David Brooks weaves a vast array of new research into the lives of two fictional characters, revealing a fundamental new understanding of human nature. He outlines a new definition of success, highlighting what economists call non-cognitive skills - those hidden qualities that can't be easily measured, but which lead to happiness and fulfilment.

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER - NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY THE ECONOMIST - -I wrote this book not sure I could follow the road to character, but I wanted at least to know what the road looks like and how other people have trodden it.---David Brooks
With the wisdom, humor, curiosity, and sharp insights that have brought millions of readers to his New York Times column and his previous bestsellers, David Brooks has consistently illuminated our daily lives in surprising and original ways. In The Social Animal, he explored the...

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 were 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...