From Kant’s influential quotation—“Out of the crooked timber of humanity, no straight thing was ever made”—Brooks draws the core theme underlying his discussions of Adam I and Adam II. Human beings are inherently flawed creatures; we do not profit from the baseline assumption that we are infallible. The recognition of human nature as flawed, which was far more prevalent in earlier eras, is a reflex that we must develop before we can move forward and take corrective action.

Brooks uses these terms almost interchangeably to express the simultaneously self-centered, outward-facing side of human nature. They represent the desire for personal advancement, indulgence, and recognition for what we consider our special qualities.