The Road to Character

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Anne C. Snyder was there when this book was born and walked with me through the first three years of its writing. This was first conceived as a book about cognition and decision making. Under Anne’s influence, it became a book about morality and inner life. She led dozens of discussions about the material, assigned me reading from her own bank of knowledge, challenged the superficiality of my thinking in memo after memo, and transformed the project. While I was never able to match the lyricism of her prose, or the sensitivity of her observations, I have certainly stolen many of her ideas and admired the gracious and morally rigorous way she lives her life. If there are any important points in this book, they probably come from Anne.

April Lawson came in for the final eighteen months of this effort. She is the editor of my newspaper column and brought that same astounding judgment to this manuscript. I may come to understand many things about life, but I will never understand how one so young can possess so much mature and considered wisdom, can understand so much about other people’s lives, and can offer such bold and useful suggestions.

Campbell Schnebly-Swanson was a student of mine at Yale who helped with the final research, fact checking, and thinking. She is a tornado of insights, judgments, and enthusiasms. Her reactions sharpened this text, and her research infuses these pages. I wait with a sort of awed anticipation to see what kind of mark she leaves on the world.

For three years, I have taught a course at Yale University loosely based on some of the ideas here. My students there have wrestled with this topic alongside of me, and offered immeasurable insights, both in the classroom and at the bar of The Study Hotel. They’ve made the first two days of every week unbelievably fun. I’d especially like to thank my Yale colleagues Jim Levinsohn, John Gaddis, Charles Hill, and Paul Kennedy for welcoming me into their midst. Another Yale professor, Bryan Garsten, read a large chunk of the manuscript and helped clarify and deepen the thinking here. Large faculty groups at Yale and at Wheaton College heard me out and offered feedback and advice.

Will Murphy and I have worked on two books now for Random House. He is as supportive an editor as it is possible to imagine. I am the rare author who has nothing but good things to say about his publishing house. I’ve been fortunate to be writing for an enthusiastic, professional, and supportive team, especially London King, this book’s lead publicist, who is as good at her job as anyone I’ve worked with. Cheryl Miller helped me early on to conceive the project and select the characters. Catherine Katz and Lauren Davis filled in with vital research and advice.

Many friends deserve my gratitude, acknowledgment, and devotion. Blair Miller read through everything, hunted for a less-than-awful title, encouraged me when that was needed, and offered advice and wisdom, large and small. Blair is an astonishing judge and connector of people and ideas. She did her best to help me tie the larger moral issues to the problems people face in the real world every day. In her own work, Blair serves the world, and the poorest people in the world, in a way that is practical and also idealistic, dignified but also joyful. She encouraged me to try to make this book of use to people, to make it not just a philosophical or sociological ramble, but an act of service.

My parents, Michael and Lois Brooks, are still my best and toughest editors. Pete Wehner tirelessly offered counsel and advice. Yuval Levin is much younger than me but has become an intellectual mentor. Kirsten Powers read crucial parts and provided moral and emotional support throughout. Carol Quillen, the president of Davidson College, has helped me understand Augustine, and much else, much better. An ecumenical group of clergy and lay people helped carry me through a crucial time in my life, including: Stuart and Celia McAlpine, David Wolpe, Meir Soloveichik, Tim Keller, and Jerry Root. My agents, Glen Hartley and Lynn Chu, have been friends since college and will remain so through life.

Life has its vicissitudes and unexpected turns. My ex-wife, Sarah, has done and continues to do an amazing job raising our three children. Those children, Joshua, Naomi, and Aaron, are now spread around the globe, and exemplify the traits of character that any parent dreams of: courage, creativity, honesty, fortitude, and loving kindness. They don’t really need this book, but I hope they profit from it.