
Ask HN: What was the one book that you read and it actually changed your life? - cozy101
For me it was this very old book, Man&#x27;s Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl.
======
madmax108
Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse

Never really been one to enjoy popular books on philosophy (Alchemist was
overrated, Monk who sold his Ferrari cliched, The Secret just boring ...IMO)
and picked this up at a used book store. The book truly put a new perspective
on life for me.

Perhaps it was a combination of the time when I read the book: Undue stress,
massive imposter syndrome, that feeling of not moving ahead in life, and the
oh-so-messed-up quarter life crisis, but this book was an absolute eyeopener
for me.

Find your own meaning in life, and live your own philosophy instead of aping a
"master" (spiritual or otherwise) because a "master" is someone who has shaped
his own philosophy and that will almost NEVER completely apply to you. In the
book, when the titular Siddhartha realises this and starts off on his own
journey, something clicked within me and I started making genuine attempts to
get past my (mostly) self-imposed problems in life. Can easily say this book
helped me get through confusing times and come out better on the other side

Truly a life-changing book for me, and no wonder it's been popular for over
half a century!

\----

The Art of War, The War of Art (except the final bits of the book) and Zen and
the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance come in a close second, each having shaped
the way I look at decision making processes and influenced my general life
strategy

~~~
_rpd
I'll add The Glass Bead Game by Hermann Hesse because it saved me from decades
of pointless game playing. (Actually just read everything by Hermann Hesse).

~~~
SZJX
Sounds interesting that a book about "game" saved you from "game playing". Not
sure what sort of game you're exactly referring to, though IMO video games
that let you grind against scripted NPCs indeed could waste one a lot of time.
However games that pit you against human opponents, when practiced adequately,
can actually teach you a lot. There was a piece about how chess playing is
being taught in the Wall Street to train decision making under pressure. Many
video games can also help you achieve similar effects. So it's not all
negative.

------
superasn
The divided mind / healing back pain - Books by John E. Sarno.

To give you a background I have struggled with back pain all my life. After
dozens of MRIs, X rays, physiotherapy, ayurveda, yoga, posture exercises, and
spending almost 100,000 in the last 15 years on this, a simple book saved me.

The effect was so powerful that I could feel the symptoms fading while I was
reading it. It gave me my life back. A few weeks ago I finally had the courage
to teach my little one to walk without worrying about bending my back.

Now I feel that more people suffering from back pain, chronic fatigue, etc
should be made aware of it. Here is a intro video about it [1]

P.S. I credit hacker news for the source.

[1]
[https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=vsR4wydiIBI](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=vsR4wydiIBI)

~~~
raindropm
Also, for anyone interested, there is a brilliant 2016 documentary film 'All
the Rage, Saved by Sarno'

Here's Dr.Sarno's words at the end of movie trailer: 'All this because of one
simple idea — that the mind and the body intimately connected'

~~~
superasn
I couldn't find a place to buy it online. Do yoh have a link? Thanks

~~~
raindropm
Sure, I found one here on Vimeo.
[https://vimeo.com/ondemand/alltherage](https://vimeo.com/ondemand/alltherage)

also, the official website
[http://alltheragedoc.com/](http://alltheragedoc.com/)

------
Glench
Non-violent Communication by Marshall Rosenberg. After reading this book, the
way I related and communicated with people completely changed.

Concretely, right after I read it, a break up that would have been very tense
for me became straightforward and peaceful. Also, using NVC techniques, a
fight with my friend got transformed into both of us getting tearful and
pulling over the car to hug each other because we felt so connected.

~~~
svat
The developer of NPM.js recommended this book highly[1] on his blog, so I
picked it up. Already on a first reading[2] I could see its potential to be
life-changing. It has definitely changed how I interact with (or see) others
(and myself), and I am trying to put more of it in practice; currently on a
second reading.

I think it appeals to the programmer/mathematician in me, because to a large
extent it is teaching me to be more _precise_ , about distinguishing
observations, evaluations, thoughts, feelings, etc. Of course the ultimate
goal is to establish genuine and sincere connection with other people, but
even if you can do that with one person (yourself?), the time is probably well
spent.

[1]: [http://blog.izs.me/post/112818868228/letter-to-marshall-
rose...](http://blog.izs.me/post/112818868228/letter-to-marshall-rosenberg)

[2]:
[https://plus.google.com/+ShreevatsaR/posts/2428KBRfYdb](https://plus.google.com/+ShreevatsaR/posts/2428KBRfYdb)

~~~
Glench
Well said!

------
contingencies
_TCP /IP Illustrated Volume 1: The Protocols_. It changed my life because I
realised I could better comprehend systems others had already pored over and
offer new insights. By comparing the contents of this book to RFCs I was able
to propose numerous new remote operating system detection strategies which I
published. I then had contact from a hacker group on the other side of the
world, plus web visits from a swathe of militaries globally. (This was back in
the mid-late 1990s when people didn't bother obfuscating their IP.) Gave me
the confidence to go do my own thing in a lot of ways, including leaving
Australia for its lack of R&D opportunities outside of military/academia, and
probably a significant historical factor in my current position as a founder.

~~~
janesconference
+1 for Mr. Stevens!

------
camjohnson26
Mere Christianity by CS Lewis. As a teenager it gave me an intellectual basis
for my faith and helped me see it could be defensible.

Darwin's Doubt by Stephen Meyer. If God exists methodological naturalism can't
be completely true. This book helped me see that there's still areas science
can't fully explain, like the information explosion of the Cambrian Explosion.

