Meditations

I only read non-fiction; mostly philosophy. Here are some books off the top of my head: * The Inner Citadel/Philosophy as a Way of Life by Pierre Hadot * Plato's dialogues (someone already mentioned a few of them, but the Republic was missing from their list). * Epictetus (Discourses and Enchiridion) * The various essays/letters of Seneca * Matter and Consciousness by Churchland (older, but fascinating) * The Mediations of Marcus Aurelius * (mostly) any Buddhist texts * What a Plant Knows * Moonwalking with Einstein There are tons of fascinating books, way too many to list.

The Old Man and the sea - Hemmingway - so many things, with every reread I find something new. The Heart of the Buddhas Teaching - Thich Nhat Hanh, useful prayers, concepts for understanding and dealing with life and a moral compass for going through it. The Way of Zen - Alan Watts, opened my eyes to different forms of religious experience Also a lot of psychology and philosophy books in undergrad were foundational to my thinking. The Moral Animal, the Moral Landscape, The Blank Slate, The Republic and Plato’s writings on Socrates, Tao te Ching, Meditations by Marcus Aurelius, the Tanakh and parts of the Talmud, but many of these were more academic, still holistically they have shaped my thinking and moral compass.

The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy Surrounded by Idiots Meditations

Meditations, Marcus Aurelius

seneca's letters from a stoic, marcus aurelius' meditations, the pragmatic programmer by david thomas & andrew hunt

Meditations of Marcus Aurelius. Seriously would read each sentence then spend a minute just to letting the shattering existential realizations sink in.

Meditations - Marcus Aurelius Republic - Plato Laws - Cicero National System of Political Economy - Friedrich List Man and Technics - Oswald Spengler The Bible

Meditations by Marcus Aurelius

Walden - Thoreau Meditations - Aurelius Simply existing can be exhilarating.

Meditations by Marcus Aerelius

I have about half a dozen translations of the Meditations and i suggest the following; * Translation by Gregory Hays published in "The Modern Library" classics. This is highly approachable and should be the first one you start with. * Translation by Martin Hammond and published by Penguin Classics. Lots of illuminating Notes. * Translation by Robin Hard and published in "Oxford World's Classics" series. Robin Hard also has a translation of Epictetus' Discourses/Enchiridion/Fragments and Sayings and Anecdotes of Diogenes in the same Oxford series, both of which are also excellent. PS: All of the above contain a detailed Introduction to the work which you should not skip. They set the background, Worldview, Time etc. which help you understand the ideas in the book better.

1) Meditations, Marcus Aurelius 2) Principles of Product Development Flow, Donald G. Reinertsen 3) Step Away from the Computer or Hammock Driven Development, Rich Hi ckey https://github.com/matthiasn/talk-transcripts/blob/master/Hi... (https://github.com/matthiasn/talk-transcripts/blob/master/Hickey_Rich/HammockDrivenDev.md)

The Mediations of Marcus Aurelius is something I keep around and revisit frequently. If I need some time to refocus during a busy workday, I’ll open it up to a random page and read for a few minutes.

If anybody is thinking of getting this the Hayes translation is probably the easiest to read.

Meditations - Marcus Aurelius

Edit: I read Robin Buss Unabridged version from penguin for "The Count of Monte Cristo". Also, some of other interesting books I forgot to mention in my original list - How to Change Your Mind (don't be put off by title) - Meditations, Marcus Aurelius (good peek into the mind of one of the greatest emperors of all time)

Best business books: -Secrets of Sandhill Road -Hackers and Painters -The Great CEO within -Venture Deals -Predictable Revenue -Zero to One -The Hard Thing About Hard Things -Lean customer development -Lost and founder -Lean B2B -From Impossible to Inevitable -Traction Best computer science books: -Competitive programming 3 -Structure and interpretation of computer programs Best for fun (non-fiction): -Meditations -Sapiens -How to win friends and influence people -A brief history of time -Self-reliance -Frente a la estrella polar

To follow up your recommendation: he was more than a Roman emperor, he was arguably one of, if not the most powerful people on the planet. Some might argue that any Roman Empror was, but his reign I believe was near the zenith of Rome’s Empire in terms of territory (please correct me if I’m wrong). Therefore you’re reading his diary, realizing his own worries, all the while being this person.

