Customer Reviews

Ethical Ambition: Living a Life of Meaning and Worth

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Professor Bell deserves kudos on his latest book,Ethical Ambition. I completed his book several weeeks ago and found it to be food for the soul and mind.
I particularly enjoyed the life and faith lessons that can be learned from this book. Professor Bell's examples of making ethically moral choices even when they are unpopular were extraordinary. The several examples where he resigned due to his employer's lack of inclusiveness, or where he was denied his constitutional right to free association were memorable.
Also, most noteworthy are the examples of the Israeli soldiers that risked court martial for the rights of other people; and the college dean that questioned why the college athletes were allowed to graduate with minimal skills while tutors and professors pass them along. Each one of his examples of human courage made me reflect and feel warm and peaceful inside.
By reading this book, I, too, became reflective and tried to envision how this book had meaning in my life. I remembered the circumstance when I refused to join an organization because I was told not all races were included. I refused to join because the price to my morals and any notion that I have to right and wrong would have been irreparable.

I think one of the main lessons to remember from this book is that we are all here together. We can not live our lives in a vacuum. We must make ethical life choices for the betterment of the human race.

God bless Professor Bell and us too because we are able to read his writing that enrich our lives. Professor Bell is a wonderful person and exquisite writer with vision. I thoroughly enjoyed his thoughtful, knowledgeable and humanistic views of our life experiences. By reading this book, I can truly say I know the value of using ethics and morals to attain a successful relationship and career. This book is a great American story of perserverance, hard work and strong moral fiber that is the fabric of this great country we call America.

I was a student of Professor Bell's at law school many years ago. I have followed his career with interest since then, and have read a number of his marvelous and creative "law books" which explore issues of equality and human rights. Those books are very accessible to readers, whether they are familiar with legal issues or not.
"Ethical Ambition" goes well beyond anything Derrick Bell has ever written. This is his meditation on living a successful and ethical life. I read the book (my first reading) in two nights, and was mesmerized by his stories and insights. I found myself tearing up a sheet of paper and placing it between the pages that I wanted to come back to and further explore. I think the book is intended as a springboard to thought by the reader, as he or she explores his or her own life and the lives of others who have influenced us. It is intended to be shared with others as a "gift"--you want other people to have their own experiences with the book, which is a most effective surrogate for visiting with Professor Bell and the people around him.
I have been asked to speak to a group of law students about the impact of the civil rights movement of the 1960s on the practice of law and the treatment of minority lawyers and clients. I feel that I am infinitely more capable of expressing my own ideas after spending time with this book, which helped to elucidate and clarify ideas that were not well formulated in my own mind.
What more may one ask of a book or a teacher? In addition to what you may gain, this meditation on life's great themes is an easy and enjoyable read.
Please take the trip with Professor Bell and his life companions--it will be a most worthwhile, honest and life-affirming journey, and should leave you with a better understanding of your own life and an appreciation for the lives of people around you

Although I know of the author, I didn't read any of his works until this one. This one grabbed me because it explored the various things people do in exchange of comfort,personal freedom. Mr Bell pointed out that his mother went to the landlord with the rent money, and told them that if they wanted to see the money, they better fix the steps to their home which was in disrepair. The steps were fixed.Another example told of Bell in the early 60s, after suffering indignities on a trip to Mississippi, unwittingly went into a phone booth in the white section, and got pulled out of the booth by two police officers. But he feels that giving up something on the matter of principle, bought the greatest rewards in the end. And it is something that he(the author) experienced himself. Thought provoking and enlightening.

I've always been distrustful of people with great ambition because I have often found them to be self interestd. In this book, Derrick Bell speaks of another kind of ambition, one that places ethics above greed and self-agrandizement. He speaks to those who have made unpopular choices in their lives, on the basis of principle. I found this book tremendously helpful to me, because I read it just after facing a particularly trying time in my job where I had to "go against the flow" so to speak. Bell strongly suggests that in those acts we are really being true to ourselves and to the greater good. The book isn't long, but the message is powerful.

