№ 01
“To me, this is the greatest book ever written. It is the definitive text on self-discipline, personal ethics, humility, self-actualization and strength. 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 translation. Please do not get any other one, it will not be the same. I have read Meditations probably 100 times. I have a large passage from it printed out and posted above my desk that I look at every day before starting work.”
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№ 02
“After Marcus Aurelius, my favorite of the big three Stoics is Seneca. He was profoundly insightful and his letters are the perfect place to start. I've torn my copy to pieces and stuffed it with tabs. Seneca's advice on grief, on wealth, on power, on religion, and on life are always there when you need them.”
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№ 03
“I was twenty years old. It was my first day of work as an intern at a talent management company in Beverly Hills. When I arrived, my boss had a huge book waiting for me. 'Read this,' he said, 'it's the most important book on power ever written.' The book was The Power Broker by Robert Caro. It took me 15 days to read all 1,165 pages of that hardcover monstrosity, the story of the rise of Robert Moses. Since then, I've read it several times. I've bought copies for friends. I've quoted it in nearly all my books. It might just be the best biography ever written.”
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№ 04
“A biography has to be really good to make you read all 800 pages. This one is that good. Rockefeller was strangely stoic, incredibly resilient, and, despite his reputation as a robber baron, humble and compassionate. When I took notes on this book, I filled out more cards for Stoicism than I did for Strategy, Business or Money. That should tell you something.”
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№ 05
“There is no living writer, or person, who has been more influential to me than Robert Greene. I met him when I was 19 years old and he's shaped me as a person, as a writer, as a thinker. You MUST read his books. His work on power and strategy is critical for anyone trying to accomplish anything. Read Mastery so that you can figure out your life's task and how to dedicate yourself to it.”
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№ 06
“This book is spectacular. Dr. Drew recommended it to me and it did not disappoint. Roosevelt was a man who by all rights should not have amounted to anything. Sick as a child, weak, unathletic. He willed himself, through discipline and courage, into one of the most consequential presidents in American history.”
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№ 07
“Bill Walsh took the San Francisco 49ers from the worst team in football to the Super Bowl in less than 3 years. How? What he called the Standard of Performance. That is: How you do anything is how you do everything. Even if you've never watched a football game in your life, you'll get something out of this book. The idea being: forget the results, focus on what produces the results.”
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№ 08
“Viktor Frankl, the Austrian psychiatrist who survived the concentration camps, is one of the most profound modern thinkers on meaning and purpose. His key insight: life is asking us what meaning we are going to create with our actions. It is not for us to demand meaning of it. I've read this book many times and I love it more each time.”
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№ 09
“Anne Lamott's book is ostensibly about the art of writing, but really it is about life and how to tackle the problems, temptations and opportunities life throws at us. Take it bird by bird. Just start. It will make you a better writer. It will make you a better person.”
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№ 10
“Tolstoy believed his most essential work was not his novels but this book, which he read every single day for the last fifteen years of his life. It's a collection of Tolstoy's favorite passages from the ancient and classic texts, with excellent supplements from his own considerable wisdom, drawing from Chinese, Jewish, Stoic, Christian, Indian and Arabic sources. I read one page every single day.”
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№ 11
“The Discourses are much longer than the Enchiridion and deserve a bigger commitment. Epictetus, one of the great Stoics, sums up his philosophy: the chief task in life is to separate things that are in our control from those that are not in our control. I first read Epictetus almost fifteen years ago and it changed my life.”
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№ 12
“Chernow paints a nuanced picture of Grant's presidency that I found quite compelling. Grant was a man of enormous perseverance, humility, and moral courage. Also worth noting: he stayed in John Brown's parents' house on his way to West Point as a teenager. History is stranger than fiction.”
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№ 13
“If you read The 48 Laws of Power, I promise you will leave not just with actionable lessons but an indelible sense of what to do in many trying and confusing situations. Robert Greene is one of the greatest living writers today. My favorite book to recommend is either The 48 Laws of Power or Mastery.”
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№ 14
“Cal Newport's Slow Productivity is a book I read this year but also something I'm working to get better at. Do fewer things, work at a natural pace, obsess over quality. It's a message the world needs to hear and one I need to keep re-hearing.”
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