The Relationalist Manifesto

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The core flaw of hyper-individualism is that it leads to a degradation and a pulverization of the human person. It is a system built upon the egoistic drives within each of us. These are the self-interested drives—the desire to excel; to make a mark in the world; to rise in wealth, power, and status; to win victories and be better than others. Hype

David Brooks • The Relationalist Manifesto

Brandy Cerne

The uncommitted person is the unremembered person. A person who does not commit to some loyalty outside of self leaves no deep mark on the world.

David Brooks • The Relationalist Manifesto

Brandy Cerne

The best adult life is lived by making commitments and staying faithful to those commitments: commitments to a vocation, to a family, to a philosophy or faith, to a community. Adult life is about making promises to others, being faithful to those promises. The beautiful life is found in the mutual giving of unconditional gifts.

David Brooks • The Relationalist Manifesto

Brandy Cerne

An individual who has become a person has staged a rebellion. She rebels against the individualistic ethos and all the systems of impersonalism. Society tells her to want independence, but she has declared her interdependence. Society says we live in a materialist reality, but she says we live in an enchanted reality. Society tells her to keep her

David Brooks • The Relationalist Manifesto

Brandy Cerne

A commitment is a promise made from love. A commitment is a promise made without expecting any return (though there will be returns aplenty). A committed relationship is a two-way promise. It is you throwing yourself wholeheartedly for another and another throwing himself wholeheartedly for you.

David Brooks • The Relationalist Manifesto

Brandy Cerne

By committing and living up to the daily obligations of his commitments, the person integrates himself into a coherent whole. Commitments organize the hours and the days of a life. A committed person achieves consistency across time. His character is built through the habitual acts of service to the people he loves. His character is built by being

David Brooks • The Relationalist Manifesto

Brandy Cerne

Every level of the weave influences every other level. It is a moral ecosystem. Far off in the distance, there is a city we cannot see—the just society. But right in front of us, visible with the naked eye every day if you know where to look, there are people weaving, giving their heart and souls to daily acts of care. When you see that, you realiz

David Brooks • The Relationalist Manifesto

Brandy Cerne

Life is a qualitative endeavor, not a quantitative one. It’s not how many, but how thick and how deep.

David Brooks • The Relationalist Manifesto

Brandy Cerne

we are formed by relationship, we are nourished by relationship, and we long for relationship. Life is not a solitary journey. It is building a home together. It is a process of being formed by attachments and then forming attachments in turn. It is a great chain of generations passing down gifts to one another.

David Brooks • The Relationalist Manifesto

Brandy Cerne