That's what happens when you're thirty-seven years old: you do the things you always did but the result is somehow different.
Commitment, by its nature, frees us from ourselves and, while it stands us in opposition to some, it joins us with others similarly committed. Commitment moves us from the mirror trap of the self absorbed with the self to the freedom of a community of shared values.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Commitment allows individuals to connect with others and creates a supportive community, shifting focus from selfishness to shared values.
This quote by Michael Lewis emphasizes the transformative power of commitment in relationships and community. It suggests that by committing to something greater than oneself, individuals can break free from self-absorption and isolation, instead forming meaningful connections with others who share similar values and goals. Commitment fosters a sense of belonging and mutual support, ultimately enriching both personal and collective experiences.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech to inspire teamwork, one might quote this to emphasize the importance of commitment in building a strong community.
More from Michael Lewis
All quotes →People in both fields operate with beliefs and biases. To the extent you can eliminate both and replace them with data, you gain a clear advantage.
Above all, recognize that if you have had success, you have also had luck — and with luck comes obligation. You owe a debt, and not just to your Gods. You owe a debt to the unlucky.
The men on the trading floor may not have been to school, but they have Ph.D.’s in man’s ignorance.
A banking system is an act of faith: it survives only for as long as people believe it will.
That was how a Salomon bond trader thought: He forgot whatever it was that he wanted to do for a minute and put his finger on the pulse of the market. If the market felt fidgety, if people were scared or desperate, he herded them like sheep into a corner, then made them pay for their uncertainty. He sat on the market until it puked gold coins. Then he worried about what he wanted to do.
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When you go through some controversy and you see your face on the news in a negative way for 48 hours... you doubt yourself. And your friends make the difference. They become a safety net that come in and say, 'That's not the case.' And the relationships that you've built... come to the fore.
Part of life is a quest to find that one essential person who will understand our story. But we choose wrongly so often. Over the ensuing years that person we thought understood us best ends up regarding us with pity, indifference, or active dislike. Those who truly care can be divided into two categories: those who understand us, and those who forgive our worst sins. Rarely do we find someone capable of both.
Marriage is a series of desperate arguments people feel passionately about.
One of the things I have always said about the man-woman relationship is that I don't want anybody to walk ahead of me, and I don't want anybody to walk behind me. I want a man who will walk along beside me. And that's how I feel about equal rights.
Any racial reconciliation we've had in this country has come not out of confrontation but out of a spirit of reconciliation. If we continue to practice an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth, we'll eventually end up with a land of people who are blind and toothless.