ABOUT THE SPEAKER
David Brooks - Op-ed columnist
Writer and thinker David Brooks has covered business, crime and politics over a long career in journalism.

Why you should listen

David Brooks became an Op-Ed columnist for The New York Times in September 2003. He is currently a commentator on "The PBS Newshour," NPR’s "All Things Considered" and NBC's "Meet the Press."

He is the author of Bobos in Paradise and The Social Animal. In April 2015, he released with his fourth book, The Road to Character, which was a #1 New York Times bestseller.

Brooks also teaches at Yale University, and is a member of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences.

Born on August 11, 1961 in Toronto, Canada, Brooks graduated a bachelor of history from the University of Chicago in 1983. He became a police reporter for the City News Bureau, a wire service owned jointly by the Chicago Tribune and Sun-Times.

He worked at The Washington Times and then The Wall Street Journal for nine years. His last post at the Journal was as Op-ed Editor. Prior to that, he was posted in Brussels, covering Russia, the Middle East, South Africa and European affairs. His first post at the Journal was as editor of the book review section, and he filled in as the Journal's movie critic.

He also served as a senior editor at The Weekly Standard for 9 years, as well as contributing editor for The Atlantic and Newsweek.

More profile about the speaker
David Brooks | Speaker | TED.com
TED2014

David Brooks: Should you live for your résumé ... or your eulogy?

David Brooks: Será que devemos viver para o currículo... ou para o elogio fúnebre?

Filmed:
2,720,594 views

Dentro de cada um de nós há dois egos, sugere David Brooks nesta curta palestra meditativa: o ego que almeja pelo sucesso, que constrói um currículo, e o ego que busca conexão, comunidade, amor, os valores que compões um grande elogio fúnebre. (Joseph Soloveitchik chamou esses egos de "Adam I" e "Adam II".) Brooks pergunta: será que conseguimos equilibrar esses dois egos?
- Op-ed columnist
Writer and thinker David Brooks has covered business, crime and politics over a long career in journalism. Full bio

Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.

