Arthur C. Brooks Quotes & Sayings

There is a lot to be mad about in America today, but we must never forget that our cause is a joyous one. Conservatives should be optimists who believe in people. We champion hope and opportunity. Fighting for people, helping those who need us, and saving the country - this is, and should be, happy work. — Arthur C. Brooks

pessimists see people as liabilities to manage, as burdens or threats that we must minimize. — Arthur C. Brooks

The system that enables the most people to earn the most success is free enterprise, by matching up people's skills, interests, and abilities. In contrast, redistribution simply spreads money around. Even worse, it attenuates the ability to earn success by perverting economic incentives. — Arthur C. Brooks

ago? No. Setting aside a host of policy problems, even the phrase "compassionate conservatism" is problematic. It validates those who falsely claim that conservatives are uncompassionate in the first place. It grafts "compassion" onto conservatism like an unnatural appendage. This is a major error. Notwithstanding our communication failures, a creed that flows from the optimistic belief that every person is valuable and capable of earned success is inherently compassionate to the core. — Arthur C. Brooks

Whether we look at capitalism, taxes, business, or government, the data show a clear and consistent pattern: 70 percent of Americans support the free enterprise system and are unsupportive of big government. — Arthur C. Brooks

There is nothing inherently fair about equalizing incomes. If the government penalizes you for working harder than somebody else, that is unfair. If you save your money but retire with the same pension as a free-spending neighbor, that is also unfair. — Arthur C. Brooks

Meaningful progress toward social justice cannot be made in sclerotic education systems that put adults' job security before children's civil rights. — Arthur C. Brooks

As a political independent, I would gladly vote for any political party dedicated to limited government and entrepreneurship. — Arthur C. Brooks

The battle is on, and nothing less than the soul of America is at stake. — Arthur C. Brooks

The key to happiness is not being rich; it's doing something arduous and creating something of value and then being able to reflect on the fruits of your labor. — Arthur C. Brooks

The more control you have over your life, the more responsible you feel for your own success - or failure. — Arthur C. Brooks

Liberals are more likely to see people as victims of circumstance and oppression, and doubt whether individuals can climb without governmental help. My own analysis using 2005 survey data from Syracuse University shows that about 90 percent of conservatives agree that "While people may begin with different opportunities, hard work and perseverance can usually overcome those disadvantages." Liberals - even upper-income liberals - are a third less likely to say this. — Arthur C. Brooks

We will have bigger bureaucracies, bigger labor unions, and bigger state-run corporations. It will be harder to be an entrepreneur because of punitive taxes and regulations. The rewards of success will be expropriated for the sake of attaining greater income equality. — Arthur C. Brooks

The ideals of free enterprise and global leadership, central to American conservatism, are responsible for the greatest reduction in human misery since mankind began its long climb from the swamp to the stars. — Arthur C. Brooks

No one sighs regretfully on his deathbed and says, "I can't believe I wasted all that time with my wife and kids," "volunteering at the soup kitchen," or "growing in my spirituality." No one ever says, "I should have spent more time watching TV and playing Angry Birds on my phone." In my own life, nothing has given my life more meaning and satisfaction than my Catholic faith and the love of my — Arthur C. Brooks

Conservatives are better talking about opportunity and growth in the abstract, while liberals talk more about poor people. We [americans] need a good, optimistic, conservative opportunity ideology that is totally geared toward lifting up the poor. That's what I most want to see in candidates. — Arthur C. Brooks

FDR created today's 30 percent coalition. Obama wants to finish the job by turning it into a permanent ruling majority. There's nothing new about the Obama Narrative. It is the FDR Narrative on steroids. It is intended to lead to greater statism and political gain. — Arthur C. Brooks

Free enterprise is essentially a formula not just for wealth creation, but for life satisfaction. — Arthur C. Brooks

Conservatives have the most effective solutions for human flourishing in our intellectual DNA. Our ideas have lifted up people all over the world. But the American people do not trust us to put those principles into practice to help those who need help right here. — Arthur C. Brooks

Yes, free markets tend to produce unequal incomes. We should not be ashamed of that. On the contrary, our system is the envy of the world and should be a source of pride. — Arthur C. Brooks

He possessed an unflinching belief that all people - the poor, children, the elderly - were human assets, waiting to be developed so they could earn their success. — Arthur C. Brooks

In my book I don't just demonstrate that free enterprise is the most efficient way of organizing an economy - which it is. I also show that it's an expression of American values, and, thus, that a fight for free enterprise is very much a fight for our culture. — Arthur C. Brooks

First, we should concentrate each day on the happiness portfolio: faith, family, community, and earned success through work. Teach it to those around you, and fight against the barriers to these things. Second, resist the worldly formula of misery, which is to use people and love things. Instead, remember your core values and live by the true formula: Love people and use things. Third, celebrate the free enterprise system, which creates abundance for the most people - especially the poor. But always remember that the love of money is the root of all evil, and that the ideal life requires abundance without attachment. — Arthur C. Brooks

There's a general intuition around the nonprofit world these days that younger generations are less likely to join. But I have found in my research that that's quite wrong. — Arthur C. Brooks

If you think spreading money around by force seems like an odd definition of fairness, you're not alone. — Arthur C. Brooks

Happiness isn't found in some finite checklist of goals that we can diligently complete and then coast. It's how we live our lives in the process. That's why the four pillars of happiness are faith, family, community and meaningful work. Those are priorities we have to keep investing in. — Arthur C. Brooks

Franklin Roosevelt had warned in his 1935 State of the Union address that "continued dependence" on government support "induces a spiritual and moral disintegration fundamentally destructive to the national fiber. To dole out relief in this way is to administer a narcotic, a subtle destroyer of the human spirit. — Arthur C. Brooks

The truth is that relative income is not directly related to happiness. Nonpartisan social-survey data clearly show that the big driver of happiness is earned success: a person's belief that he has created value in his life or the life of others. — Arthur C. Brooks

What the United States needs is for a unifying, positive, aspirational force to sweep through our national community. American conservatives have a generational opportunity to become precisely this kind of force. We have a shot, if we take it, to help every single American build a better life, and unite our nation in the process. — Arthur C. Brooks