From Strength to Strength: Finding Success, Happiness, and Deep Purpose in the Second Half of Life

“Though these questions were personal, I decided to approach them as the social scientist I am, treating them as a research project. It felt unnatural—like a surgeon taking out his own appendix.”

This quote gives the reader a sense of the personal stakes involved for Brooks. Brooks uses a simile, comparing something to something else using “like” or “as”—“It felt unnatural—like a surgeon taking out his own appendix.” In this case, Brooks’s line of questioning feels as awkward and painful as operating on himself.

“A word of caution, though: This path means going against many of your striverly instincts. I’m going to ask you not to deny your weaknesses but rather to embrace them defenselessly.”

Brooks speaks to readers directly, using “you,” which is perhaps an attempt to establish intimacy. He acknowledges the uphill battle of embracing a new path, advocating that high-achieving people go against almost all of their instincts to reach a valuable end result. There’s no escaping mental decline; there is only a choice about how to manage it.

“In his last years, Darwin was still very famous—indeed, after his death he was buried as a national hero in Westminster Abbey—but he was increasingly unhappy about his life, seeing his work as unsatisfying, unsatisfactory, and unoriginal.”

Brooks begins Chapter 1 with an anecdote about one of history’s most famous scientists. An anecdote or story is a more personal form of writing; Brooks may have used these to draw readers in. By using Darwin as an example, Brooks is making it clear from the start that no one escapes mental decline, not even the best minds. Darwin’s story echoes that of the famous man on the plane.