The Second Mountain

A thought-provoking exploration of the four major commitments in life that fundamentally shape our identities—from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Road to Character.
Most of us, over the course of our lives, will make four big commitments: 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. Joy comes when we fuse them into one coherent whole, with each of these commitments fortifying and strengthening the others. In The Committed Life David Brooks looks at people—from Dostoyevsky to Holocaust survivor Etty Hillesum to African educational entrepreneur Fred Swaniker—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...