aging as an unavoidable tragedy. 3. You can accept that what got you to this point won't work to get you into the future—that you need to build some new strengths and skills.

She doesn't live in the past. Many other stars have not fared so well.

But hold your success lightly—be ready to change as your abilities change. Even if your worldly prestige falls, lean into the changes.

This is a classic weaponization of values. It's not something that good or moral leaders should ever do.

At work, successful people are lonely in a crowd.

1. You can deny the facts and rage against decline—setting yourself up for frustration and disappointment. 2. You can shrug and give in to decline—and experience your aging as an unavoidable tragedy. 3. You can accept that what got you to this point won't work to get you into the future—that you need to build some new strengths and skills.

Don't remember this from the 2016 campaign? That's because those words were uttered by Ronald Reagan on September 1, 1980, during a speech delivered before the Statue of Liberty. Reagan coined the phrase "Make America great again." He used it as a gift, not a weapon.

These attachments must be chipped away to make it possible to jump onto the second curve.

The more control you have over your life, the more responsible you feel for your own success - or failure.

No one sighs regretfully on his deathbed and says, "I can't believe I wasted all that time with my wife and kids," "volunteering at the soup kitchen," or "growing in my spirituality." No one ever says, "I should have spent more time watching TV and playing Angry Birds on my phone." In my own life, nothing has given my life more meaning and satisfaction than my Catholic faith and the love of my

Conservatives have the most effective solutions for human flourishing in our intellectual DNA. Our ideas have lifted up people all over the world. But the American people do not trust us to put those principles into practice to help those who need help right here.

There is a lot to be mad about in America today, but we must never forget that our cause is a joyous one. Conservatives should be optimists who believe in people. We champion hope and opportunity. Fighting for people, helping those who need us, and saving the country—this is, and should be, happy work.

Your satisfaction is what you have, divided by what you want.

Get old sharing the things you believe are most important. Excellence is always its own reward, and this is how you can be most excellent as you age.

Liberals are more likely to see people as victims of circumstance and oppression, and doubt whether individuals can climb without governmental help. My own analysis using 2005 survey data from Syracuse University shows that about 90 percent of conservatives agree that "While people may begin with different opportunities, hard work and perseverance can usually overcome those disadvantages." Liberals — even upper-income liberals — are a third less likely to say this.

Satisfaction comes not from chasing bigger and bigger things, but paying attention to smaller and smaller things.

Devote the back half of your life to serving others with your wisdom. Get old sharing the things you believe are most important. Excellence is always its own reward, and this is how you can be most excellent as you age.

When I call for a standard of love, I am asking us all to listen to our hearts, of course. But also to think clearly, look at the facts, and do difficult things when necessary, so that we can truly lift people up and bring them together.

What the United States needs is for a unifying, positive, aspirational force to sweep through our national community. American conservatives have a generational opportunity to become precisely this kind of force. We have a shot, if we take it, to help every single American build a better life, and unite our nation in the process.

The ideals of free enterprise and global leadership, central to American conservatism, are responsible for the greatest reduction in human misery since mankind began its long climb from the swamp to the stars.

As Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote in his joyful essay "Friendship," I awoke this morning with devout thanksgiving for my friends, the old and the new. Shall I not call God the Beautiful, who daily showeth himself so to me in his gifts? I chide society, I embrace solitude, and yet I am not so ungrateful as not to see the wise, the lovely, and the noble-minded, as from time to time they pass my gate. Who hears me, who understands me, becomes mine—a possession for all time. An

Meaningful progress toward social justice cannot be made in sclerotic education systems that put adults' job security before children's civil rights.