So read his book Mastery (Amazon) so that you can figure your life’s task and how to dedicate yourself to it. It must be joined to mastery and purpose. People have power over us, we seek power ourselves that we might be free enough and influential enough to accomplish our goals-so we must understand where power comes from, how it works and how to get it. In life, power is force we are constantly bumping up against. His work on power and strategy are critical for anyone trying to accomplish anything. I met him when I was 19 years old and he’s shaped me as a person, as a writer, as a thinker. His other two books on the topic, Will To Meaning (Amazon) and Man’s Search for Ultimate Meaning (Amazon) have gems in them as well.Ĥ8 Laws of Power and Mastery by Robert Greene (Amazon) There is no living writer (or person) who has been more influential to me than Robert Greene. He looks at how we find purpose by dedicating ourselves to a cause, learning to love and finding a meaning to our suffering. His contribution was to change the question from the vague philosophy of “What is the meaning of life?” to man being asked and forced to answer with his actions. Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl (Amazon) Frankl is one of the most profound modern thinkers on meaning and purpose. You can draw a pretty straight line from Seneca to the essays of Montaigne (also read: How To Live (Amazon), a biography of Montaigne) to the modern day writings of Nassim Nicholas Taleb (read: The Black Swan (Amazon), Fooled By Randomness (Amazon) and The Bed of Procrustes (Amazon) ). Seneca’s letters are the best place to start, but the essays in On the Shortness of Life (Amazon) are excellent as well. His advice on grief, on wealth, on power, on religion, and on life are always there when you need them. In fact, that was his job-he was Nero’s tutor, tasked with reducing the terrible impulses of a terrible man. While Marcus wrote mainly for himself, Seneca had no trouble advising and aiding others. Letters from a Stoic by Seneca (Amazon) After Marcus Aurelius, this is one of my favorite books. And if you want more on the topic, Marcus inspired my book The Obstacle is the Way (Amazon). If you end up loving Marcus, go get The Inner Citadel (Amazon) and Philosophy as a Way of Life (Amazon) by Pierre Hadot that studies the man (and men) behind the work. If you read it and aren’t profoundly changed by it, it’s probably because as Aurelius says “what doesn’t transmit light creates its own darkness.” You HAVE to read the Hays’s translation. It is the definitive text on self-discipline, personal ethics, humility, self-actualization and strength. Just imagine: the private thoughts of the most powerful man in the world, admonishing himself on how to be better, more just, more immune to temptation, wiser. The Meditations by Marcus Aurelius (Amazon) To me, this is not only one of greatest books ever written but perhaps the only book of its kind. And don’t forget to sign up for my Reading List Email which recommends a new set of life changing books each month. And then when you come to a dead end, come back to the list. Pick one of them up and let it lead you to another. It’s a list that has changed over time-and will continue to change-but it’s a good enough place to start. Having been introduced to them by those kind, patient individuals, I thought I would pay it forward by putting together a list of the books that have shaken up my life and that have helped make me the person that I am. The quake books- as Tyler Cowen put it -that shake you to your core. That’s how I found many of the books on the list below. I used to go around and ask every smart person I met-even emailing important people I didn’t know- “What books do you recommend to a kid like me?” That’s how I was introduced to the Stoics. My whole life and career, I’ve been seeking out, reading, and taking notes on books that can teach me things. There is a Latin expression: liber medicina animi (a book is the soul’s medicine). As Petrarch, a famous book lover observed some 700 years ago, “books give delight to the very marrow of one’s bones.” But if I was honest, I would say the real reason that I’ve spent so much time with my nose inside this book or that book is because I have been searching for something: a way to life. Obviously a big reason to read is because it’s fun. “I’m not saying that you have to be a reader to save your soul in the modern world.
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