The Road to Character

The humility of Bing Crosby, who hosted this WWII victory radio broadcast that aired on D-Day, along with the other celebrities involved, forms a collective moral compass. Their beacon of humility, which exemplifies Adam II character from a bygone era, is the real-life example that Brooks places in direct contrast with an unnamed football quarterback’s victory laps. While there was certainly carousing and celebration at street level on D-Day, celebrities, politicians, and public figures did not use the victory to self-aggrandize. 

This German philosopher, who lived from 1724-1804, influenced Age of Enlightenment moral thought and has left a lasting impact on present-day Western philosophical discourse. He pioneered the doctrine of Transcendental Idealism, in which the human mind structures and shapes all experience. Brooks’ use of the term “crooked timber” emerges from a famous Kant quote: “Out of the crooked timber of humanity, no straight thing was ever made.”

This American sociologist and workers’ rights advocate lived from 1880-1965. Born to a well-off Boston family and educated at Mount Holyoke College, Perkins spent her early days as a young society woman in New York City. It was a gathering amidst these social circles that placed her as a direct eyewitness to the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire, which was the galvanizing event in her life.