Some links from Project Gutenberg: Essays, by Michel de Montaigne In English (Vol. 1), https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/3581 In French (Vol. 1), https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/48529 Meditations, by Marcus Aurelius English translation by George W. Chrystal, 1902 https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/55317 English translation by George Long, 1957 https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/15877 Les Misérables, by Victor Hugo In English (Full), https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/135 In French (Vol. 1), https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/17489 20000 leagues under the sea, by Jules Vernes In English (slightly abridged), https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/164 In French (with illustration), https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/54873

I've got two translations of Meditations, one was fairly easy to digest (Hayes), the other was terrible.

It's been mentioned before but meditations is great, but I would also like to add "How to live on 24 hours a day" by Arnold Bennett https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/2274 In fiction Sherlock Holmes and the Three Musketeers is some of my favorites.

Meditations by Marcus Aurelius Art of war

Economics: - The Wealth of Nations, Adam Smith - Das Kapital, Karl Marx - That Which Is Seen, and That Which Is Not Seen, Frederic Bastiat Philosophy / Politics: - The Republic, Plato - Second Treatise on Government, John Locke - The Law, Frederic Bastiat - Leviathan, Thomas Hobbes - Meditations, Marcus Aurelius - Democracy in America, Alexis de Toqueville - On Liberty, John Stuart Mill Fiction: - The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County, Mark Twain - The Story of an Hour, Kate Chopin - Metamorphoses, Franz Kafka - Candide, Voltaire - The Count of Monte Cristo, Alexandre Dumas

Meditations by Marcus Aurelius is a pretty obvious one for this demographic.

I have always been of the opinion that you ought to read the stoics in the order of: 1. Epictetus (foundational with the enchiridion) [trans Robert Dobbin] 2. Seneca’s letters (eloquent exhortations from one person to another) [trans Robin Campbell] 3. Aurelius’s meditations (powerful self-reflections not meant for publication) [trans Martin Hammond] I found that, going back, both Seneca or Epictetus were lesser reads than Aurelius, but I’m still glad I read them. [These are my preferred translations, but I did see this comment and just ordered the translation mentioned https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8717216]

I would recommend Meditations by Marcus Aurelius (Hays Translation) along with On the Shortness of Life by Seneca. These 2 books together will introduce you to the Stoic philosophy which I just found a couple of years ago and it has made my life much better.

On the genre of Stoicism, Marcus Aurelius has intrigued me for some time. I have yet to read any of Seneca's work though but imagine that it is any bit as much quality(!). I would like to add a candidate for the recommendation on Stoic philosophy - "Meditations by Marcus Aurelius".

Plato - Meno, Symposium, Parmenides, Gorgias, Protagoras Plotinus -Enneads Markus Aurelius - Meditations Descartes - On method Descartes - Meditations Spinoza - On the improvement of Understanding Leibniz - Monadology Leibniz - Grace Voltaire - Candid Diderot - D'Alembert's Dream Kant - How to orient oneself in thinking Kant - Critique of Pure Reason Kant - Critique of Judgment Hegel - Phenomenology of Spirit Hegel - Logic von Kleist - Marionette Theatre Kierkegaard - The Sickness Unto Death Heidegger - Being and Time Sartre - Being and Nothingness Sartre - Flies Sartre - Nausea Deleuze - Difference and Repetition Kafka - Metamorphosis Kafka - The Castle Lem - Magellan Nebula Lem - His Master's Voice Cioran - A Short History of Decay Pessoa - Book Of Despair Wolfe - New Sun tetralogy

Meditations, by Marcus Aurelius. Bottom line: judge your success in life by how well you make your decisions, not by your outcome. You have full control of your decisions, and often no control at all over their results.

1. Meditations by Marcus Aurelius - practical advice on how to arm yourself every day. 2. Man's Search for Meaning by Frankl - no matter how bad you think you have it, it can be worse, and you can find meaning. 3. The Snow Leopard by Peter Matthiessen - it's the journey (not the destination) and <i>pay attention!</i>

It's an amazing one.

Couldn't agree more. 99% of the time I feel blocked, frustrated, etc - I pick it up and read (almost at random) and it also helps reset mindset. This in particular is one of my favorite passages: "Never let the future disturb you. You will meet it, if you have to, with the same weapons of reason which today arm you against the present."

Meditations, Marcus Aurelius

I can't give just one, but here are a few that had a strong influence on me: "12 Rules for Life" by Jordan Peterson, "Why Switzerland?" Jonathan Steinberg, "Little Book of Common Sense Investing" by John C. Bogle, "A Random Walk Down Wall Street" by Butron Malkiel, "Liberalismus" by Ludwig von Mises, "Meditations" by Marcus Aurelius, "A Treatise of Human Nature" by David Hume, "Thinking, Fast and Slow" by Daniel Kahneman, "The Law" by Frédéric Bastiat, "Autobiography" by Benjamin Franklin, "Common Sense" by Thomas Paine, "Gespräche mit Goethe" by Johann Peter Eckermann, "Walden" by Henry David Thoreau, "The Old Regime and the Revolution" Alexis de Tocqueville, "On Liberty" by John Stuart Mill, "A Treatise on Political Economy" by Jean-Baptiste Say, "The Man Versus the State" by Herbert Spencer, "The Revolt of the Masses" by José Ortega y Gasset, "Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy" by Joseph Alois Schumpeter, "The Logic of Scientific Discovery" by Karl Popper, "The Machinery of Freedom" by David Friedman, "On Power" Bertrand de Jouvenel, "1984" by George Orwell, "The State" by Anthony de Jasay, "Sketched With the Quill" by Andrzej Bobkowski, "My Correct Views on Everything" by…

Seneca's On the Shortness of Life was a profound read for me. I wish I read it earlier. That and Marcus Aurelius' Meditations.

Peterson is very good at speaking and lecturing (practice makes perfect!) and I enjoy his work. That said, his tack is largely an updated stoic philosophy. A good idea, don't get me wrong. Still, if you liked his book, I'd go back and read more about stoicism. Here are some suggestion, but if anyone else has others, please chime in: https://www.amazon.com/Meditations-Thrift-Editions-Marcus-Au... (https://www.amazon.com/Meditations-Thrift-Editions-Marcus-Aurelius/dp/048629823X) https://www.amazon.com/Senecas-Letters-Stoic-Thrift-Editions... (https://www.amazon.com/Senecas-Letters-Stoic-Thrift-Editions/dp/0486811247/ref=pd_sim_14_7?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=0486811247&pd_rd_r=MY1XXP4DKN8QNDBGPYMR&pd_rd_w=bcmaG&pd_rd_wg=LyiNS&psc=1&refRID=MY1XXP4DKN8QNDBGPYMR) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stoicism

1) All of Robin Sharma's books - especially The Monk who sold his Ferrari 2) The Conquest of Happiness by Bertrand Russell 3) Self Reliance by Ralph Waldo Emerson 4) The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius 5) Barking up the wrong tree by Eric Barker 6) This might be strange - but Harry Potter series also teach us a lot, especially about Courage and Conviction.

I have 4: -Benjamin Franklin's Autobiography - you can download it for free - Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell - A bit simplistic but it opens your eye to the fact that talent is a small part of being successful in whatever you want to achieve. - How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie - You need people to succeed. Making enemies or just treating people indifferently is a bad move. - 7 habits of highly effective people by Stephen R. Covey. People put it down because the advice seems to be common sense but it's only common sense if you know it but not everyone knows it. - Meditations by Marcus Aurelius- this is a lifelong guide. Read it until the pages fall apart and then get another and do the same. All these books can be read multiple times and you'll learn something new so get hard copies if you can.

* Total Freedom by J Krishnamurti * Meditations by Marcus Aurelius * Wit and Wisdom from Poor Richard's Almanack by Benjamin Franklin * Influence by Robert B. Cialdini

Couldn't agree more. This book truly deserves the "timeless" epithet. A book to revisit every few years at minimum.

