The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho. I had to read it back in high as part of my AP Lit course. It's not a very long book but it is very well written and teaches you to enjoy life and live out your dreams.
I got the impression from reviews on Amazon that it might have to do with "the law of attraction" (which I dislike), because a lesson in the book is about the universe conspiring to help you when you want something badly enough. Is "the law of attraction" a major theme?
He defines Psychotherapy as merely a special case of any relationship, where the relationship will help you grow by allowing you to overcome built up incongruence. Many technical books made me change my perspective, but few were as valuable as this. Although it is easy to read, it can be quite hard to understand. It comes along as non-scientific, but many of his ideas and findings have been substantiated by empirical studies in the past.
It's only a short tale, but it changed my approach to more or less everything. I am eternally grateful to my good friend who showed it to me in about 2000/2001 ish.
Meditations (Marcus Aurelius) - incredibly clear ideas probably clear-up 80% of issues you have with everyday life
The Bible (& The Gnostic Gospels) - I love the idea that Jesus was a real guy who (literally) petrified his childhood playmates because they "vexed" him by dispersing his anti-gravity water :)
Atlas Shrugged - no excuses
Self and Others - personal pyschology
Seth Speaks - a lady channels an interdimensional being
The Road Less Travelled - a psychoanalyst's memoirs
Letters to a Young Artist - encouragement for going your own way, a series of letters
The Alchemist - help you read the signs from the heart of the World for your own path
An Introduction to Zen Buddhism, et al (T. Suzuki) - really interesting, non-duality, higher third unification of opposites
Hear the Wind Sing (Murakami) - really bizarre and pure, his first one written late nights at kitchen table after working in a bar, before he became famous
Rich Dad Poor Dad - solid advice
Discrete Maths (Rosen) - interesting and very learnable, a great reference
An Imaginary Life (Malouf) - great clarity of writing
The Solid Mandala (Patrick White) - amazing observation of people
This is a required textbook for my Discrete Mathematics course. I also recommend it! Although I wish there was more visuals in the book, it is a great textbook.
'And I'm starting to think that the world really is divided between those who have a clear idea of what it means to want something -- including the total cost and sacrifices it will take to get it -- and those who are just content to leave it as an airy "wouldn't it be nice" fantasy. The former group hones in on what they want and goes zooming after it like a shark. The latter looks at them, shakes their head and says, "How do they do it?" As if they have a cheat code, or a secret technique.'
The only reason anyone needs to never read anything by Dan Brown is Dan Brown's writing.
I'm terrible at random-access, on-demand list building like this, but I strongly agree about a few of the other things mentioned here:
Meditations by Marcus Aurelius
Godel, Escher, Bach by Hofstadter
Orthodoxy by GK Chesterton
The Abolition of Man by CS Lewis
Walden by Thoreau
A few of the better and more philosophical bits out of the bible (especially in a good modern translation), including Ecclesiastes and 1 Corinthians 13
To this list, I would also add Ralph Waldo Emerson's classic essays, including Self-Reliance and Experience
I read this book a few years back and while I found it quite interesting as a story, I did not glean any major insights from it.
It most likely has to do with my own ignorance about philosophy, but all I got from the book was that the author hates Aristotle and rigorous classification. And that quality is a more important property than morality.
- Losing my Virginity, by Richard Branson and Edward Whitley. It made me realize I've never really hustled in my life. Reading it was a humbling experience. When I finished the book I was on the verge of tears, an odd mix of shame and wonder.
- Impro, by Keith Johnstone. It's about theatre, human flaws and taking back your self-expression. I'd gift it to anyone I know, if I could.
'What's for supper?' a bad improviser will desperately try to think up
something original. Whatever he says he'll be too slow. He'll finally
drag up some idea like 'fried mermaid'. If he'd just said 'fish' the
audience would have been delighted. No two people are exactly alike,
and the more obvious an improviser is, the more himself he appears.
If he wants to impress us with his originality, then he'll search out
ideas that are actually commoner and less interesting. [...]
People trying to be original always arrive at the same boring old
answers. [...]
An artist who is inspired is being obvious. He's not making any
decisions, he's not weighing one idea against another. He's accepting
his first thoughts. [...]
Striving after originality takes you far away from your
true self, and makes your work mediocre.
In the past I had ideas I didn't act on because of I was afraid of failure. I told myself that it just couldn't be done because [insert bullshit].
In that regard, Richard Branson is like the fool of folklore culture: "he didn't know it was impossible, so he did it". He started a business before turning 20 and made incredibly heavy decisions without much self-doubt. He was a Just-do-it machine.
