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41 " And just as sincerely, this is a book for open-minded liberals who understand that our country would benefit from new passion and new ideas in the fight against poverty. "
― Arthur C. Brooks , The Conservative Heart: How to Build a Fairer, Happier, and More Prosperous America
42 " Mandela had a conviction that only goodness could win in a moral struggle. He believed that even under unjust persecution, people should treat others with kindness and respect, that anything less was a failing of his own character. "
― Arthur C. Brooks , Love Your Enemies: How Decent People Can Save America from the Culture of Contempt
43 " When Ronald Reagan made his case to the American people, he didn’t spend a lot of time talking about what he was fighting against. He spent most of his speech talking about who he was fighting for. This is what conservatives too often forget. "
44 " What activities will you keep? What activities will you evolve and do differently? What activities will you let go of? What new activities will you learn? And to start . . . What will you commit to doing in the next week to evolve into the new you? What will you commit to doing in the next month? What will you commit to doing within six months? In a year, what will be the first fruits to appear as a result of your commitments? "
― Arthur C. Brooks , From Strength to Strength: Finding Success, Happiness, and Deep Purpose in the Second Half of Life
45 " We speed past the questions that would help us get to know another person’s story and instead immediately look to the places of greatest difference and disagreement. "
46 " Coming face-to-face with people who hold discriminatory attitudes often breaks down their bigotry. This is consistent with a growing body of research that confirms much of what LaPiere discovered all those decades ago. "
47 " To be a happy warrior you must work to be a genuinely happy person. "
48 " when we have entrenched beliefs. Psychologists have consistently "
49 " It’s better to be pleasantly surprised than disappointed, "
50 " Knowing our weakness, dividing leaders on both the left and right seek power and fame by setting American against American, brother against brother, compatriot against compatriot. These leaders assert that we must choose sides, then argue that the other side is wicked—not worthy of any consideration—rather than challenging them to listen to others with kindness and respect. They foster a culture of contempt. "
51 " Your satisfaction is what you have, divided by what you want. "
52 " Notice the difference from the earlier equations? All of the evolutionary and biological formulas focus us on the numerator of our haves. If you are unsatisfied in life, that’s what you most likely have been doing all these years. But that ignores the denominator of the equation—the wants. As you increase your haves without managing your wants, your wants will proliferate and sprawl. You can easily be less and less satisfied as you move up the success ladder, because your wants will always outstrip your haves. And when they do, your satisfaction will fall. "
53 " Nothing is about honest disagreement; it is all about your interlocutor’s lack of basic human decency. "
54 " • Households headed by a “conservative” give, on average, 30 percent more dollars to charity than households headed by a “liberal. "
55 " Rule 3. Say no to contempt. Treat others with love and respect, even when it’s difficult. "
56 " I must come back to a point I have made repeatedly: never treat others with contempt, even if you believe they deserve it. "
57 " Rule 4. Disagree better. Be part of a healthy competition of ideas. "
58 " We all want a safer, fairer, more prosperous country. We just disagree on how to achieve that aim. We need a passionate competition of ideas so that each side refines its solutions, becomes more innovative, and therefore the best ideas rise to the top. Shutting down the competition of ideas makes it harder to achieve our common moral goals. "
59 " Satisfaction comes not from chasing bigger and bigger things, but paying attention to smaller and smaller things. "
60 " Data from 2002 suggest that people who identified as “conservative” or “extremely conservative” made up less than one-fifth of the population but provided more than a quarter of all blood donations. "