Love Your Enemies: How Decent People Can Save America from the Culture of Contempt
NATIONAL BESTSELLER
To get ahead today, you have to be a jerk, right?
Divisive politicians. Screaming heads on television. Angry campus activists. Twitter trolls. Today in America, there is an "outrage industrial complex" that prospers by setting American against American, creating a "culture of contempt"--the habit of seeing people who disagree with us not as merely incorrect, but as worthless and defective. Maybe, like more than nine out of ten Americans, you dislike it. But hey, either you play along, or you'll be left behind, right?
Wrong.
In Love Your Enemies, social scientist and author of the #1 New York Times bestseller From Strength to Strength Arthur C. Brooks shows that abuse and outrage are not the right formula for lasting success. Brooks blends cutting-edge behavioral research, ancient wisdom, and a decade of experience leading one of America's top policy think tanks in a work that offers a better way to lead based on bridging divides and mending relationships.
Brooks' prescriptions are unconventional. To bring America together, we shouldn't try to agree more. There is no need for mushy moderation, because disagreement is the secret to excellence. Civility and tolerance shouldn't be our goals, because they are hopelessly low standards. And our feelings toward our foes are irrelevant; what matters is how we choose to act.
Love Your Enemies offers a clear strategy for victory for a new generation of leaders. It is a rallying cry for people hoping for a new era of American progress. Most of all, it is a roadmap to arrive at the happiness that comes when we choose to love one another, despite our differences.
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Arthur C. Brooks is the William Henry Bloomberg Professor of the Practice of Public Leadership at the Harvard Kennedy School, and Professor of Management Practice at the Harvard Business School, where he teaches courses on leadership and happiness. He is also a columnist at The Atlantic, where he writes the popular weekly “How to Build a Life” column. Brooks is the author of 12 books, including the 2022 #1 New York Times bestseller From Strength to Strength: Finding Success, Happiness, and Deep Purpose in the Second Half of Life. He speaks to audiences all around the world about human happiness, and works to raise well-being within private companies, universities, public agencies, and community organizations.
"Arthur Brooks offers the practical prescription in Love Your Enemies that could lead to a more peaceful, just, sustainable, and healthier world."--Deepak Chopra, Author, The Healing Self
"Love Your Enemies is a handbook for a new generation of leaders who want to bring America together--and anyone seeking to be more effective in a fractious political environment."--Steve Case, Chairman and CEO of Revolution and co-founder of AOL
"In Love Your Enemies, Arthur Brooks reminds us that we can disagree without being disagreeable, and that everyday citizens have the power to bring our country back together."--David Axelrod, former Senior Advisor to President Barack Obama
"If you're satisfied with our toxic ideological climate, then don't bother reading this book. But if you'd like to rebel against the present nonsense, Arthur Brooks can show us how to do it with joy and confidence -- and regardless of your political preferences."--Ben Sasse, U.S. Senator from Nebraska
"If we won't listen to each other, maybe we can start by listening to Arthur Brooks. Love Your Enemies offers a heartfelt and patriotic case for how we can put our contempt aside to work together again."--Simon Sinek, Optimist and New York Times Bestselling Author of Start With Why and Leaders Eat Last
"The signal achievement of Arthur Brooks' latest book is to demonstrate how the seemingly 'soft' virtues of love, friendship, and warm-heartedness are, in point of fact, the very qualities most needed to make real progress in the rough and tumble of the political and cultural conversation."--Bishop Robert Barron, Founder of Word on Fire Catholic Ministries and Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles
