The Anti-Christ by Friedrich Nietzsche. It made me question my faith and my entire existence.
Ask HN: What was the one book that you read and it actually changed your life?
81–90 of 225 posts
Re: Ask HN: What was the one book that you read and it actually changed your life?
#82Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse Never really been one to enjoy popular books on philosophy (Alchemist was overrated, Monk who sold his Ferrari cliched, The Secret just boring ...IMO) and picked this up at a used book store. The book truly put a new perspective on life for me. Perhaps it was a combination of the time when I read the book: Undue stress, massive imposter syndrome, that feeling of not moving ahead in life, a…
To add to that, Narcissus and Goldmund was also a quite influential book.
Re: Ask HN: What was the one book that you read and it actually changed your life?
#83To Live by Yu Hua. It was one of the most traumatic books I've ever read. A simple stoic "tale of an ordinary man enduring hardships--both of his own and others' doing."
I always felt my life was messed up and unfair because it seemed I managed to experience almost every suffering possible. This book opened up my eyes to how much someone could actually suffer and how it doesn't matter in the end in the long run.
Re: Ask HN: What was the one book that you read and it actually changed your life?
#84Aesop's Fables. I read any copy I could find when I was a child, and together, they had a lasting and profound impact on my life.
Re: Ask HN: What was the one book that you read and it actually changed your life?
#85"Food of the Gods" by Terrence McKenna was a revelation and led me to dive into his other books and lectures (and many topics spawned from it). Complete shift in baseline perception. Though not his quote, he said it frequently: "The truth is not only stranger than you suppose, it is stranger than you _can_ suppose."
I must've spent a lifetime listening to and reading McKenna. Time to go back and have another listen.
Re: Ask HN: What was the one book that you read and it actually changed your life?
#86Atlas Shrugged
Re: Ask HN: What was the one book that you read and it actually changed your life?
#87I wouldn't say it changed my life. But "Deep Work" resonated very deeply with me.
Re: Ask HN: What was the one book that you read and it actually changed your life?
#88Demon Haunted World (Sagan). The art of baloney detection and scientific thinking.
Letters from a Stoic (Seneca). The pursuit of happiness is meaningless, focus on the pursuit of wisdom.
Poor Charlie's Almanac (Charles T. Munger). A library of mental/thinking models can take you a long way.
Of Human Bondage (Maugham). What is the meaning of life?
Re: Ask HN: What was the one book that you read and it actually changed your life?
#89Man's Search for Meaning expanded my view of the human spirit and life in general. Deep Work gave me some good insight on how to get the most out of my days. Sapiens vastly widened and shifted my understanding of the myths that make up our society.
I'll second deep work by Cal Newport. I didn't realize just how distracted I was until attempting his methods.
Re: Ask HN: What was the one book that you read and it actually changed your life?
#90The divided mind / healing back pain - Books by John E. Sarno. To give you a background I have struggled with back pain all my life. After dozens of MRIs, X rays, physiotherapy, ayurveda, yoga, posture exercises, and spending almost 100,000 in the last 15 years on this, a simple book saved me. The effect was so powerful that I could feel the symptoms fading while I was reading it. It gave me my life back. A few weeks…
Thank you for this. I needed this