The Second Mountain

The Second Mountain

The Quest for a Moral Life

Summary

DEBUTED AT NO.1 ON THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER LIST
NO.1 BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF THE SOCIAL ANIMAL

Are you on your first or second mountain?
Is life about you - or others?
About success - or something deeper?


The world tells us that we should pursue our self-interest: career wins, high status, nice things. These are the goals of our first mountain. But at some point in our lives we might find that we're not interested in what other people tell us to want. We want the things that are truly worth wanting.

This is the second mountain.

What does it mean to look beyond yourself and find a moral cause? To forget about independence and discover dependence - to be utterly enmeshed in a web of warm relationships? What does it mean to value intimacy, devotion, responsibility and commitment above individual freedom? In The Second Mountain David Brooks explores the meaning and possibilities that scaling a second mountain offer us and the four commitments that most commonly move us there: family, vocation, philosophy and community. Inspiring, personal and full of joy, this book will help you discover why you were really put on this earth.

About the author

David Brooks

David Brooks is a columnist for The New York Times and frequent broadcaster. His previous books include the bestsellers The Social Animal and Bobos in Paradise. His New York Times columns reach over 800,000 readers across the globe.
Learn More

Sign up to the Penguin Newsletter

For the latest books, recommendations, author interviews and more