Professor Bell shares with us deep personal insight into how people struggle to reconcile their ambition with their ethics. He relates his triumphs, and his failures. Most importantly, he teaches us how to think about how much more we will enjoy our life if we put our ethics first, and then shape our ambitions around those ethics. As a young attorney only 6 years out of law school, I appreciated the life time of wisdom in this book -- it was just what I needed. Highly recommended, but an excellent gift for a law student or young attorney.

i read this book feeling jaded about social justice. i finished the book feeling that many of the frustrations i had were put into words by prof. bell, which was very heartening.
what i appreciate about this book is that it does't make social justice work glamorous and glitzy, getting at the real and often serious sacrifices that people have to make. his decisions were not easy, yet amazingly, good things sometimes happen to good people.
while definitely he is a man who has sacrificed much to the struggle, there were points in the book where i felt the limitations of his standpoint (as a male and as an academic elite) came through. still, i am glad that messages like this exist, as they help people who are also struggling to deal with privilege and systemic change.
i think the key to getting the most out of this book, however, is not to take it as a prescription, but more as thoughts to meditate on as one makes decisions about one's career/life and what "success" really means. some interesting things to think about, especially as a person from a younger generation are: how do we as younger people try to create change after the era of protests, sit-ins, etc. when inequalities are a lot more subtle and more embedded? we can contrast our experiences with prof. bell's, remembering still that we all have to find our own paths.
this book also tackles the issue of faith, which i also appreciated, because so much of the Left today automatically eschews religion, thinking it's a tool of the conservative Right. however, this book therefore might not be for everyone.

I put off reading this book because I thought it either had to be sanctimonious or boring--it's neither. I picked it up and wasn't able to put it back down. Derrick Bell gives such refreshing advice to younger readers. I found the book very inspiring and honest. Well worth reading as long as you keep in mind that Bell is sincere about what he says and has lived what he preaches.

In "Ethical Ambition," influential law professor and New York Times best selling author ("Faces at the Bottom of the Well"), Derrick Bell, addresses a paradox of success, "How can you achieve your goals without compromising who you are?" Based on observations and his life's experience, Bell believes that our nation's leaders, with few exceptions, are committed to getting ahead regardless of the cost to others. He understands that balancing an individual dreams and needs without compromising one's self is tough work, and requires an ongoing assessment of who you are, what you believe, value, and desire.

Bell fully explores the six areas he feels are most important for ethical functioning: passion, courage, faith, relationships, inspiration, and humility. He highlights the benefits of "making honorable choices; it lifts the spirit and relieves the pain of loss as we seek new routes, which though uncertain, may prove the shortest and most fulfilling routes to our goals."

While the book is very readable and has many gems, the book gets off track in the latter chapters when Bell espouses on his beliefs relating to same-sex marriage and abortion. This detracts significantly from the overall work. So much so, I tossed and turned on whether to rate this 3 or 4 stars. These issues are better left addressed by a expert, such as a theologian, rather than a lawyer.

Bell shows through his example and the examples of many others that one can choose ethics over advancement and never regret the choice. "Ethical Ambition" adds another log to the fire that the ethical path can prove to be a more effective and fulfilling route to success - even when the ethical way leads to loss rather than gain, and animosity rather than acclaim.

"Why do lawyers carry their certifications on their car dashboards? So they can park in handicapped spaces---it's proof of moral disability."
Sounds like lawyer-slamming doesn't it? But that line was picked up from a legal website where such jokes are collected, either to say, "yes, we've heard them all" or perhaps as a form of dark humor designed to remind members of the bar that their principles are under constant scrutiny.