The book inspired me to stop making excuses and be more confident.
"It made me realize I've never really hustled in my life. Reading it was a humbling experience. When I finished the book I was on the verge of tears, an odd mix of shame and wonder."
By taking the point of view that "negotiation" is not "convincing morons to do what I want" but "let's try and solve this together", the author introduces a couple points about how to deal with all sorts of conflicts and difficult situations. I read it several years ago, and yet there's not a month in which I don't put at least one of its lessons in use.
I found it a lot more useful and honest than the famed "How to influence friends and win people" but, somewhat ironically, I never used it in any negotiation involving money.
Interesting. I hate books that teach you how to negotiate like a scumbag (ie most trial attorneys and car salesmen) so this is a refreshing change of pace. I will put this on my to-read list. A book in similar vein is "Getting to Yes". which influenced me greatly in how to handle disputes. It was recommended by Charlie Munger, in his book "Poor Charlie's Almanack" (antoher great book).
Also, check out "Seeking Wisdom: From Darwin to Munger". Both that and Poor Charlie's Almanack are two books that describe the Warren Buffett/Charlie Munger way of thinking. In fact, I found out about "Getting to Yes" through those two books. Read them, these three books changed my outlook on life in a big way.
I literally jumped in my chair and facepalmed myself when I saw you'd included Meditations and I'd left it out. Damn. Thank you for reminding me how great that was. Putting it in now :)
I also read Anna Karenina (I am a big fan of Russian literature) - but none the less (or maybe rather b/c of that) I am curious to learn how this book did change your perspective on your life?
I first read it when quite young, so probably it provided an emotional education, but also a lesson that literature can be more than just a clever plot - it's full of wonderful observations of human character, even characters that Tolstoy was not particularly sympathetic to (e.g. Stiva, who chooses his opinions as he chooses his hat, from the selection available, or Anna, the tragic focal point of the novel) - there are no villains and no heroes, only bumbling humans dealing with problems entirely of their own creation.
I also liked Madame Bovary from the same period, another riff on doomed attempts to escape unhappy circumstances - perhaps all happy novels are alike, whereas every unhappy novel is unhappy in its own interesting way?
Is Romans 9:12-21 the right reference? I might not be looking into it enough, but it doesn't seem like "do what it says for a week" material. That being said, I wholeheartedly agree with your suggestion.
"Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality. Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them.
Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly.Never be wise in your own sight. Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good."
I'm agnostic and I agree with you. I'm not a big fan of anything outside of the Gospel, but Jesus Christ's teachings are truly timeless and revolutionary, even today. Real of fake, his philosophy is the backbone of a modern, empathetic society.
I have a similar answer but wasn't sure how well it would be received on HN.
I come from a diverse background and generally found myself between extreme ideologies all around. From the hardline Islamic beliefs I encountered in the Middle East, Christian Evangelicals in America and the New Atheist movement in Europe and America.
I found solace in the Jap Ji Sahib [1], viewing it from a deist perspective. It helped me develop a regular meditation practice.
[1] Jap Ji Sahib is the first 40 verses of the Guru Granth Sahib, the Sikh holy text. Here is a version: https://granth.co/
I'm agnostic and I don't agree with you. Sure, there are without any doubt some wise statements to be found in the Bible.
But each and every of those thoughts have been presented and discussed in other books in a more concise, clear, less ambiguous and more applicable fashion.
Additionally, the Bible is full of rather tasteless anecdotes - judging from a modern perspective.
I don't think this is that amazing given the fact that our whole society is based on this book.
Also one can argue that this is common sense and build in into (most) humans, or life for that matters, plenty of animals try to protect their families too without any bible or god.
"Godel, Escher, Bach" by Douglas Hopfstadter. I was in high school when it came out, and it really opened my eyes up to the field of computability. The philosophy was interesting, too.
"Holy the Firm" by Annie Dillard. Not really about religion, more about our relationship to the world. A beautifully written little book.
"The Making of the Atomic Bomb" by Richard Rhodes. This one works on me at several levels: The physics (which are explained well), the sheer titanic scope of the Manhattan project, and the meta-knowledge that someone was able to write a book this good.
"The C Programming Language", by Kernighan and Ritchie. Probably the single most influential book on programming that I've read.
There are many, but the one off the top of my head is "The Alchemist".
I have read it at least ten times (it only takes about two hours). It's something like meditation in a book for me, it allows me to reset my mind and gain perspective whenever I am overly stressed or anxious.
