Events

The world tells us we should pursue self-interest: career wins, high status, nice things. But at some point, in our lives, we may 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, when life moves from self-centered to other­ centered.

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?

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.

He looks at a range of people who have embraced the necessity of dependence and have lived joyous, committed lives. 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.