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

Translator: Anders Finn Jørgensen Reviewer: Troels Larsen

So I've been thinking about the difference between

Så jeg har tænkt over forskellen mellem

the résumé virtues and the eulogy virtues.

dyderne på et CV og dyderne i en mindetale.

The résumé virtues are the ones you put on your résumé,

CV-dyderne er dem du putter i dit CV,

which are the skills you bring to the marketplace.

som er de færdigheder hvorved du sælger dig på markedet.

The eulogy virtues are the ones

Dyderne i en mindetale, er dem

that get mentioned in the eulogy,

som vil blive sagt i en mindetale,

which are deeper: who are you, in your depth,

som er dybere: Hvem du dybest set er,

what is the nature of your relationships,

hvad er naturen af dine relationer

are you bold, loving, dependable, consistency?

er du modig, elskelig, troværdig, sammenhængende?

And most of us, including me, would say

Og de fleste af os, inklusiv mig selv, vil sige

that the eulogy virtues are the more important of the virtues.

at dyderne i en mindetale er de vigtigste af dyderne.

But at least in my case, are they the ones that

Men, i det mindste i mit tilfælde, er de såT dem

I think about the most? And the answer is no.

jeg tænker mest på? Og svaret er nej.

So I've been thinking about that problem,

Jeg har tænkt over det problem,

and a thinker who has helped me think about it

og en tænker som har hjulpet mig med at tænke over det

is a guy named Joseph Soloveitchik, who was a rabbi

er en fyr kaldet Joseph Soloveitchik, som var en rabbiner

who wrote a book called "The Lonely Man Of Faith" in 1965.

der skrev en bog kaldet: "Den ensomme troens mand" i 1965

Soloveitchik said there are two sides of our natures,

Soloveitchik sagde at der er to sider af vores natur,

which he called Adam I and Adam II.

som han kaldte Adam 1 og Adam 2.

Adam I is the worldly, ambitious,

Adam 1 er den verdslige, ambitiøse,

external side of our nature.

udadvendte side af vores natur.

He wants to build, create, create companies,

Ham der vil bygge, skabe, danne virksomheder,

create innovation.

skabe innovation.

Adam II is the humble side of our nature.

Adam 2 er den ydmyge side af vores natur.

Adam II wants not only to do good but to be good,

Adam 2 vil ikke bare gøre det godt, men vil være god,

to live in a way internally

vil leve et sådant indre liv

that honors God, creation and our possibilities.

som ærer gud, skabelsen og vores muligheder.

Adam I wants to conquer the world.

Adam 1 ønsker at erobre verdenen.

Adam II wants to hear a calling and obey the world.

Adam 2 ønsker at høre et kald og adlyde verdenen.

Adam I savors accomplishment.

Adam 1 nyder bedrifter.

Adam II savors inner consistency and strength.

Adam 2 nyder indre sammenhæng og styrke.

Adam I asks how things work.

Adam 1 spørger hvordan tingene fungerer.

Adam II asks why we're here.

Adam 2 spørger hvorfor vi er her.

Adam I's motto is "success."

Adam 1's motto er "succes".

Adam II's motto is "love, redemption and return."

Adam 2's motto er "kærlighed, forløsning og hjemkomst".

And Soloveitchik argued that these two sides

Og Soloveitchik argumenterede for, at disse to sider

of our nature are at war with each other.

af vores natur er i krig med hinanden.

We live in perpetual self-confrontation

Vi lever i en evig selv-konfrontation

between the external success and the internal value.

mellem den eksterne succes og de indre værdier.

And the tricky thing, I'd say, about these

Og den besværlige side, vil jeg mene, af disse

two sides of our nature is they work

to sider af vores natur er at de arbejder

by different logics.

efter forskellig logikker.

The external logic is an economic logic:

Den eksterne logik er en økonomisk logik:

input leads to output, risk leads to reward.

Input leder til output, risiko leder til gevinst.

The internal side of our nature

Den interne side af vores natur

is a moral logic and often an inverse logic.

er en moralsk logik og ofte en omvendt logik.

You have to give to receive.

Du må give for at modtage.

You have to surrender to something outside yourself

Du må overgive dig til noget udenfor dig selv

to gain strength within yourself.

for at opnå indre styrke.

You have to conquer the desire to get what you want.

Du må erobre begæret for at få hvad du vil have.

In order to fulfill yourself, you have to forget yourself.

For at indfri dig selv, må du glemme dig selv.

In order to find yourself, you have to lose yourself.

For at finde dig selv, må du tabe dig selv.

We happen to live in a society that favors Adam I,

Vi lever i et samfund som belønner Adam 1,

and often neglects Adam II.

og ofte negligerer Adam 2.