Fiction War and Peace Crime and Punishment Count of Monte Christo 1984 God of Small Things Paradise lost Divine comedy Non fiction Selfish gene Meditations Madness explained (the best book I've encountered for explaining how the mind works) The Red Queen Tao te Ching

The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius. It's astonishing to get useful, relevant advice on how to conduct yourself across two millenia. I recommend the translation by Gregory Hays, which removes the academic feel of other translations, and so makes them relevant and, at least in my case, actionable.

Meditations. Its passages have become a sort of canon for my life.

1. How to Win Friends and Influence People - I recommend because I apply every day at work and reap the results as well, somebody should have recommended this book to me ten years ago; 2. Children of Time - a science fiction book that I enjoyed, I notice that fiction, in general, helps me deal with stressful work, as I disconnect easier and put myself in an imaginary world while reading; 3. Meditations by Marcus Aurelius - this isn't a book you read cover to cover, I catch myself thinking long even after reading a single sentence; 1) and 3) I've come across on HN, but 2) was the unexpected random hit.

Meditations by Marcus Aurelius. Stoicism is by far the best philosophy I've ever encountered. Some people call it "the best operating system for the mind", and I very much agree with that statement. It changed my life more than any other corpus of ideas. I can't overstate how much better I feel now that my brain is running on a 'Stoic OS', especially on an emotional level --which was the hardest to deal with as I'm rather hyper-sensitive; now my emotions have truly become an almost entirely positive force in my experience of life, regardless of their nature, good or bad, of said emotions; in fact I no longer even qualify emotions on this scale; and the same goes true for an overwhelming majority of my thinking. This book is the personal journal of one of the greatest roman emperors, leader of the (western) world at the time. A rare enough occurrence in the history of leaders, he was deemed 'worthy of his position' on a human and philosophical level by most people who knew him.…

Meditations, originally written by Marcus Aurelius, but translated many times over. More as an introduction to stoicism; choosing the translation that works best for you is ideal. Hays and Hicks translations are most often recommended but if you can peek inside the book to see what language resonates the best with you. Stoicism helped me build the ability to care about the things in my power to change, and not stress about things that aren't. Very useful in any job or personal situation that includes a lot of ambient stress.

"Meditations" by Marcus Aurelius

I agree with others on the "Meditations" by Marcus Aurelius. Off the top of my head, I would add: * "The Way to Wealth," by Benjamin Franklin: https://www.amazon.com/dp/0918222885 (also available online for free; it's in the public domain) -- no-nonsense practical advice from a super-successful individual * Warren Buffett's Letters to Berkshire Hathaway shareholders: http://www.berkshirehathaway.com/letters/letters.html (also available organized by topic, in a bound book: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1611637589 which some will find much easier to read) * "The Intelligent Investor," by Benjamin Graham (specifically the chapters titled "The Investor and Market Fluctuations" and "Margin of Safety"): https://www.amazon.com/dp/0060555661 * "Influence: the Psychology of Persuasion," by Robert Cialdini: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0688128165 Also: * "Devil Take the Hindmost," by Edward Chancellor: https://www.amazon.com/dp/0452281806 * "A Short History of Financial Euphoria," by John Kenneth Galbraith: https://www.amazon.com/dp/0140238565 * "Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds," by Charles Mackay: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1586635581

A couple of these have been named and I've upvoted them, but this is my list: * "Flow" by Mihály Csíkszentmihályi. Being fully immersed and engaged in an activity. 1) Knowing the value of this mental state, 2) being able to recognize when you're in it, and 3) setting yourself up so that you can be in this state as much as possible is really valuable. File it under living an examined life, IMO. All the popular "don't interrupt the programmer" and Pomodoro and other time management techniques build on this old research. * "Meditations" by Marcus Aurelius (several translations, worth comparing for even more insight) -- this is a man who understood duty and getting things done! (Not surprising from a stoic, but somehow this collection has extra impact because I know they were primarily notes and reflections written for his own clarity, more than for an audience.) Wisdom to apply to situations. Patterns to recognize in yourself and others.…

