num_pages: 384
description: In The Second Mountain David Brooks explores the four commitments that define a life of meaning and purpose: to a spouse and family to a vocation to a philosophy or faith and to a community. Our personal fulfillment depends on how well we choose and execute these commitments. In The Second Mountain Brooks looks at a range of people who have lived joyous committed lives and who have embraced the necessity of dependence. He gathers their wisdom on how to choose a partner how to pick a vocation how to live out a philosophy and how we can begin to integrate our commitments into one overriding purpose.In short this book is meant to help us all lead more meaningful lives. But its also a provocative social commentary. We live in a society Brooks argues that celebrates freedom that tells us to be true to ourselves at the expense of surrendering to a cause rooting ourselves in a neighborhood binding ourselves to others by social solidarity and love. We have taken individualism to the extremeand in the process we have torn the social fabric in a thousand different ways. The path to repair is through making deeper commitments. In The Second Mountain Brooks shows what can happen when we put commitment-making at the center of our lives.
language: English
title: The Second Mountain
publisher: Random House