IMPORTANT NOTE: This is a Summary Of The Second Mountain: The Quest for a Moral Life by David Brooks and not the original book.

Learn the secret to living a life of joy and fulfillment.

Have you ever met people who seem to radiate with a sense of fulfillment and joy? Have you ever wondered what their secret is? Or how they became the way they are?

After speaking to hundreds of people from numerous walks of life, studying great works of philosophy and religion, brushing up on contemporary research in psychology and sociology, and reflecting on his own life experiences after he went through a difficult divorce, David Brooks arrived at an answer to these questions. He explains this through the metaphor of climbing two successive mountains, each of which represents a type of struggle that people tend to go through on their journeys toward finding a fulfilling life.

Without giving too much away, the first mountain turns out to be a bit of a letdown, while the second mountain is the place where the secret to fulfillment lies. And finally, to hint at things to come and add some suspense: in between the two mountains, there lies a valley of suffering.

Along the way, you’ll learn

•Why individualism fails to deliver on its promise of happiness;

•Why happiness isn’t all it’s cracked up to be anyway; and

•Why the Beatles were wrong about love.