Eu estive pensando na diferença
00:12
So I've been thinking about the difference between
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entre as virtudes do currículo
e as virtudes do elogio fúnebre.
00:14
the résumé virtues and
the eulogy virtues.
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00:17
The résumé virtues are the
ones you put on your résumé,
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As virtudes do currículo
são as que colocamos no currículo,
00:20
which are the skills
you bring to the marketplace.
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que são as habilidades
que levamos ao mercado.
As virtudes do elogio fúnebre são aquelas
00:23
The eulogy virtues are the ones
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que são mencionadas no elogio fúnebre,
00:25
that get mentioned in the eulogy,
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00:27
which are deeper: who are you,
in your depth,
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que são mais profundas:
quem somos em profundidade,
00:30
what is the nature of your relationships,
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qual é a natureza de seus relacionamentos,
00:31
are you bold, loving, dependable, consistency?
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somos audaciosos, carinhosos,
dependentes, consistentes?
00:35
And most of us, including
me, would say
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E a maioria de nós, eu inclusive, diria
00:36
that the eulogy virtues are the
more important of the virtues.
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que as virtudes do elogio fúnebre
são as virtudes mais importantes.
00:40
But at least in my case,
are they the ones that
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Mas pelo menos para mim,
será que é nelas
que penso na maior parte do tempo?
E a resposta é não.
00:42
I think about the most?
And the answer is no.
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00:45
So I've been thinking about that problem,
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Estive pensando nesse problema,
e um pensador que me ajudou nisso
00:47
and a thinker who has
helped me think about it
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00:48
is a guy named Joseph Soloveitchik, who was a rabbi
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foi Joseph Soloveitchik, um rabino,
00:50
who wrote a book called "The
Lonely Man Of Faith" in 1965.
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que escreveu um livro chamado
"The Lonely Man Of Faith", em 1965.
00:53
Soloveitchik said there are two sides of our natures,
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Soloveitchik disse que há
dois lados de nossas naturezas,
00:56
which he called Adam I
and Adam II.
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os quais chamou de Adam I e Adam II.
00:59
Adam I is the worldly, ambitious,
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Adam I é o lado mundano,
01:00
external side of our nature.
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ambicioso e externo de nossa natureza.
01:03
He wants to build, create,
create companies,
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Ele quer construir, criar, criar empresas,
01:05
create innovation.
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criar inovação.
01:06
Adam II is the humble
side of our nature.
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Adam II é o lado humilde
de nossa natureza.
01:09
Adam II wants not only
to do good but to be good,
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Adam II não quer só fazer o bem,
mas ser bom,
01:12
to live in a way internally
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viver internamente de modo
01:14
that honors God, creation and our possibilities.
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a honrar a Deus, à criação
e a nossas possibilidades.
01:18
Adam I wants to conquer the world.
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Adam I quer conquistar o mundo.
01:19
Adam II wants to hear
a calling and obey the world.
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Adam II quer ouvir um chamado
e obedecer o mundo.
01:22
Adam I savors accomplishment.
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Adam II saboreia conquistas.
01:25
Adam II savors inner
consistency and strength.
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Adam II saboreia
consistência interna e força.
01:27
Adam I asks how things work.
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Adam I pergunta como as coisas funcionam.
01:30
Adam II asks why we're here.
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Adam II pergunta por que estamos aqui.
01:32
Adam I's motto is "success."
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O lema de Adam I é "sucesso".
01:35
Adam II's motto is "love, redemption and return."
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O lema de Adam II
é "amor, redenção e retorno".
E Soloveitchik argumentou
que esses dois lados
01:39
And Soloveitchik argued
that these two sides
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01:41
of our nature are
at war with each other.
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de nossa natureza
estão em guerra entre si.
01:43
We live in perpetual self-confrontation
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Vivemos num perpétuo autoconfronto
01:45
between the external success and the internal value.
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entre o sucesso externo e o valor interno.
01:49
And the tricky thing,
I'd say, about these
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E o mais curioso, eu diria,
nesses lados da natureza é que trabalham
01:51
two sides of our nature is they work
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01:53
by different logics.
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por lógicas diferentes.
01:55
The external logic is
an economic logic:
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A lógica externa é uma lógica econômica:
01:57
input leads to output,
risk leads to reward.
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uma entrada gera uma saída,
o risco leva à recompensa.
02:01
The internal side of our nature
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O lado interno de nossa natureza
02:03
is a moral logic and
often an inverse logic.
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é uma lógica moral e muitas vezes
uma lógica inversa.
02:06
You have to give to receive.
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É preciso dar para receber.
02:08
You have to surrender
to something outside yourself
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É preciso se render a algo externo
02:10
to gain strength within yourself.
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para ganhar força interna.
É preciso conquistar o desejo
para conseguir o que se quer.
02:12
You have to conquer the
desire to get what you want.
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02:14
In order to fulfill yourself,
you have to forget yourself.
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Para completar-se é preciso se esquecer.
02:17
In order to find yourself,
you have to lose yourself.
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Para encontrar-se é preciso se perder.
Acontece que vivemos
numa sociedade que favorece Adam I,
02:21
We happen to live in a society
that favors Adam I,
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02:24
and often neglects Adam II.
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e muitas vezes negligencia Adam II.
02:27
And the problem is, that turns
you into a shrewd animal
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E o problema é que isso
nos torna animais astutos,
que consideram a vida um jogo,
02:30
who treats life as a game,
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02:31
and you become a cold,
calculating creature
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e nos tornamos criaturas
frias e calculistas,
02:34
who slips into a sort of mediocrity
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que caem num tipo de mediocridade
onde percebemos que há uma diferença
02:37
where you realize there's a difference
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02:38
between your desired
self and your actual self.
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entre seu eu desejado e seu eu verdadeiro.
02:41
