
What book has inspired you the most? - augustin1989
I just wanted to see what book everyone has read that has inspired them the most. Looking to find some great books to add to my reading list.
======
angersock
Not a book, but the essay "Conscience of a Hacker" has never been far from my
mind.

In middle-school, _The Moon is a Harsh Mistress_ and _Starship Troopers_
started a fairly strong libertarian bend as well as a somewhat
antiauthortarian

In high-school, _Atlas Shrugged_ gave me a clear vision of how important it
was to create things with the skills I'd learned, and how naked self-interest
could shape a society.

In college, _Pump Six_ illustrated the failings of "In the future, it's going
to be even more awesome to be rich and white".

After college, _The Jungle_ showed me both the importance of social safety
nets and how easily people who say "I'll just work harder" get screwed by the
system--any system. _Makers_ gave me a better appreciation for taking care of
my self and my body.

~

It's important, I think, to constantly be reading new things and taking in new
ideas; had I stopped with _Atlas Shrugged_ , for example, I'd probably be a
lot different (and more naive) than I am today.

------
rouma7
The Watchmen, although technically a comic book Alan Moore tackles a lot of
complex existential issues.

Also, The Myth of Sisyphus by Albert Camus. How does one find meaning in life
in a meaningless world?

www.goodreads.com has a lot of great reviews/suggestions as well

~~~
bmelton
I would have put "Sandman" on my list, but might have deleted it for its non-
novel status. Thanks for bucking the trend with Watchmen. ;-)

------
padseeker
Getting Real by 37 Signals. Rework wasn't as interesting having read Getting
Real first. It's more developer centric too.

[http://gettingreal.37signals.com/](http://gettingreal.37signals.com/)

------
adamredwoods
Siddhartha, by Herman Hesse. It changed my outlook on life.

~~~
adidash
Thats a great book!

------
lgieron
Recently: "The map and the territory" by Michel Houellebecq. It's certainly
not the kind of book that you'd think is inspiring in a literal way (ie. would
make you want to go and achieve things etc.), but it's just such an
extraordinary piece of literature that reading it shows how much a person (a
writer in this case) is capable of when he applies himself.

------
japhyr
It's really outdated now, but "A Walk Across America" by Peter Jenkins.
Reading that inspired me to spend 13+ months living on a bicycle in my
twenties.

So much of who I am is a direct result of the experiences I had living on the
road for several years. (I spent several summers, and one full year living on
a bike.)

------
khrist
I was inspired most by Ernest Shackleton's biography "Endurance" by Alfred
Lansing. Finished it one night and remember moment of it. Now whenever I face
a difficult circumstance in my life, I just try to remember some situations
from that book and my problems look so insignificant.

------
hcarvalhoalves
Notes on the synthesis of form by Christopher Alexander [1], and subsequent
works, deeply changed how I approach problems and perceive the world.

[1]
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Notes_on_the_Synthesis_of_Form](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Notes_on_the_Synthesis_of_Form)

~~~
Kronopath
How so? Can you elaborate a bit on that?

~~~
hcarvalhoalves
It's hard to synthesize, this book revolves around an attempt to model what
produces good design and provide a formal method to reach it (note that it's
"design" in the broader sense of finding solutions given certain constraints).
It provides many insights:

\- The notion that form (more generally, structure) is not something in
itself, but the manifestation of the forces (constraints) acting on it. An
example of that is how a water droplet not only has a particular form, but can
_only_ have that particular form, because that is a manifestation of the
constraints (molecular structure of water) and forces (gravity, surface
tension) acting on it.

\- The notion of problem vs. context, and how you can find a solution by just
moving the boundaries;

\- Definition of good solutions as a function of "fitness";

\- Development of the concept of "fitness", as a process of reaching balance
between interdependent, positive and negative features;

\- A critic on the current design process (he calls it the "conscious"
process), in which features are proposed/changed indiscriminately, as opposed
to forms that arise from feedback loops ("unconscious" process). He gives the
comparison between a consciously architected building that fails to meet the
requirements vs. an indigenous village in which the buildings already evolved,
already meet the criteria given the constraints, and basically don't change
anymore between generations

While the author's discusses all these from the PoV of architecture, I've
found his insights have surprising parallels with other things, from darwinism
to machine learning to data structures and algorithms.

------
deadfall
"The Four Agreements" has forever changed the way I view my actions and the
actions around me.

"The Power of Now" is a great book about spiritual enlightenment. It opens up
your mind to a different way of thought related to no stress, no pain, no
anxiety, no past, no future, etc...

------
staunch
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.

------
eduardordm
Certainly most of you have already read but next time you read "A Brief
History of Time" focus more on how Stephen thinks and how he deals with
uncertainty, it's like reading a new book.

------
_examine
The richest man in Babylon caused me to make some changes to my saving habits,
so I would call it inspirational since I often read in a detached manner and
am rarely changed by what I read.

------
brickcap
Count of monte cristo. I know it's fictional but reading about a fellow put
wrongly in prison at a young age, who manages to escape and achieve great fame
never fails to pump me up.

------
krrishd
Rework by Jason Fried. Totally made me rethink modern management.

~~~
yawz
Agreed. Rework is a great book. Fried's new book "Remote" is out, by the way.

------
deadfall
Bill Gate's book shelf looks interesting.
[http://www.thegatesnotes.com/Books](http://www.thegatesnotes.com/Books)

------
soho33
Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill

------
cmwelsh
Getting to Yes by Fisher, Ury, and Patton

Everything in life is negotiable.

------
kwhitefoot
The Extended Phenotype by Richard Dawkins.

------
dougk7
The Bible

How to win friends and influence people

The Alchemist

The Charisma Myth

------
adamwong246
Godel Escher Bach

------
davidsmith8900
\- The Alchemist.

------
yankoff
Oh, it's a shame this post didn't go on the top :(

