Moral Ambition

Stop Wasting Your Talent and Start Making a Difference

By: Rutger Bregman, Erica Moore - translator

Narrated by: Boris Hiestand, Rutger Bregman

From the author of the New York Times bestsellers Humankind and Utopia for Realists—“a more politically radical Malcolm Gladwell” (The New York Times)—comes a bold manifesto daring us to harness our talents and transform our idealism into action, all with the goal of making the world a wildly better place.

A career consists of 2,000 workweeks, and how you spend that time is one of the most important decisions of your life. Still, millions of people are stuck in in mind-numbing, pointless, or just plain harmful jobs.

There’s an antidote to this waste of talent, and it’s called moral ambition. Moral ambition is the will to be among the best, but with different measures of success. Not a fancy title, fat salary, or corner office, but a career dedicated to the best solutions to the world's biggest problems— whether that means tackling climate change, making pandemics history or fighting Big Tobacco.

In Moral Ambition, internationally bestselling author Rutger Bregman reveals how our conventional definitions of success are harming us and the planet, and shows how we can shift the focus from personal gain to societal benefit. In the process, he explains, we will join a growing movement of pioneers who are already living out this ethos. They're the builders, the problem-solvers, the doers who have chosen a path less traveled. A guidebook to finding that path for ourselves, Moral Ambition reminds us that the real measure of success lies not in what we accumulate, but in what we contribute, and shows how we, too, can build a legacy that truly matters.

The audiobook edition features an interview between Rutger and his editor, Alexander Littlefield.

Critic reviews

“Rutger Bregman’s latest work isn’t merely a book; it’s a call to action for humanity to re-evaluate our paradigms of success and impact in the world. It serves as a stark wake-up call, urging us to truly utilize our talents to create the future we all wish to live in.”—Trevor Noah

“This book is the wakeup call that our world sorely needs. With his signature clarity and conviction, Rutger Bregman boldly and brilliantly challenges us to hold ourselves to higher standards—and do more for others. Moral Ambition is the rare read that might actually help you become a better person.”—Adam Grant, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Think Again and Hidden Potential, and host of the podcast Re:Thinking

"Rutger Bregman challenges the reader to use their lives to improve the world. A bracing but ultimately uplifting wake-up call for a culture increasingly drowning in distraction and consumption!"—Cal Newport, New York Times bestselling author of Slow Productivity and Deep Work

“Fresh, lucid, and persuasive, Moral Ambition gives us hope, humor, and guidance at a time when all are in short supply. Bregman’s version of our century is ever so much better than the one around us, and so we should all read, consider, and act.”—Timothy Snyder, #1 New York Times bestselling author of On Tyranny

“‘Find something worth doing’ seems like sage advice for us all—and on this beleaguered planet, as this book makes clear, that means digging into the very biggest problems.”—Bill McKibben, founder of 350.org and Third Act, author of The End of Nature

"Moral Ambition offers a refreshing antidote to both cynical fatalism and naive idealism. If you’re willing to trade a life of comfort for a life of meaning, Rutger Bregman is your guide and this book is your map.”—Daniel H. Pink, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Power of Regret, Drive, and When

"This is one of very few books in my life that has changed how I view the world (and my world, too!). It is a true bible of realistic idealism. It takes awareness of 'getting things done' to a new level, with a dynamic invitation to up each of our games. This is a must read."—David Allen, author of Getting Things Done

“We have come to accept so many things as normal—skyrocketing inequalities, gargantuan firms ruling our lives, virtue signaling on social media instead of democratic participation, all of us just worrying about our image while the world is on fire. We need to dream of and articulate to each other an alternative vision for a society in which we have control over our lives and can still speak truth to power via the democratic process and free media. I hope this readable, audacious book calling for greater moral ambition can be a first step.”—Daron Acemoglu, Professor at MIT and winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics in 2024

You’re probably a loser

If you’re content with your successful career and modest contributions to society, you may not want to read this book. If you graduated top of your class and then went into consulting in order achieve peak social status, you may find the content of this book disruptive. But if there’s any part of you, even the smallest part, that asks whether your life has meaning, you should read this book. It provides a framework for measuring your life choices and a few small arguments for potentially reconsidering them.

Galvanizing even amidst the backdrop of how hopeless the world seems

This book was the galvanizing kick my burnout and hopelessness needed. I highly recommend it

Make the impossible inevitable.

Bregman is a seer, a visionary, and this, his most accessible book yet, is a blueprint for how we, the human species, might approach a future that we can all live in. Absolutely essential listening / reading - one of the most hopeful books of the first quarter (and a year!) of the 21st century.

Timely

This addresses so many factors I’ve racked in my own ability, frustration and helplessness. Highly recommend for those looking to drive meaningful impact and not just squawk.

I wish more people thought this way

I found it very informative. but I do believe alot of what the author has said and say it myself all the time. let's hope more people chose to change the world in the near future. I can not believe we haven't found a cure for malaria!!!