You're not earning the sort of eulogy you want,
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Não estamos merecendo
o elogio fúnebre que queremos
02:45
you hope someone will give to you.
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que alguém nos faça.
02:46
You don't have the
depth of conviction.
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Não temos a profundidade da convicção.
02:48
You don't have an emotional sonorousness.
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Não temos uma sonoridade emocional.
02:51
You don't have
commitment to tasks
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Não temos compromisso com tarefas
02:52
that would take more than a lifetime to commit.
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que precisariam de mais de uma vida
para nos comprometermos.
02:56
I was reminded of a common
response through history
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Lembraram-me de uma resposta
comum, através da história,
02:59
of how you build a solid Adam II,
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de como construir um Adam II sólido,
03:02
how you build a depth of character.
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como construir profundidade de caráter.
03:04
Through history, people
have gone back
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Pela história, as pessoas voltaram
03:07
into their own pasts,
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em seus próprios passados,
às vezes para uma época
preciosa em suas vidas,
03:09
sometimes to a precious
time in their life,
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03:11
to their childhood,
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para sua infância,
03:12
and often, the mind
gravitates in the past
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e, muitas vezes,
a mente gravita no passado
03:16
to a moment of shame,
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em um momento de vergonha,
03:18
some sin committed,
some act of selfishness,
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um pecado cometido, um ato de egoísmo,
03:21
an act of omission, of shallowness,
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um ato de omissão, de superficialidade,
03:23
the sin of anger, the sin of self-pity,
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o pecado da raiva,
o pecado da pena de si mesmo,
03:26
trying to be a people-pleaser,
a lack of courage.
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tentar agradar todo mundo,
uma falta de coragem.
03:29
Adam I is built by
building on your strengths.
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Adam I se constrói
trabalhando nossas forças.
03:34
Adam II is built by fighting
your weaknesses.
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Adam II se constrói
lutando contra nossas fraquezas.
03:38
You go into yourself,
you find the sin
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Entramos em nós mesmos,
encontramos o pecado
cometido repetidamente
em nossas vidas,
03:41
which you've committed over
and again through your life,
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03:42
your signature sin
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nosso pecado específico,
03:44
out of which the others emerge,
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do qual os outros emergem,
03:47
and you fight that sin and you wrestle with that sin,
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e lutamos contra esse pecado
e combatemos esse pecado,
03:50
and out of that wrestling,
that suffering,
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e dessa luta, desse sofrimento,
03:53
then a depth of character is constructed.
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assim uma profundidade
de caráter se constrói.
E normalmente não nos ensinam a reconhecer
03:57
And we're often not
taught to recognize
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o pecado dentro de nós,
03:58
the sin in ourselves,
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04:00
in that we're not taught in this culture
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não somos ensinados nesta cultura
a como combatê-lo,
04:01
how to wrestle with it,
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04:03
how to confront it,
and how to combat it.
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como confrontá-lo e como enfrentá-lo.
04:06
We live in a culture
with an Adam I mentality
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Vivemos numa cultura
com a mentalidade de Adam I,
04:09
where we're inarticulate
about Adam II.
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em que não nos pronunciamos sobre Adam II.
04:13
Finally, Reinhold Niebuhr
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Finalmente, Reinhold Niebuhr
04:14
summed up the confrontation, the fully lived
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resumiu o confronto, a vida
04:16
Adam I and Adam II life, this way:
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vivida completamente
com Adam I e Adam II, assim:
04:20
"Nothing that is worth doing
can be achieved in our lifetime;
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"Nada que vale a pena fazer
pode ser alcançado durante a vida;
04:23
therefore we must
be saved by hope.
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portanto, precisamos
nos salvar pela esperança.
04:26
Nothing which is true or
beautiful or good makes
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Nada que é verdadeiro, bonito ou bom
04:29
complete sense in any immediate context of history;
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tem sentido completo
em qualquer contexto histórico imediato;
04:32
therefore we must be saved by faith.
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portanto, precisamos nos salvar pela fé.
04:34
Nothing we do, however virtuous,
can be accomplished alone;
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Nada que fazemos, por mais virtuoso,
pode ser realizado sozinho;
04:38
therefore we must
be saved by love.
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portanto, precisamos nos salvar pelo amor.
04:41
No virtuous act is quite as virtuous
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Nenhum ato virtuoso é tão virtuoso
04:44
from the standpoint of our friend
or foe as from our own standpoint.
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do ponto de vista de nosso amigo ou inimigo
como de nosso próprio ponto de vista.
04:48
Therefore we must be saved
by that final form of love,
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Portanto, precisamos nos salvar
pela forma final do amor,
04:50
which is forgiveness.”
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que é o perdão."
Obrigado.
04:52
Thanks.
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(Aplausos)
04:54
(Applause)
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Translated by Gustavo Rocha
Reviewed by Leonardo Silva

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ABOUT THE SPEAKER
David Brooks - Op-ed columnist
Writer and thinker David Brooks has covered business, crime and politics over a long career in journalism.

Why you should listen

David Brooks became an Op-Ed columnist for The New York Times in September 2003. He is currently a commentator on "The PBS Newshour," NPR’s "All Things Considered" and NBC's "Meet the Press."

He is the author of Bobos in Paradise and The Social Animal. In April 2015, he released with his fourth book, The Road to Character, which was a #1 New York Times bestseller.

Brooks also teaches at Yale University, and is a member of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences.

Born on August 11, 1961 in Toronto, Canada, Brooks graduated a bachelor of history from the University of Chicago in 1983. He became a police reporter for the City News Bureau, a wire service owned jointly by the Chicago Tribune and Sun-Times.

He worked at The Washington Times and then The Wall Street Journal for nine years. His last post at the Journal was as Op-ed Editor. Prior to that, he was posted in Brussels, covering Russia, the Middle East, South Africa and European affairs. His first post at the Journal was as editor of the book review section, and he filled in as the Journal's movie critic.

He also served as a senior editor at The Weekly Standard for 9 years, as well as contributing editor for The Atlantic and Newsweek.

More profile about the speaker
David Brooks | Speaker | TED.com