#ReadThis #HowtoKnowaPerson By #DavidBrooks
If you're looking for a book that will make you think and provoke discussion, look no further. David Brooks expresses many strong opinions on how to evaluate someone, and he's quite the storyteller! He recounts examples in his life that show his emotional progress and you'll learn from his wisdom. And best of all, you'll learn to illuminate, not diminish. We hope we illuminate for you, readers!
"When I was young, I wanted to be knowledgeable, but as I got older, I wanted to be wise." (p. 7)
"The quality of your life depends quite a bit on the quality of attention you project out into the world." (p. 30)
Don't miss the BIG QUESTIONS on page 90!
*What crossroads are you at?
*What would you do if you weren't afraid?
*If you died tonight, what would you regret not doing?
*If we meet a year from now, what will we be celebrating?
*If the next five years is a chapter in your life, what is this chapter about?
*Can you be yourself where you are and still fit in?
Examine the three components of moral formation (p. 104) and don't miss the best part of the book where he recounts a fabulous story with President George W. Bush (p. 176), our favorite part!
A practical, heartfelt guide to the art of truly knowing another person in order to foster deeper connections at home, at work, and throughout our lives—from the author of The Road to Character and The Second Mountain
As David Brooks observes, “There is one skill that lies at the heart of any healthy person, family, school, community organization, or society: the ability to see someone else deeply and make them feel seen—to accurately know another person, to let them feel valued, heard, and understood.”
And yet we humans don’t do this well. All around us are people who feel invisible, unseen, misunderstood. In How to Know a Person, Brooks sets out to help us do better, posing questions that are essential for all of us: If you want to know a person, what kind of attention should you cast on them? What kind of conversations should you have? What parts of a person’s story should you pay attention to?
Driven by his trademark sense of curiosity and his determination to grow as a person, Brooks draws from the fields of psychology and neuroscience and from the worlds of theater, philosophy, history, and education to present a welcoming, hopeful, integrated approach to human connection. How to Know a Person helps readers become more understanding and considerate toward others, and to find the joy that comes from being seen. Along the way it offers a possible remedy for a society that is riven by fragmentation, hostility, and misperception.
The act of seeing another person, Brooks argues, is profoundly creative: How can we look somebody in the eye and see something large in them, and in turn, see something larger in ourselves? How to Know a Person is for anyone searching for connection, and yearning to be understood.
