11–17 of 17 posts
Existentialism from Dostoevsky to Sartre http://www.amazon.com/Existentialism-Dostoevsky-Sartre-Revis...
A Kierkegaard Anthology http://www.amazon.com/Kierkegaard-Anthology-Soren/dp/0691019...
Party of One: The Loner's Manifesto by Anneli Rufus http://www.annelirufus.com/partyofone/
The Mindbody Prescription by John E. Sarno http://www.amazon.com/The-Mindbody-Prescription-Healing-Body...
Politics and philosophy:
Ishmael - Daniel Quinn (even though in the end, it's just a cute, in essence a softies introduction to anarchist communism)
On property - Proudhon (Meta, ye oldist anarchy) Das Kapital (If you read Marx, also read on Marx, can't stress this enough)
Beyond good and evil (but in his thought in general) - Nietzsche (Mainly for showing there are no absolutes, moral is what we make of it, and in that moral we can excel)
And so, so many others, philosophy really adds up, just keep on reading, there's fundamental books for sure, but every publication adds up in some respect.
Sports and nutrition:
Starting Strength (for making me bad ass strong in the last couple years)
'Paleo' diet (for showing an extreme solution for a more simple problem, that actually worked and made me not fat anymore)
Some random books that made a huge impression the last years:
The Alchemist, for showing how humble you can experience the wonders of life
Siddhartha, same really.
A short summer of anarchy (biography of Durrutti, rise of anarchism in 30s Spain, out of print)
Crime and Punishment and Karamazov (There's beauty in the darkest corners of the human spirit, and so much more)
The Prince
Butler (For using Nietzsche's deconstruction to argue against 'genetic' discrimination, controversial, but very good)
Metamorphosis - Kafka (I don't have a one liner to summarize this. Just read it, it's Funny enough, as far as Tech and Business goes, I skim books to get some details, but at the end of the day most value comes from hacking around. For both.
Antifragile by Nassim Taleb Invisible Cities by Italo Calvino Il deserto dei tartari (The Tartar Steppe) by Dino Buzzati How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie
I second this book: How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie
Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test - Tom Wolfe Be Here Now - Ram Das Whole Earth Catalog - Stewart Brand Infinite Jest - David Foster Wallace Savage Continent - Keith Lowe Forged - Bart D. Ehrman Young Stalin - Simon Sebag Montefiore Court of the Red Czar - Simon Sebag Montefiore
Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test - Tom Wolfe Be Here Now - Ram Das Whole Earth Catalog - Stewart Brand Infinite Jest - David Foster Wallace Savage Continent - Keith Lowe Forged - Bart D. Ehrman Young Stalin - Simon Sebag Montefiore Court of the Red Czar - Simon Sebag Montefiore
Ram Das has such great lectures. I have yet to read his books. I am reading The Power of Now and I wonder how different it is to Be Here Now.
I haven't had a copy for many years and just ordered one from Amazon because you made me think about it fondly again. I first read it shortly after it was published in '71 and it's time to read it again. :-)
There is a trap in the thinking that it took me a long time to understand. The present is a consequence of past behavior that cannot be safely ignored. The future is a consequence of present behavior and cannot be safely ignored. Discarding that caution brought me a lot of trouble I would have been better off avoiding. This is obvious but excess enthusiasm for mindfulness of the present can easily lead one to places that one wouldn't want to be.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
After seeing this on so many Hacker News comments to threads like this I finally gave in and started to read it. It has definitely opened my eyes to how I interact with people and made me a lot more self aware.
Warren Buffet credits it for much of his success. I don't much like the bastard but he learned his lessons well.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Warren Buffet credits it for much of his success. I don't much like the bastard but he learned his lessons well.
Why is he a bastard?
This comes from my reading of Schroeder's authorized biography.