Quotessence
Home / Authors / David Brooks
David Brooks

David Brooks Quotes

Commentator

Filter quotes by topic

AllPeopleThinkingTrumpIfsWorldCountryPolicyPresidentSchoolRepublicanPartyWantWayCharacterClintonUnderstandingHas BeensBarackSufferingNeeds

Famous David Brooks Quotes

“Russian hackers interfered in our elections, and we like penalized a few of them. Whatever they're doing underground, we don't know. No, this is going to be a big issue. And I have to say the Barack Obama - the Donald Trump position is, A, mystifying, but, B, doomed. He has a nice little Vladimir Putin romance going on right now. I think we're going to get out the hankies, because this is going to turn into an ugly relationship within a year or two.”

ThinkingRomanceNiceElectionUglyBarackHackers
Author:David Brooks
Create image

“The things that make them similar - their machismo, their expansionary braggadocio - is going to turn them I think into bitter and dangerous enemies. We will look back on this moment where we thought Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump were sort of close as a moment of bitter irony, when they get into a schoolyard display against each other, amping up each other's worst tendencies and putting the two countries in some sort of scary position.”

ThinkingCountryMomentsEnemyWorstDangerousScaryBitterIronyMachismo
Author:David Brooks
Create image

“We know the 65-point policy points, to the extent that they exist, but is Hillary Clinton willing to be vulnerable, is she willing to be funny, is she willing to be both authoritative, but also real? And so less what she says than the emotional tone she sets. It takes a lot of confidence to be a vulnerable speaker on this stage. And sometimes she hasn't always projected the confidence it takes to be in some ways weak. But that's what I think people were looking for, that moment of human connection.”

PeopleThinkingRealSometimesMomentsPolicyEmotionalWeakClintonVulnerableSpeakers
Author:David Brooks
Create image

“There was this famous clash of civilization thesis from Samuel Huntington, a political theorist. And the idea was that Western civilization is at war with Islam and maybe some of the other civilizations around the world. And I don't agree with that. But I do think there is such a thing as Western civilization. I think it starts with the Greeks and the Romans. Then it goes through the Enlightenment - or the Reformation, the Enlightenment. It goes through the scientific age. And it somewhat defines some of the cultures and mores of Europe and North America and some other countries.”

ThinkingWorldWarCountryAgePoliticalCultureEnlightenmentAgreeIslamWesternGreekClashThesis
Author:David Brooks
Create image

“Donald Trump understands sense of belonging. And a lot of people think globalization, any time you make any particularity, you're sort of offending some other group. And a lot of people in this country think they belong to America anymore, and he at least appeals to some sense of belonging. I like the idea that we belong to Western traditions, so I'm glad he appeals to that sort of thing.”

PeopleThinkingCountryTraditionWesternGladBelongingGlobalization
Author:David Brooks
Create image

“I think the twenty-first century happened, basically. That this century started on 9/11. And basically, it's been a century of counter reaction to globalization and the meritocracy. And a good century for 72 nations have gotten more authoritarian. We've had Brexit. We have Le Pen rising in France. We've just got a lot of these types all around the world. And the people who are suffering from globalization and the meritocracy are saying, "No more. You know, we get a voice too."”

PeopleThinkingWorldSufferingPensGlobalizationMeritocracy
Author:David Brooks
Create image

“Stairway to Wisdom”) David Brooks detailed the needed ingredients to gaining a deep understanding of a social problem, beginning with the data and moving on to first-hand accounts. The highest rung on his stairway, though, went beyond those: “Empathy opens you up to absorb the good and the bad. Love impels you not just to observe but to seek union—to think as another thinks and feel as another feels.”

ThinkingFeelsFirstsProblemHandsMovingSocialUnderstandingNeededHighestEmpathyAccountsUnionsDataIngredientsBrooksSocial ProblemsStairwaysBad LoveDeep Understanding
Author:David Brooks
Create image