Unfortunately, many of those designated to interpret the law, are the first and most proficient manipulators of it. As Lord Acton famously put it, "Power tends to corrupt." And it does not require a despot to accomplish this, only a well-trained intellect seduced by scheme or greed. We want---no, demand---that attorneys, doctors, clergymen, and scientists be above all those rather pedestrian pursuits involving materialism, i.e. to function beyond the pale of human shortcoming.

We elevate them to temporary deityhood only to discover that they are, like ourselves, somewhat special but ultimately flawed. Even Olympus was populated by a motley lot.

In "Ethical Ambition" respected legal scholar and civil rights activist Derrick Bell attempts to identify for members of his profession, as well as for the rest of us, what is involved in personal and professional ethics. This is no easy task because a) ethics can be a good deal like art, highly subjective, and b) it is an intangible force similar to gravity. The definitions turn into descriptions of what it is not.

Professor Bell constructs his argument by breaking the matter down into six manageable portions. In Part 1 he examines whether the passion for both integrity and success can coexist within the individual. In Part 2 he discusses courage, "... a daily decision to wake up and try to do the right thing, no matter how big the reward or how great the fear." Such choices must, he warns, be tempered with the ability to evaluate the risks involved against what may, or may not be accomplished. Confrontation for its own thrill is ludicrous.

In a society strangled by consumerism, me-ism and torqued definitions of personal achievement, it is comforting to learn (Chapter 3) that we do not have to depend totally on traditional religion to nudge us down the ethical highway; that, indeed, ethics is a measure of both a true, highly evolved individual, as well as, the civilization from which he/she springs. Morality may be at least a little "easier" for those like Bell who are proud, professed Christians. But, as he notes there are "many ethical people who want nothing to do with organized religion, but (who) view life as a gift with an obligation to uplift the lives of those around them . . ." Certainly, this provides us with a broader base from which altruism can spring.

In the fourth section, Dr. Bell takes on the dynamics of personal relationship. "Just as the price of liberty is eternal vigilance, shared intimacy demands constant effort." And, "it is no exaggeration to say that an intimate committed relationship is the crucible of ethical action . . . " Even when money is not the foremost goal in one's life, there remains the need for balance because there is a point where virtue can become just as overpowering and obsessive as the search for success.

Part 5 focuses on the kind of people who can inspire future generations, even when it costs them everything for which they have worked. His personal favorites run the gamut from the famous (Martin Luther King, Jr., W.E.B. Du Bois and the poignant Paul Robeson) to the lesser known, Dr. Jeffrey Wingard, the former tobacco executive whose testimony undermined the industry's claim that smoking did not cause fatal illnesses, and University of Tennessee Professor Linda Bensel-Myers, who has incurred threats from ribald sports fans for exposing a college system that permits good athletes who are bad scholars to coast through exams and courses.

Lastly, the author deals with what may be the most difficult virtue of all: humility. Learning to accept that even the purest of intentions may not bestow the innate ability to make appropriate choices in every instance, can take the better part of a lifetime.

Do not expect this to be an "entertaining" book---at least not in the way we regard novels or movies as entertainment. Neither is it light reading to be done with only 50% attention. It requires focus and mindfulness to derive its intended message and perhaps, effect a shift in personal perspective.

That is not to suggest that it is dry, statistical reading. Bell sprinkles it with delightful anecdotes from his own experiences and from the lives of well-known friends---Bill Cosby, Thurgood Marshall, Alice Walker and the like.

He also provides a simple, carry-it-with-you-at-all-times definition of ethics: the choosing of "right" over "easy." Following through will be the demanding part.

The stories within these pages makes my so-called ethical struggles pale in comparison but the message is clear. Your ethics will be challenged and upholding an ethical choice will most likely require sacrifices that are necessary if you are to adhere to choices that you can truly live with.
I liken the meaning of this message to "What does it profit a man to gain the whole world but suffer the loss of his own soul." I hope and pray that more people will respond ethically if for no other reason than they want to do the right thing; reading this book may help you in that endeavor. God Speed!