Moral Ambition

Stop Wasting Your Talent and Start Making a Difference – from the presenter of the 2025 BBC ‘Moral Revolution’ Reith lectures

By: Rutger Bregman

Narrated by: Boris Hiestand, Rutger Bregman

Bloomsbury presents Moral Ambition by Rutger Bregman, read by Boris Hiestand and Rutger Bregman.

‘The rare read that might actually help you become a better person’ ADAM GRANT
‘A fierce and brilliant call to arms for anyone who has been wondering whether there's more to life. (There is.)’ TIM HARFORD
‘Gives us hope, humour and guidance at a time when all are in short supply’ TIMOTHY SNYDER
‘Clear, brave, important and provocative’ RORY STEWART

THE ANTIDOTE TO APATHY FROM THE INTERNATIONALLY BESTSELLING AUTHOR RUTGER BREGMAN

Every day we’re bombarded with methods, mantras and life hacks that promise us wellness and prosperity – while time and talent remain some of our most squandered resources. The average full-time worker will spend 80,000 hours at their job: are you making the most of them? Do you truly believe in what you do, day in, day out?

What if you want to do something more with your limited time on the planet?

Internationally bestselling author Rutger Bregman shows us that with moral ambition – the will to make the world a wildly better place – we can be both idealistic and successful, and change the world along the way. Uncovering the qualities that made the great change-makers of history so effective, he shows how we too can lend our talents to the biggest challenges of our time, from climate change to inequality to the next pandemic. With moral ambition, we can do more than be on the right side of history: we can make history itself.

This book won’t make your life easier, but it should make it more meaningful. The question is: what will you do with it?©2025 Rutger Bregman (P)2025 Bloomsbury Publishing Plc

A book for those who think they can make a difference

going back into History of abolitionists, suffragettes, malaria erradication campaigns, the author shows us that individual action fosters change and finds peers to go on. That History is made by individuals. and it's also shaped towards the good by women and men's action. inspiring and it gives ideas on what can be done by the reader.

A call to action

Rutger Bregman delivers a powerful call to use your skills for good, cutting through fluffy idealism with sharp insights and real-world stories. I found it motivating and thought-provoking. It sparked a couple of fresh ideas for me and I hope it will do the same for you.

Powerful core concept, but not very actionable

I love the ideas presented in the first chapters. However, afterwards I find the book becoming a bit longwinded, just rattling off stories that supposedly exemplify these points. I found not all these stories as relevant or interesting, and would much rather have preferred actionable ways to implement them myself. As an example, the book criticizes the vegan movement for guilting people into stopping eating meat, but then follows by deploying the same strategy? I found this very confusing.

Still, a good book but you can get away with just listening to the first few chapters to get the core points.

Wonderful book

I loved this book which articulated many of the thoughts I’ve had or heard about acting with morality.