And the problem is, that turns you into a shrewd animal

Og problemet er at det gør dig til et udspekuleret dyr

who treats life as a game,

som betragter livet som et spil,

and you become a cold, calculating creature

og du bliver et koldt kalkulerende bæst,

who slips into a sort of mediocrity

som glider ned i en slags middelmådighed

where you realize there's a difference

hvor du opdager at der er en forskel

between your desired self and your actual self.

mellem dit ønskede selv og dit faktiske selv.

You're not earning the sort of eulogy you want,

Du fortjener ikke den form for mindetale du ønsker,

you hope someone will give to you.

som du håber at nogen vil give dig.

You don't have the depth of conviction.

Du har ikke den dybe overbevisning.

You don't have an emotional sonorousness.

Du har ikke den følelsesmæssige dybde.

You don't have commitment to tasks

Du føler ikke forpligtelse til opgaver

that would take more than a lifetime to commit.

som det vil tage mere end et menneskeliv at udføre.

I was reminded of a common response through history

Jeg blev mindet om et almindeligt svar gennem historien på

of how you build a solid Adam II,

hvordan du bygger en solid Adam 2,

how you build a depth of character.

hvordan du bygger en dyb karakter.

Through history, people have gone back

Igennem historien, er folk gået tilbage

into their own pasts,

til deres egen fortid,

sometimes to a precious time in their life,

nogen gange til en dyrebar tid i deres liv,

to their childhood,

til deres barndom,

and often, the mind gravitates in the past

og ofte vil tankerne i fortiden drages mod

to a moment of shame,

til et øjeblik med skam,

some sin committed, some act of selfishness,

en begået synd, en selvisk handling,

an act of omission, of shallowness,

en udeladt eller overfladisk handling,

the sin of anger, the sin of self-pity,

vredens synd, selvmedlidenheds synd

trying to be a people-pleaser, a lack of courage.

forsøg på at være en spytslikker, mangel på mod.

Adam I is built by building on your strengths.

Adam 1 er bygget på en opbygning af dine styrker.

Adam II is built by fighting your weaknesses.

Adam 2 er bygget på at kæmpe mod dine svagheder.

You go into yourself, you find the sin

Du går ind i dig selv, du finder synden

which you've committed over and again through your life,

som du har begået igen og igen igennem livet,

your signature sin

din signatursynd

out of which the others emerge,

fra hvilken de andre udspringer,

and you fight that sin and you wrestle with that sin,

og du kæmper mod den synd og du brydes med den,

and out of that wrestling, that suffering,

og ud af den brydning, den lidelse

then a depth of character is constructed.

bliver karakterens dybde formet.

And we're often not taught to recognize

Og vi er ofte ikke oplært i at genkende

the sin in ourselves,

synden i os selv,

in that we're not taught in this culture

og vi er ikke oplært i denne kultur

how to wrestle with it,

i hvordan vi skal brydes med den,

how to confront it, and how to combat it.

hvordan vi konfronterer den og hvordan vi bekæmper den.

We live in a culture with an Adam I mentality

Vi lever i en kultur med en Adam 1 mentalitet

where we're inarticulate about Adam II.

og vi er stumme omkring Adam 2.

Finally, Reinhold Niebuhr

Til sidst, Reinhold Niebuhr

summed up the confrontation, the fully lived

opsummerede konfrontationen mellem det fuldt levede

Adam I and Adam II life, this way:

Adam 1 liv og Adam 2 liv, på denne måde:

"Nothing that is worth doing can be achieved in our lifetime;

"Intet der er værd at gøre kan opnås i vores levetid,

therefore we must be saved by hope.

derfor må vi blive frelst af håb.

Nothing which is true or beautiful or good makes

Intet der er sandt eller smukt eller godt giver

complete sense in any immediate context of history;

komplet mening i en umiddelbar historisk sammenhæng.

therefore we must be saved by faith.

Derfor må vi blive frelst igennem tro.

Nothing we do, however virtuous, can be accomplished alone;

Intet vi kan gøre, uanset hvor dydigt, kan blive fuldført alene.

therefore we must be saved by love.

Derfor må vi frelses gennem kærlighed.

No virtuous act is quite as virtuous

Ingen dydig handling er helt så dydig

from the standpoint of our friend or foe as from our own standpoint.

set fra vor ven eller fjendes synspunkt, som fra vores eget

Therefore we must be saved by that final form of love,

Derfor må vi frelses af den endelige form for kærlighed,

which is forgiveness.”

som er tilgivelse."

Thanks.

Mange tak.

(Applause)

(Bifald)