Mostly by introducing me to the Stoics (Aurelius especially) and a variety of Eastern, especially Zen Buddhist, works.
Revolutionary Road -- Yates
Yay, mentioned that one in two threads today and it's not even noon yet!
A History of Western Philosophy -- Russell
Vonnegut in general. Bluebeard serves as a good overview of his major themes and ideas, to pick just one book. The part about how people with small talents who were once valued by their communities have been rendered eccentrics of no special value to anyone by easy, cheap, global distribution of media is always near the front of my mind.
131 comments
[ 2.9 ms ] story [ 178 ms ] threadHe defines Psychotherapy as merely a special case of any relationship, where the relationship will help you grow by allowing you to overcome built up incongruence. Many technical books made me change my perspective, but few were as valuable as this. Although it is easy to read, it can be quite hard to understand. It comes along as non-scientific, but many of his ideas and findings have been substantiated by empirical studies in the past.
It's only a short tale, but it changed my approach to more or less everything. I am eternally grateful to my good friend who showed it to me in about 2000/2001 ish.
it gave me a significant confidence boost about the startup i'm doing.
A well written pragmatic guide to spirituality.
Talks about minimalistic long term travel.
"The Black Swan", Taleb
"How To Be Idle: A Loafer's Manifesto", Tom Hodgkinson
"The Tao Is Not Silent", Raymond Smullyan
In that order.
The Bible (& The Gnostic Gospels) - I love the idea that Jesus was a real guy who (literally) petrified his childhood playmates because they "vexed" him by dispersing his anti-gravity water :)
Atlas Shrugged - no excuses
Self and Others - personal pyschology
Seth Speaks - a lady channels an interdimensional being
The Road Less Travelled - a psychoanalyst's memoirs
Letters to a Young Artist - encouragement for going your own way, a series of letters
The Alchemist - help you read the signs from the heart of the World for your own path
An Introduction to Zen Buddhism, et al (T. Suzuki) - really interesting, non-duality, higher third unification of opposites
Hear the Wind Sing (Murakami) - really bizarre and pure, his first one written late nights at kitchen table after working in a bar, before he became famous
Rich Dad Poor Dad - solid advice
Discrete Maths (Rosen) - interesting and very learnable, a great reference
An Imaginary Life (Malouf) - great clarity of writing
The Solid Mandala (Patrick White) - amazing observation of people
This is a required textbook for my Discrete Mathematics course. I also recommend it! Although I wish there was more visuals in the book, it is a great textbook.
A classic, but it has really helped change the way I deal with people.
The title sounds hokey, but it's one of the few self-help books that ever made much difference for me.
The secret is simple but for most people, elusive. We talk about it all the time here on HN.
http://www.amazon.com/Ultimate-Secret-Getting-Absolutely-Eve...
SPOILER below
"I am willing to do whatever it takes to get what I want."(My spoiler doesn't do it justice. Take an hour and read the book.
The money quote to me is near the end of page 2:
'And I'm starting to think that the world really is divided between those who have a clear idea of what it means to want something -- including the total cost and sacrifices it will take to get it -- and those who are just content to leave it as an airy "wouldn't it be nice" fantasy. The former group hones in on what they want and goes zooming after it like a shark. The latter looks at them, shakes their head and says, "How do they do it?" As if they have a cheat code, or a secret technique.'
It also gave everyone who read it a valid excuse not to read anything by Dan Brown.
I'm terrible at random-access, on-demand list building like this, but I strongly agree about a few of the other things mentioned here:
Meditations by Marcus Aurelius
Godel, Escher, Bach by Hofstadter
Orthodoxy by GK Chesterton
The Abolition of Man by CS Lewis
Walden by Thoreau
A few of the better and more philosophical bits out of the bible (especially in a good modern translation), including Ecclesiastes and 1 Corinthians 13
To this list, I would also add Ralph Waldo Emerson's classic essays, including Self-Reliance and Experience
It's a shame that not even the author seems to like the definition.
It most likely has to do with my own ignorance about philosophy, but all I got from the book was that the author hates Aristotle and rigorous classification. And that quality is a more important property than morality.
- Impro, by Keith Johnstone. It's about theatre, human flaws and taking back your self-expression. I'd gift it to anyone I know, if I could.
In that regard, Richard Branson is like the fool of folklore culture: "he didn't know it was impossible, so he did it". He started a business before turning 20 and made incredibly heavy decisions without much self-doubt. He was a Just-do-it machine.
The book inspired me to stop making excuses and be more confident.
There is a lot of survivor bias in that.
