What book changed your life?

W

whatday

Ostrich
Gold Member
Rich Dad Poor Dad (Robert Kiyosaki), a great book on putting your money to work for you.

The Manual: What Women Want and How to Give it to Them (W. Anton), a great book on masculine dominance.

The Paleo Manifesto (John Durant), a great book on staying healthy in a very unhealthy environment.

The Compound Effect (Darren Hardy), a great book on accomplishing goals.

The four books above should be required reading for everyone.
 
Papaya

Papaya

Peacock
Gold Member
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Its too bad his infomercial image has overpowered the content of his work because it ts the real deal
 
M

MikeInRealLife

Sparrow
Atlas Shrugged and other Ayn Rand stuff, but in retrospect it was not for the better.

I've found somewhat of an antidote in Jack Donovan's The Way of Men and especially Becoming a Barbarian. The latter has really changed my way of thinking.
 
heavy

heavy

Hummingbird
Gold Member
A Place for You (1968) by Paul Tournier. Gay I know, but I was coming off a divorce, pretty insecure, just stopped going to church (because that's what I *should* do), and dealing with some really serious Christian childhood stuff. This book peeled away the veneer of my theology, which wasn't far off what I believe now (and validated by the likes of Jordan Peterson), and grounded me again in Christianity.

One of the fundamentals from the book is premature abdication. Teaching children what they should and should not do because of God or Jesus or just using shame. The problem later in life being that they don't really know how to be charitable or to give as Christ gave. They just know they *should* give. It's like they never read about the Old Testament God.

Art of Loving (1956) by Erich Fromm. Gay again, I know. This has to be one of the best psychological books ever written. I read the book post divorce when my belief in Christianity was fading into more of a story of humanity. It reiterated my "theology" with the same foundation (Old/New Testament God, masculine/feminine), but manifested as more of a philosophy/psychology. The existence of God and the validity of the story of Christ were less important than the overall message.

I think when the crushing weigh of divorce hit and my experiences weren't fitting into my worldview...well I think this book allowed me to reshape my previous perspective (since childhood) into a more mature, more informed philosophy.

...
When man is born, the human race as well as the individual, he is thrown out of a situation which was definite, as definite as the instincts, into a situation which is indefinite, uncertain and open. There is certainty only about the past— and about the future only as far as that it is death.

Man is gifted with reason; he is life being aware of itself; he has awareness of himself, of his fellow man, of his past, and of the possibilities of his future. This awareness of himself as a separate entity, the awareness of his own short life span, of the fact that without his will he is born and against his will he dies, that he will die before those whom he loves, or they before him, the awareness of his aloneness and separateness, of his helplessness before the forces of nature and of society, all this makes his separate, disunited existence an unbearable prison. He would become insane could he not liberate himself from this prison and reach out, unite himself in some form or other with men, with the world outside.

The experience of separateness arouses anxiety; it is, indeed, the source of all anxiety. Being separate means being cut off, without any capacity to use my human powers. Hence to be separate means to be helpless, unable to grasp the world—things and people—actively; it means that the world can invade me without my ability to react. Thus, separateness is the source of intense anxiety. Beyond that, it arouses shame and the feeling of guilt. This experience of guilt and shame in separateness is expressed in the Biblical story of Adam and Eve. After Adam and Eve have eaten of the "tree of knowledge of good and evil," after they have disobeyed (there is no good and evil unless there is freedom to disobey), after they have become human by having emancipated themselves from the original animal harmony with nature, i.e., after their birth as human beings—they saw "that they were naked—and they were ashamed." Should we assume that a myth as old and elementary as this has the prudish morals of the nineteenth-century outlook, and that the important point the story wants to convey to us is the embarrassment that their genitals were visible? This can hardly be so, and by understanding the story in a Victorian spirit, we miss the main point, which seems to be the following: after man and woman have become aware of themselves and of each other, they are aware of their separateness, and of their difference, inasmuch as they belong to different sexes. But while recognizing their separateness they remain strangers, because they have not yet learned to love each other (as is also made very clear by the fact that Adam defends himself by blaming Eve, rather than by trying to defend her). The awareness of human separation, without reunion by love—is the source of shame. It is at the same time the source of guilt and anxiety.

The deepest need of man, then, is the need to overcome his separateness, to leave the prison of his aloneness. The absolute failure to achieve this aim means insanity, because the panic of complete isolation can be overcome only by such a radical withdrawal from the world outside that the feeling of separation disappears—because the world outside, from which one is separated, has disappeared.
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Sorry about all the God/Christian/philosophical content.

The Game may have changed my life more than anything. It was right after those two books, right after my ex and I separated, perfect fateful timing. But you all know that one.
 
3extra

3extra

Woodpecker
I read Dostoyevsky's 'Crime and Punishment' and 'Notes From The Underground' recently, both really blew me away.

He explored egoism, self-addiction, and man's will to suffer in ways that I had never encountered before. Both are very profound books.
 
fiasco360

fiasco360

Kingfisher
Thrill Jackson said:
PapayaTapper said:
[img=100x150]https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51FK8v5xOtL._SX327_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg[/img]

51lXzR%2BxTOL._AC_UL160_.jpg


Its too bad his infomercial image has overpowered the content of his work because it ts the real deal
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What differentiates that book from the average "eat right, positive affirmation, be pro active, workout, learn more earn more" self help book?
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The amount of reinforcement as well as diving into the reasons for why things work. It definitely helps people like myself who have this "intellectual wall" thinking all this kind of stuff is BS.

Is Robbins a salesman? Absolutely- but I don't believe he's selling a terrible product.
 
T

therealpoder

Robin
A Conflict of Visions by Thomas Sowell - I changed my view of man, society and the possibilities of social change after reading this book. This book is fundamentally about how the Left (the unconstrained vision) and the right (the constrained vision) views the world and their general approach to social problems. Sowell notes in the beginning that many individuals hold the same or similar opinions on political issues and he explores the assumptions about the world that are common among people that hold certain political views. Sowell notes in the preface "We will do almost anything for our visions, except think about them." This book allows the reader to think about their views of the world as well as others' views.
 
dain_bramage

dain_bramage

Woodpecker
John Toland: The Last 100 Days: The Tumultuous and Controversial Story of the Final Days of World War II in Europe

The sheer amount of information contained in that book in regards to the end of the Second World War is immense. Its an old book but filled with information I never was taught in school. I had to seek it out. What happened to the Germans fleeing East Prussia, Danzig, Konigsberg was mind blowing. He's considered a conspiracy theorist because of a book he wrote about Pearl Habor. That being said his information he shares in the book I've mentioned is valuable.
 
S

sonoran_

Kingfisher
Gold Member
Ecclesiastes has really been hitting me deep as of late. Ive read it many times and each time I read it again, something more profound is revealed to me.
 
Mortay

Mortay

Sparrow
The Game- I could literally say had the most profound change in my life because it opened up a whole new world for me. If I never found The Game, I would have never learned pick up, and I would have never been red pilled. It got me interested in self development, gave me hope and made me believe that I could better my circumstances with personal responsibility.

Other books: 48 Laws of Power, Influence, and Hannibal And Me
 
Corollary

Corollary

Robin
Most books I read after I've started thinking about doing something, so I can't credit them for moving me to change.

But Minimalism: Live a Meaningful Life by Joshua Fields Millburn & Ryan Nicodemus immediately changed how I view material possessions, and the changes I've made are still in effect today.

The Millionaire Fastlane helped clarify my opposition to the 'get rich slowly' mindset that is so common.
 
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