"I'm wondering which other books have you read that have had the most impact on you professionally or even personally?" Professionally: Peter F. Drucker's books. Personally: "Meditations" by Marcus Aurelius, "A Treatise of Human Nature" by David Hume, "The Law" by Frédéric Bastiat, "Autobiography" by Benjamin Franklin, "Common Sense" by Thomas Paine, "Gespräche mit Goethe" by Johann Peter Eckermann, "The Old Regime and the Revolution" Alexis de Tocqueville, "On Liberty" by John Stuart Mill, "The Man Versus the State" by Herbert Spencer, "The Revolt of the Masses" by José Ortega y Gasset, "The Logic of Scientific Discovery" by Karl Popper, "On Power" Bertrand de Jouvenel, "1984" by George Orwell, "The State" by Anthony de Jasay, "Sketched With the Quill" by Andrzej Bobkowski, "Metaphysical Horror" by Leszek Kolakowski, "Rationality in Economics" by Vernon L. Smith, "The Machinery of Freedom" by David Friedman.

I've never thought of Meditations as religious or non-religious. It's all about really appreciating what you have and understanding the way you feel is derived from your perception of the world. I think that's pretty universal. If anyone is interested in a more modern introduction to stoicism A Guide to the Good Life is a worthwhile read: https://www.amazon.com/Guide-Good-Life-Ancient-Stoic/dp/0195... (https://www.amazon.com/Guide-Good-Life-Ancient-Stoic/dp/0195374614)

I always think this is the closest thing to a 'Bible for atheists' that I've ever found. Seriously awesome stuff

Meditations is a book I come back to over and over: http://classics.mit.edu/Antoninus/meditations.mb.txt

1. "Meditations" – Marcus Aurelius 2. "The Practicing Mind" – Thomas Sterner 3. "Better: A Surgeon's Notes on Performance" – Atul Gawande (I'm not a surgeon; the principles herein are universal) (honorable mention: "How to Win Friends and Influence People" – Dale Carnegie; various biographies by Caro and Chernow)

1. "Zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance" by Robert Pirsig 2. "The art of war" by Sun Tzu 3. "Meditations" by Marcus Aurelius

- Meditations by Marcus Aurelius - A Guide to the Good Life: The Ancient Art of Stoic Joy by Irvine

Self-help/personal development/philosophy: - The obstacle is the way (Ryan Holiday) - Meditations (Marcus Aurelius) - Level up your life: how to unlock adventure and happiness by becoming the hero of your own story - the six pillars of self-esteem - so good they can’t ignore you - the power of habit - how to fail at almost everything and still win big Business: - soft sell: the new art of selling - essentialism: the disciplined pursuit of less - the magic of thinking big - everything is negotiable - making things happen - lean customer development - what customers want - inspired: how to create products customers love - delivering happiness

> Meditations - Marcus Aurelius -- A fine classic I enjoyed. Which version did read, and where did you get it? The translation I found on Gutenberg was too archaic and hard to understand.

- Make me a German(great read, even if you aren't into germany, nice read/comedy). Still reading "Meditations" from Marcus Aurelius, definitely a must read. You can easily see why he was an imperator and can probably guess how much far a human can get even in today's society with the mindset he provided in the book. Maybe it's a good idea to finish this up this xmas. It was a very poor year in reading for me, but compensated by the fact I've moved to Germany.

Books I'm glad I've read: The Inner Game of Tennis Impro by Keith Johnstone Seeing Like a State The Timeless Way of Building Linear and Geometric Algebra by Alan Macdonald Meditations by Marcus Aurelius (read this one thrice) The Tao of Pooh Science, Strategy and War: The Strategic Theory of John Boyd The Drama of the Gifted Child Interaction Ritual What Do You Say After You Say Hello? Of niche use: Mathematics: its Content, Methods and Meaning - mostly useful for figuring out what math you don't know. I recommend reading it at a fairly decent pace, and noting what subjects don't sound like an overview of something you've already learned.

Meditations - Marcus Aurelius -- A fine classic I enjoyed. Might count, might not, since it finished in March but was going on before. I loved Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality - Eliezer Yudkowsky - http://hpmor.com/ Loved Masters of Doom - David Kushner I liked Worm - Wildbow - https://parahumans.wordpress.com/table-of-contents/ -- but it falls short of overall greatness and I don't think it's worth its 22-average-books length if I were to go back in time and decide on rereading... Learn to Play Go: A Master's Guide to the Ultimate Game (Volume I) - Janice Kim -- I've been learning Go and thought this book was particularly excellent for beginners. There are at least 4 other books I'm close to finishing and I might get one done before the end of the month... Volume 2 of the above Go series, Mythical Man-Month, A handbook of traditional living, or The Waking Dream.

