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pjdas1012 's review for:
The Second Mountain: The Quest for a Moral Life
by David Brooks
What will your second mountain be?
Summary: A treatise of how everyone in life faces two mountains: the first kills the ego, and, in order to live a moral life, we must choose a second mountain that will give us a cause to fight for that and set us on the path to pursue a worthwhile and transcendent life.
My Thoughts: I had read Brooks' previous book, [b:The Road to Character|22551809|The Road to Character|David Brooks|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1422216361l/22551809._SY75_.jpg|42009504], and found it to be enormously impactful in my life and one of the best books I had read that year. What immediately stood out in reading this book is how much the author's worldview changed in the time between writing these two books. Without a doubt, there were moments in this book where I rolled my eyes or cringed. The author would get overly sentimental, use weak evidence for his arguments, or speak in flowery and head-in-the-clouds language. But besides those moments, this book was filled with insightful, well-supported, profound perspectives on how to approach life. The author's theories vibed with my own life experiences, and I found myself compelled by the theories he was proposing. I especially recommend this book to young people, recent college graduates, and those between jobs. I would give the first 1/3 of the book 5 stars and the final 2/3 only 2 stars. This is because the first 1/3 talked about vocation, which is more applicable to me at this point in my life, while the last 2/3 talked about marriage, religion, and community, which are not priorities in my life at this time. Depending on what is important to you right now, there are portions of this book that will be more impactful than others. Nonetheless, this is a book that will leave you with many great quotes.
What I Learned From It: This book left me asking important questions about my own life: When have I felt so connected to a cause that I forgot about my own ambitions? What commitment do I want to devote my life to? What will my second mountain be?
Three Favorite Quotes:
1. "If the first mountain is about acquisition, the second mountain is about contribution."
2. “He realized that the career questions - What do I want from life? What can I do to make myself happy? - are not the proper questions. The real question is, What is life asking of me?”
3. “The way to acquire a good taste in anything, from pictures to architecture, from literature to character, from wine to cigars, is always the same - be familiar with the best specimens of each.”
Summary: A treatise of how everyone in life faces two mountains: the first kills the ego, and, in order to live a moral life, we must choose a second mountain that will give us a cause to fight for that and set us on the path to pursue a worthwhile and transcendent life.
My Thoughts: I had read Brooks' previous book, [b:The Road to Character|22551809|The Road to Character|David Brooks|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1422216361l/22551809._SY75_.jpg|42009504], and found it to be enormously impactful in my life and one of the best books I had read that year. What immediately stood out in reading this book is how much the author's worldview changed in the time between writing these two books. Without a doubt, there were moments in this book where I rolled my eyes or cringed. The author would get overly sentimental, use weak evidence for his arguments, or speak in flowery and head-in-the-clouds language. But besides those moments, this book was filled with insightful, well-supported, profound perspectives on how to approach life. The author's theories vibed with my own life experiences, and I found myself compelled by the theories he was proposing. I especially recommend this book to young people, recent college graduates, and those between jobs. I would give the first 1/3 of the book 5 stars and the final 2/3 only 2 stars. This is because the first 1/3 talked about vocation, which is more applicable to me at this point in my life, while the last 2/3 talked about marriage, religion, and community, which are not priorities in my life at this time. Depending on what is important to you right now, there are portions of this book that will be more impactful than others. Nonetheless, this is a book that will leave you with many great quotes.
What I Learned From It: This book left me asking important questions about my own life: When have I felt so connected to a cause that I forgot about my own ambitions? What commitment do I want to devote my life to? What will my second mountain be?
Three Favorite Quotes:
1. "If the first mountain is about acquisition, the second mountain is about contribution."
2. “He realized that the career questions - What do I want from life? What can I do to make myself happy? - are not the proper questions. The real question is, What is life asking of me?”
3. “The way to acquire a good taste in anything, from pictures to architecture, from literature to character, from wine to cigars, is always the same - be familiar with the best specimens of each.”