Narrator: At the end of a life, two sets of virtues are tallied. The first are the résumé virtues, the skills brought to the marketplace that lead to external success. The second are the eulogy virtues, the qualities discussed at a funeral, such as whether a person was kind, brave, honest, or faithful. We all know that the eulogy virtues are more important, yet our culture and educational systems spend more time teaching the skills for the résumé. This creates a profound inner conflict, a quiet and often unrecognized war between two opposing sides of our nature.

In his book The Road to Character, author David Brooks explores this fundamental human tension. He introduces a framework for understanding this internal battle through the concept of two Adams, drawn from the writings of Rabbi Joseph Soloveitchik. Adam I is the ambitious, external, career-oriented self who wants to build, create, and conquer the world. Adam II is the internal, humble, and moral self who wants to embody certain virtues and live a life of service and meaning. Brooks argues that we live in a culture that nurtures Adam I, the "Big Me," while leaving Adam II to starve, and he charts a course for how we might reverse that trend.

Narrator: The core argument of The Road to Character is that human nature is split between two conflicting sides, Adam I and Adam II. Adam I represents our external, ambitious nature. This is the part of us that wants to achieve, to build a great career, to gain status, and to win victories. It operates on a straightforward, utilitarian logic: input leads to output, effort leads to reward. This is the self that builds the résumé.

In contrast, Adam II is the internal self, focused on character. This is the part of us that seeks to be good, to live with a serene inner integrity, and to serve a purpose greater than oneself. Adam II operates on an inverse moral logic: one must give to receive, one must surrender to a cause to find strength, and one must confront their own weaknesses to build character. This is the self that builds the eulogy.

Brooks contends that modern society has become imbalanced, relentlessly promoting the virtues of Adam I while providing little guidance on how to cultivate Adam II. The result is a culture that produces people who are outwardly successful but inwardly shallow, lacking a clear moral vocabulary and a sense of ultimate purpose.

Narrator: Brooks illustrates a dramatic cultural shift away from humility and toward self-celebration by contrasting two moments in American history. The first occurred on August 15, 1945, the day after the Allied victory over Japan in World War II. On a radio broadcast for the troops, host Bing Crosby didn't boast or cheer. Instead, he opened with a tone of solemn gratitude, saying, "I guess all anybody can do is thank God it’s over." The program was marked by a profound sense of humility and an awareness of the immense collective sacrifice.

Brooks contrasts this with a scene from a modern football game, where a defensive player makes a routine tackle for a minimal gain and immediately erupts into a self-puffing victory dance for the cameras. This small anecdote represents a larger cultural phenomenon Brooks calls the rise of the "Big Me." This is a culture that encourages self-promotion, personal branding, and the constant broadcasting of one's own specialness. This shift is not just anecdotal; Brooks points to research showing a dramatic rise in narcissism scores and the percentage of young people who consider themselves "a very important person" over the past few decades. This cultural tide makes the work of building inner character—the work of Adam II—an uphill battle.

Narrator: In our "Big Me" culture, the path to a meaningful life is often framed as an internal journey of self-discovery. We are told to look inside, find our passion, and then express our authentic self to the world. Brooks offers a counter-narrative, that of the "summoned self," where purpose is not found by looking inward, but by answering a call from the outside world.

He presents the life of Frances Perkins, who became Franklin D. Roosevelt's Secretary of Labor. In 1911, Perkins was a young social worker when she witnessed the horrific Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire in New York City, where 146 workers, mostly young immigrant women, died because of locked doors and inadequate safety measures. This event didn't ask Perkins what her passion was; it summoned her. The tragedy ignited a moral indignation that gave her life a clear, external purpose: to fight for the rights and safety of workers. Her life was no longer about her own self-fulfillment but about answering the needs of the world. This, Brooks argues, is how a career becomes a vocation—when the self is summoned by a problem that must be solved or a wrong that must be righted.

Narrator: The road to character is not a smooth ascent but a difficult internal struggle. It requires confronting one's own weaknesses, a process Brooks calls self-conquest. He illustrates this through the life of Dwight D. Eisenhower, who was known for his calm and steady leadership but privately wrestled with a ferocious temper. As a ten-year-old boy, forbidden from going trick-or-treating, Eisenhower flew into a rage, running outside and punching an apple tree until his fists were bloody. His mother, Ida, didn't just punish him. She sat with him and taught him a lesson he never forgot, quoting the proverb, "He that conquereth his own soul is greater than he who taketh a city."

This idea—that the primary battle of life is the one against the self—is a recurring theme. It's not about achieving a perfect, one-time victory over our flaws. As the life of social activist Dorothy Day shows, it is often a messy, lifelong struggle filled with self-doubt and a constant awareness of one's own sin. Character is forged not in the absence of weakness, but in the relentless and courageous struggle against it.

Narrator: If the central struggle is internal, Brooks argues that the ultimate victory cannot be won through willpower alone. The logic of Adam II is paradoxical: strength is found in surrender. Perhaps the most profound example of this is the story of Augustine of Hippo. For years, Augustine lived a life of disordered love, driven by ambition, intellectual pride, and lust. He was successful by every external measure but felt an agonizing inner void. He tried to reason his way to goodness, to conquer his desires through intellect, but he failed repeatedly.

His transformation came not through a final act of will, but through an act of surrender. Sitting in a garden in Milan, tormented by his inner conflict, he heard what sounded like a child's voice chanting, "Take up and read." He opened a book of Paul's epistles and his eyes fell upon a passage that spoke directly to his struggle. In that moment, he didn't conquer himself; he surrendered. He gave up the belief that he could be the author of his own salvation and accepted a gift of grace from outside himself. It was this surrender that finally reordered his loves, quieted his ego, and set him on the path to a life of profound purpose.

Narrator: To counter the prevailing culture of the "Big Me," Brooks concludes by offering what he calls "The Humility Code," a 15-point summary of the worldview that the figures in his book embodied. This code serves as a practical and philosophical guide for cultivating Adam II.

It begins with the radical premise that we don't live for happiness, but for holiness. It asserts that we are all beautifully flawed creatures and that pride is the central vice that blinds us to our weaknesses. Humility, in contrast, is the greatest virtue, as it gives us an accurate assessment of ourselves. The code emphasizes that character is built through an inner confrontation with our own sin and that no person can achieve self-mastery alone; we all need redemptive assistance from family, friends, community, and faith. Ultimately, the code suggests, we are all saved by grace. This is not a path of self-aggrandizement, but one of self-effacement, where wisdom begins with modesty and a life of purpose is found in a vocation that serves the world.

Narrator: The single most important takeaway from The Road to Character is a profound paradox: true self-fulfillment is not achieved by focusing on the self, but by forgetting the self. It comes from surrendering to a cause, a community, or a calling that is greater than one's own desires. The path to a strong inner character—to a life rich with eulogy virtues—requires quieting the ego of Adam I so that the moral commitments of Adam II can flourish.

The book leaves us with a powerful challenge in an age that celebrates personal branding and self-promotion. It forces us to ask a difficult question: Are we building a life that looks good on a résumé, or one that will be remembered for its goodness? The road to character is a quieter, more difficult path, but Brooks makes a compelling case that it is the only one that leads to a life of meaning, purpose, and ultimately, joy.