"The Abolition of Man" - CS Lewis
"The Master and Margarita" - Mikhail Bulgakov
"The Brothers Karamazov" - Fyodor Dostoyevsky
By taking the point of view that "negotiation" is not "convincing morons to do what I want" but "let's try and solve this together", the author introduces a couple points about how to deal with all sorts of conflicts and difficult situations. I read it several years ago, and yet there's not a month in which I don't put at least one of its lessons in use.
I found it a lot more useful and honest than the famed "How to influence friends and win people" but, somewhat ironically, I never used it in any negotiation involving money.
Also, check out "Seeking Wisdom: From Darwin to Munger". Both that and Poor Charlie's Almanack are two books that describe the Warren Buffett/Charlie Munger way of thinking. In fact, I found out about "Getting to Yes" through those two books. Read them, these three books changed my outlook on life in a big way.
A summary of these books is here: http://sivers.org/book/SeekingWisdom
http://www.amazon.com/Origin-Consciousness-Breakdown-Bicamer...
Either the theory is crazy or it's one of the most groundbreaking discoveries in newer history.
The Order of Things or Madness and Civilisation by Michel Foucault - a look at how our culture and time limit the horizons of our world view.
Anna Karenina by Tolstoy - a complicated set of love stories set in 19C Russia - brilliantly observed.
Godel, Escher, Bach by Hofstadter - an exhilarating skip through the wonderland of western maths, art, music and philosophy.
Founders at Work by Jessica Livingston - a great insight into the first computer revolution - interviews with a lot of very interesting people.
I also liked Madame Bovary from the same period, another riff on doomed attempts to escape unhappy circumstances - perhaps all happy novels are alike, whereas every unhappy novel is unhappy in its own interesting way?
No wait, don't go. I'm serious here.
Read Proverbs -- from a purely atheistic mindset if you must. Very practical business and life advice if you're willing to hear it.
Read Ecclesiastes. Don't spend your life chasing after the wind -- you can't take it with you.
Read Romans 12:9-21. Do what it says for a week.
Read about Jesus washing His servant's feet (John 13:1-17). Serve your team/family, put them first.
It's confirmation bias, but I'm continually amazed how the "next new business/life strategy" was already written ~2-5 thousand years ago.
(edit: Romans reference fixed, thanks)
"Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality. Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them.
Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly.Never be wise in your own sight. Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good."
I come from a diverse background and generally found myself between extreme ideologies all around. From the hardline Islamic beliefs I encountered in the Middle East, Christian Evangelicals in America and the New Atheist movement in Europe and America.
I found solace in the Jap Ji Sahib [1], viewing it from a deist perspective. It helped me develop a regular meditation practice.
[1] Jap Ji Sahib is the first 40 verses of the Guru Granth Sahib, the Sikh holy text. Here is a version: https://granth.co/
But each and every of those thoughts have been presented and discussed in other books in a more concise, clear, less ambiguous and more applicable fashion.
Additionally, the Bible is full of rather tasteless anecdotes - judging from a modern perspective.
PS: Proverbs 22:29 is a motivation for me to always improve my craft
Do you see a man skilled in his work? He will stand before kings; He will not stand before obscure men.
Also one can argue that this is common sense and build in into (most) humans, or life for that matters, plenty of animals try to protect their families too without any bible or god.
"Holy the Firm" by Annie Dillard. Not really about religion, more about our relationship to the world. A beautifully written little book.
"The Making of the Atomic Bomb" by Richard Rhodes. This one works on me at several levels: The physics (which are explained well), the sheer titanic scope of the Manhattan project, and the meta-knowledge that someone was able to write a book this good.
"The C Programming Language", by Kernighan and Ritchie. Probably the single most influential book on programming that I've read.
Read when I was about 14. I just remember the way it excited my mind.
I have read it at least ten times (it only takes about two hours). It's something like meditation in a book for me, it allows me to reset my mind and gain perspective whenever I am overly stressed or anxious.
Edit: The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
Google gives me numerous books with that title.
Mostly by introducing me to the Stoics (Aurelius especially) and a variety of Eastern, especially Zen Buddhist, works.
Revolutionary Road -- Yates
Yay, mentioned that one in two threads today and it's not even noon yet!
A History of Western Philosophy -- Russell
Vonnegut in general. Bluebeard serves as a good overview of his major themes and ideas, to pick just one book. The part about how people with small talents who were once valued by their communities have been rendered eccentrics of no special value to anyone by easy, cheap, global distribution of media is always near the front of my mind.
How to Read a Book -- Adler