Super Soul Summer: David Brooks The Road To Character
Oprah's Super Soul
Oprah
4.6 • 33.1K Ratings
🗓️ 27 August 2025
⏱️ 34 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Enjoy this episode, specially selected for our Super Soul Summer—a series celebrating some of the greatest Super Soul moments and messages to inspire and uplift your spirit. New York Times columnist, political pundit and bestselling author David Brooks reveals how we can discover and build a stronger, more meaningful moral character and deeper inner life. David shares his personal and well-researched path on the road to “save his own soul.” He takes listeners on a journey through history, sharing examples of people who cultivated their own character with self-sacrifice and honor. David also shares his thoughts on vulnerability, the importance of believing in yourself and gaining strength from those around you.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | I'm Oprah Winfrey. Welcome to Super Soul Conversations, the podcast. I believe that one of the most |
| 0:07.8 | valuable gifts you can give yourself is time. Taking time to be more fully present. Your journey |
| 0:16.6 | to become more inspired and connected to the deeper world around us starts right now. |
| 0:24.1 | I'm talking with the author of the bestselling book, The Road to Character, New York Times |
| 0:30.1 | columnist David Brooks. In his columns for the New York Times and as a political pundit on television, |
| 0:36.9 | David Brooks is known for his conservative |
| 0:38.8 | opinions. The Road to Character is a surprisingly candid look into David's personal journey, |
| 0:45.2 | searching for his own set of values and the path to deepening his soul. As I read his book, |
| 0:50.9 | I knew I wanted to have a super-soul conversation with David about the essence and deeper meaning of character. |
| 0:58.3 | I think this is so fascinating that you were considered one of the preeminent political pundits, literally, in the country, and respected and admired. |
| 1:08.2 | And yet you opened the book in your intro, right there on page 8, you |
| 1:13.2 | write this. I wrote it, this book, to be honest, to save my own soul. I was born with a natural |
| 1:21.0 | disposition toward shallowness. I now work as a pundit and columnist. I'm paid to be a narcissistic blowhard. |
| 1:28.8 | I thought, that's so great that you know that's what you were paid to do. |
| 1:32.9 | To volley my opinions, to appear more confident about them than I really am, |
| 1:37.7 | to appear smarter than I really am, to appear better and more authoritative than I really am. |
| 1:43.9 | I have to work harder than most people |
| 1:45.9 | to avoid a life of smug superficiality. |
| 1:50.1 | Bravo to you for at least having that level of self-awareness. |
| 1:54.0 | So why did you write a book to save your own soul? |
| 1:57.1 | I think all books you should try. |
| 1:59.8 | You know, those are the sentences my friends think are the truest sentences in the book. |
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