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 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 :)

Meditations by Marcus Aurelius - a wonderfully simple explanation of what is truly important in life. 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.

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

The Four Steps To The Epiphany - Steve Blank Neuromancer - William Gibson Predictable Revenue - Aaron Ross, Marylou Tyler The Fountainhead - Ayn Rand The Ultimate Question 2.0 - Fred Reichheld‎ The Singularity is Near - Ray Kurzweil Moonshot! - John Sculley Zero To One - Peter Thiel Republic - Plato Meditations - Marcus Aurelius Nineteen Eighty-Four - George Orwell Fahrenheit 451 - Ray Bradbury The Mysterious Island - Jules Verne Discipline of Market Leaders - Michael Treacy, Fred Wiersema False Memory - Dean Koontz NOS4A2- Joe Hill Revival - Stephen King Barbarians At The Gate - John Helyar and Bryan Burrough Into Thin Air - John Krakauer How To Measure Anything - Douglas Hubbard and any collection of the works of H.P. Lovecraft.

This is a fantastic translation of Meditations: http://www.amazon.com/The-Emperors-Handbook-Translation-Medi... (http://www.amazon.com/The-Emperors-Handbook-Translation-Meditations/dp/0743233832)

you'd be better off reading something like Marcus Aurelius' Meditations instead, or some of the other classics. Incidentally, I'm trying to read Meditations now, but it's not an easy reading and it goes very slowly. Maybe I'll be able to put in on my 2015 list of influential books?

- The Enchihirdion by Epictetus - Meditations by Marcus Aurelius - Letters of a Stoic by Seneca - Dhammapada (various translations) - Bhagavad Gita (various translations)

Some titles I've recently read or at least have placed on my reading list. -------------------- Philosohpy Letters from a Stoic: Epistulae Morales Ad Lucilium - Seneca Meditations - Marcus Aurelius (must read) The Republic - Plato -------------------- History Five Chimneys - Olga Lengyel The Gulag Archipelago - Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn (must read) The Diary of a Young Girl - Anne Frank -------------------- Fiction (particularly dystopian) 1984, Brave New World, Animal Farm, Fahrenheit 451 (crime/action) Child 44, The Secret Speech, Agent 6 - Tom Rob Smith -------------------- Economics Capital in the Twenty-First Century - Thomas Piketty Poor Economics: A Radical Rethinking of the Way to Fight Global Poverty - Banerjee, Duflo Why Nations Fail - Robinson -------------------- Economics/Decision making/Psychology Undercover Economist, Freakonomics, Nudge, Thinking Fast and Slow -------------------- Random titles The Selfish Gene, Self-Reliance, The Elements of Style (about writing), Slaughterhouse-Five -------------------- Some links to inspire your reading (though you may want to checkout the websites first to get an idea of the topics they cover) http://www.gatesnotes.com/Books…

Just listing books that have had a big impact on me: * The Now Habit - http://www.amazon.com/dp/1585425524 * Getting Things Done - http://www.amazon.com/dp/0142000280 * Simply Christian - http://www.amazon.com/dp/0061920622 * Surprised by Hope - http://www.amazon.com/dp/0061551821 * The Great Divorce - http://www.amazon.com/dp/0060652950 * Mere Christianity - http://www.amazon.com/dp/0060652926 * The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius - http://www.amazon.com/dp/048629823X * Tao Te Ching - http://www.amazon.com/dp/0060812451 Books from the Bible that I like: * Genesis * Judges * Ruth * Tobit * Job * Psalms * Ecclesiastes * Sirach/Ecclesiasticus * Everything written by John

