The Thomistic Institute Burnout Society – Dr. R.J. Snell
Mar 13, 2026
R. J. Snell, Editor-in-Chief of Public Discourse and academic at Princeton, explores our achievement-obsessed culture. He discusses student anxiety, fragmented attention in the information age, and the shift from disciplinary to achievement society. He contrasts fleeting activity with lingering contemplation, argues we quantify life at the cost of narrative, and urges practices like silence, Sabbath, and a rule of life to restore meaning.
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No Linger No Prayer No Depth
- Fragmented, periodic perception prevents lingering and deep experiences like prayer, art, or sustained study.
- Han argues only lingering enables prayer; Snell links this lack of vertical attention to rapid burnout.
Counting Achievements Empties Life Story
- Achievement culture makes life legible only as quantities and accomplishments, eroding the ability to tell a meaningful life story.
- Snell contrasts resume-style accounting with his grandmother's funeral, where relationships narrated a life.
Grandmother's Secret Lunches Show True Legacy
- Snell recounts his grandmother secretly leaving lunches at a dress shop to feed a struggling woman without embarrassing her.
- He uses that funeral testimony to show lives recounted by relationships, not résumés, create meaningful narratives.