The Road to Character —–what do you want your eulogy to say?

What doth it profit a man, to gain the whole world, and lose his own soul

                                                                                          —-  Mark 8:36

I recently read two books by the New York Times famous columnist, David Brooks. I believe lots of people have read or even fans of his writing, in which he shows a keen eye for various social phenomenons and the unparalleled talent to analyze and explain those to the general public.

David Brooks

I guess the inspiration of writing this book may be coming from his frustration of the ever shallow society. As he has claimed on his book tour, he has a natural disposition towards shallowness. The technology and life quality are both progressing, but unfortunately, the morality has degraded.

In his opinion, the young generation are so obsessed with the Adam I or resume virtue, which is the skills helping to make the fat pay check, getting a good position in job market. But we ignore another quality, the Adam II, or the eulogy virtue, which are the true characters.  Who am I really? Besides of all the skills and positions, what do I really look like? or what kind of person do I want to be?

Instead of vaguely talking about characters, in his book, “The Road to Character “, David Brooks tells ten stories of famous historic figure. Through their stories, we can see how they search, find and cultivate their characters. Those stories are both fascinating and well written.

However, does it matter? Can we be sufficient to live a hedonistic life?

Luckily, someone can, but someone can’t. I don’t want to pose any judgement on others’ lives,especially nowadays, we are provided with abundance entertainment. It’s so much easier and cheap to entertain yourself through music, movies, food, travel, party, games, sports, etc.  We even don’t spend time with ourselves so it is hard to feel any void in ourselves. In contrast, suffering, self abasement, spiritual calling and meaning become absurd.  It is even harder to live a meaningful life in such a self absorbed society.

However, I am still deeply touched by these stories, especially Augustine and George Eliot. I admire their constant efforts to  peruse their souls, without any material rewards. I guess I will do the same, so that when my death comes, I would truly rest in peace and tell myself —- I have lived a good life.