You may have already come across it if you've read a lot of Stoic philosophy, but 'Meditations' by Marcus Aurelius is a good read. Other books I've really enjoyed are: Talent is overrated, by Geoff Colvin (short version: working hard is more than half the battle) Drive, by Daniel Pink (short version: to be motivated, you need to have/be working toward purpose, autonomy, and mastery) How will you measure your life, by Clayton Christensen (short version: just read it - very good) For the win - how game thinking can revolutionize your business, by Kevin Werbach and Dan Hunter (Note: one of the authors offers a Gamification MOOC on Coursera) And for fun: Eastern Approaches, by Fitzroy Maclean (short version: a pseudo-biography about a british man who was a diplomat, politician, and special forces operator all in one lifetime. Incredible)

I first read The Meditations (Marcus Aurelius) when I was maybe 14. The way such a powerful man struggled so much to exert control over his own mind really blew me away. Got me started on the journey towards learning about, and influencing, my own mind.

The Black Swan (anything by Taleb really), Meditations by Marcus Aurelius, Letters from a Stoic by Seneca, Epictetus' Discourses, Fish that ate the whale by Rich Cohen, Man's Search for Meaning, Titan, Principles by Ray Dalio (not really a book, but really worth reading, plus it's free), 4HW by Tim Ferris, The Strategy Paradox. Also Teddy Roosevelt's biography has been very influential.

The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/148 Meditations by Marcus Aurelius http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/2680 He wasn't the CEO of a Fortune 500 company, but he was Emperor of Rome. ;) Walden http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/205 Most of the big problems in life have already been pondered eons ago.

I re-read Julius Caesar's Commentaries at least five times a year. I find them some of the most absolutely fascinating texts that exist. Discovered them when I was maybe 15 and they sparked my love of ancient history. Marcus Aurelius' "Meditations" is interesting in some similar ways.

Meditations - Marcus Aurelius. Recommend it.

Meditations by Marcus Aurelius. Some translations are better than others, but I have found The Emperor's Handbook[1] to be the best so far. [1] http://www.amazon.com/dp/0743233832/

The Meditations by Marcus Aurelius http://classics.mit.edu/Antoninus/meditations.html I first read it when I was around 14. I think it helped me create a much more complete moral framework than anything I'd heard before (and probably since). Definitely my first introduction to Stoicism. It's not really a book, more of a collection of reminders to himself, which is probably why it's so useful and interesting.

It depends if you want to be knowledgeable "about" philosophy and knowledge or if you want to apply it to you life. * K.Popper (in both cases;): _Open society and its ennemies_ http://www.archive.org/stream/opensocietyandit033120mbp#page... (http://www.archive.org/stream/opensocietyandit033120mbp#page/n7/mode/2up) for "Ars Vitae" (applicable to one's life) * Plato: _Gorgias_ * Marc Aurélius: _Meditations_ * Friedrich Nietzsche: _Beyond good & evil_ I agree with others on Hume, Russell, Husserl. Another great thinker while he does not pretend to be a philosopher is Dan Sperber, I think of 2 books * Dan Sperber (with Deirdre Wilson) _Relevance. Communication and Cognition_ (Blackwell, 1986) * Sperber, Dan (1996) Explaining culture: _A naturalistic approach._ (Oxford: Blackwell) Finally philosophical literature: * Doistoievski: _The Brothers Karamazov_ (question of God is asked)

It's amazing how many good historical works are out of copyright and free. I got an Amazon Kindle as a gift, and it's been really wonderful for me. If you like Roman history, you've got to check out Gibbons' History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. It's just a masterpiece. I flip through my copy of Meditations from time to time (actually, now I look at it on my Kindle, but I used to flip through my paper copy) and just pick out random quotes. A great work. "It is not the thing itself that disturbs a man, but the man's perception of and reaction to the thing. The thing may not be able to be changed, but a man's perception and reaction may be changed." I'm butchering that quote, but it's incredibly meaningful to me, and I try to reflect on it when things seem to be going wrong or I get inconvenienced. While talking about classics, there's a lot of good philosophy out of copyright. Beyond Good and Evil and Thus Spoke Zarathustra aren't perfect works and I disagree with a fair bit of it, but there's some absolute jewels in them too.…

Think & Grow Rich - Napoleon Hill Taiko - Eiji Yoshikawa Alexander of Macedon - Peter Green and +1 for Staunch's choice: Meditations - Marcus Aurelius