1. Meditations — Marcus Aurelius
The personal diary of Marcus Aurelius (the last of the so-called “Five Good Emperors” of Rome), where he made notes to remind himself to follow the way of the Stoics, and admonishing himself when he didn’t. It’s an interesting collection of thoughts, and when removing the classical names, could have easily been written today.
I strongly suggest that everyone has a read of this book, as it’s a great into to one of the later Stoic practitioners, and give a practical view of Stoicism, but even if you don’t buy into the whole philosophy, there will be some points that’ll be of use to you.Â
Out of the hundreds of marked quotes, this one is my favourite:
“If you are distressed by anything external, the pain is not due to the thing itself, but to your estimate of it; and this you have the power to revoke at any moment.”
2. Nudge — Richard H. Thaler & Cass R. Sunstein
3. Ego is the Enemy — Ryan Holiday
4. How to Win Friends and Influence People — Dale Carnegie
5. The Obstacle is the Way — Ryan Holiday
6. Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind — Yuval Noah Harari
7. The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck — Mark Manson
8. Man’s Search for Meaning — Viktor E. Frankl
9. The Richest Man in Babylon — George S. Clason
10. Creativity, Inc. — Ed Catmull with Amy Wallace
11. Extreme Ownership — Jocko Willink & Leif Babin
12. The Shallows — Nicholas Carr
13. The Checklist Manifesto — Atul Gawande
14. Originals — Adam Grant
15. Work Rules! — Laszlo Bock
16. Deep Work — Cal Newport
17. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People — Stephen R. Covey
18. Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking — Susan Cain
19. Elon Musk — Ashlee Vance
20. #GIRLBOSS — Sophia Amoruso
21. Lying — Sam Harris