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How to Know a Person
A practical, heartfelt guide to the art of truly knowing another person in order to foster deeper connections at home, at work, and throughout our lives—from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Road to Character and The Second Mountain
As David Brooks observes, “There is one skill that lies at the heart of any healthy person, family, school, community organization, or society: the ability to see someone else deeply and make them feel seen—to accurately know another person, to let them feel valued, heard, and understood.”
And yet we humans don’t do this well. All around us are people who feel invisible, unseen, misunderstood. In How to Know a Person, Brooks sets out to help us do better, posing questions that are essential for all of us: If you want to know a person, what kind of attention should you cast on them? What kind of conversations should you have? What parts of a person’s story should you pay attention to?
Driven by his trademark sense of curiosity and his determination to grow as a person, Brooks draws from the fields of psychology and neuroscience and from the worlds of theater, philosophy, history, and education to present a welcoming, hopeful, integrated approach to human connection. How to Know a Person helps readers become more understanding and considerate toward others, and to find the joy that comes from being seen. Along the way it offers a possible remedy for a society that is riven by fragmentation, hostility, and misperception.
The act of seeing another person, Brooks argues, is profoundly creative: How can we look somebody in the eye and see something large in them, and in turn, see something larger in ourselves? How to Know a Person is for anyone searching for connection, and yearning to be understood.
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Reviews
This book explores so many aspects of communication and connection that are essential to living a happy, meaningful life. Highly recommended.
By M_Lubo
I have enjoyed reading my entire life and I seem to read certain books at the right time of my life. I wish I had been able to read this book 25 years ago! Thank you
By Fl tracker
Fantastic.
By G$$123
10/10. Read the book and started dating. Met a girl with avoidant disorder personality, loved her to death trying to understand her and I can’t. Nah I ain’t trying to understand others completely anymore. It’s just stupid.
By Kejkebrj
Holy moly!!! Everyone must read this book….it is a life altering experience and truly captures the human experience and how it alters our perception and therefore our lives. And even then by seeing this we can transcend our own perceptions and see those of others thereby bridging the disconnect. Thank you 🙏
By pulsenbeat