Ask HN: Which non-technology book has influenced you the most and why?

You might be interested in Peaks and Valleys, by the same author. This one focuses more on how to plan for good and bad times that will come.

I won't say too much, but practicing some of the lesseons taught by Jesus just might help a person.

Not through divine intervention, but in a subtler way.

The right girl/boy sees you have ethics/morality. She takes a second look.

The potential business partner feels they could trust you like a family member, and decides it's you who he/she wants to invest in.

And yes--I know people can take advantage of you to.

Treating people with compassion, and honesty shouldn't be looked as a liability.

I know too many people whom are financially well off, but just misserable. They have no real friends. Their kids use them. And they never figure out why. They are always blaming someone, or something for their missery, or loneliness.

An acquaintance of mine spent pretty much every waking hour trying to get ahead of the "competition". He treated people as tools to get ahead in life. He could quote Sun Sue, and Carnige's book. He tried to cover his selfish ways, but they were still glaring obvious. He wanted the model girlfriend. He delayed the simple things in life. He thought it would all work out when his current company became successful.

He went into a doctor's office in January of this year, with heartburn. He died a few weeks later of esophegial cancer.

Nineteen Eighty Four by Orwell. I read it in high-school and it helped seed (or at least exacerbate) a strong sense of distrust for government and its agents.

A close second might be The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand. That might actually have been first on my list, had I read it when I was younger. But I only first read it about 8 years ago.

My choice as well- it was the first book to show me that societies are systems with all the baggage that entails.

Visions of a Flying Machine by Jakab. About the Wright brothers. Basically emphasizes how they were consummate engineers, not scientists. In a field where there were not yet any textbooks, they zeroed in on what was necessary to build a practical airplane. They figured out each aspect (aerodynamics, controls etc.) to a satisfactory level, then moved onto the next without getting bogged down. They didn't fully understand the physics (they were by no measure aerodynamicists), but they knew enough to predict how their craft would do on paper, which is all engineers need.