Please don't burn me at the stake.

~~~
hood_syntax
Although I'm not as religious as I used to be, I still highly regard 'The
Screwtape Letters'. CS Lewis is an excellent writer.

~~~
briankirby
I'm not religious at all and still loved 'The Screwtape Letters'. I recently
found myself reminded of TSL while watching 'The Good Place'. It's not of
nearly the same depth as TSL but plays with some of the same concepts.

------
tbjohnston
1\. Meditations by Marcus Aurelius - practical advice on how to arm yourself
every day.

2\. Man's Search for Meaning by Frankl - no matter how bad you think you have
it, it can be worse, and you can find meaning.

3\. The Snow Leopard by Peter Matthiessen - it's the journey (not the
destination) and <i>pay attention!</i>

~~~
hazz99
I tried getting through Meditations, but I couldn't. Maybe I'm more used to
long-form writings, rather than the short paragraphs? I could read them, but I
felt like they didn't "sink in", even if I felt they were profound at the
time.

~~~
ioddly
It's actually his personal diary, written often while he was on campaign. From
that perspective I think it's impressive how insightful he managed to be in
short bursts. But if you are looking for something more long-form, you might
try Seneca's Letters or Epictetus Discourses.

~~~
bytematic
Do we know he wasn't just practicing philosophy by writing down what he heard
others say?

------
beenBoutIT
Two books.

"The Design of Everyday Things" by Donald A. Norman

The Design Bible. This book gave me objective ways to explain what would have
previously been my "negative opinion". Coming to grips with the reality that
bad design is rampant reinforced my growing interest in product design.

"PiHKAL: A Chemical Love Story" by Dr. Alexander Shulgin and Ann Shulgin

The Phenethylamine Bible. As a kid I was fascinated by Shulgin and his work
advancing science for all of these genuinely good and positive reasons. I
watched politicians with no understanding of science use hype to outlaw all of
Shulgin's fascinating chemicals against the recommendations of experts in
their relevant fields. Shulgin's work is open source and the 2nd half of
PiHKAL was my first exposure to open source code.

------
muzani
33 Strategies of War, Robert Greene.

It's about dealing with conflict. Resource management, especially in regards
to conflict. Emotional management on a group level. And it applies to
conflicts with yourself as well.

All of us have some kind of conflict to deal with, whether it's an unruly
client, bullying boss, emotionally draining relative, burnt out staff. The
book covers strategies in dealing with them. It even starts with covering how
to identify people who may be enemies acting as friends.

While it sounds aggressive, a lot of it covers on how wars are best won
without ever having any fighting. Sometimes you can just discourage people
from attacking you. Sometimes you have to decide to withdraw, to engage, to
intimidate, or to handle it from a much higher level, distracting or draining
their resources before they can attack you.

~~~
BOOSTERHIDROGEN
Sir, I’m currently reading non violent communications by marshall rosenberg,
do you find any similar idea ?

~~~
muzani
Entirely different idea. The book is still about different types of violence
(political, social, military/physical, financial).

To put it one way, it doesn't embrace violence for the sake of violence, e.g.
Ares, god of war. But uses the possibility of violence to enforce peace, like
Athena, goddess of wisdom.

------
anthony_franco
The 4-Hour Workweek - made me quit my job and start a business. Since then
I've been able to travel internationally for the first time in my life while
working as much as I want.

~~~
tmaly
I would second the 4-Hour Workweek, yet I am still searching for a profitable
idea. How long did it take you from reading the book to reaching the ability
to quit your job?

~~~
dorchadas
Same. The profitable idea is the hardest thing for me. It seems like
everything I think of has already been done before.

~~~
hallz
With 7+ Billion people on the planet most people have done something similar
to any idea. Isn't the point in the book that you can still succeed by
creating your own flavor of an idea or selling that idea to a new market?

~~~
phaus
That might be the point. I didn't make it that far because after what seemed
like 60 pages of the author talking about how he's naturally a world class
performer at pretty much everything he's ever tried to do in his entire life I
got tired of the bullshit time-share salesman style of writing.

Where does the actual advice start? This book is recommended pretty much every
time someone asks a similar question, I might be willing to give it another
shot if there's actual content somewhere in it.

Also, did this guy create a successful business outside of his self-help stuff
before he started writing these books?

~~~
rocannon
I think the book is worth reading. His inspiration for writing 4HWW was his
experience running a supplement business, which he later sold -
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tim_Ferriss#Career](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tim_Ferriss#Career)

Prior to reading the book, I had a retire-early mindset. My idea was to work
hard at high paying jobs and save a lot so I could retire early. After reading
the book, I had the idea to create multiple streams of income in order to
achieve the goal of retiring early.

Others have mentioned that it's not easy to find a lifestyle business that
earns you enough income to live off of, and I've also had that problem.
However, I've had partial success. I don't think I'd have ever pursued this
path without reading 4HWW. It's not an instruction manual, though.

------
aalhour
The God Delusion and The Selfish Gene. I know they are a bit dated by now, but
when I read them they broadened my horizons and encouraged to review my
religious standpoint from a scientific perspective.

~~~
satori99
For me it was Carl Sagan's The Demon Haunted World.

I was not especially religious, or especially _anything_ until that book
convinced me that skepticism was a useful default setting.

~~~
aalhour
Sweet! I will give that a try!

------
newscracker
One book is too restrictive to decide. People change, surroundings change,
situations change...so would it be with books that have changed us or
influenced us.

I'll leave you here not with a book, but with one tiny piece of one tiny book:

The first chapter of "Illusions" by Richard Bach. As with other fantastic
works that others have listed here, a distinguishing factor about these
impactful or "life changing" works is that you can re-read them countless
times and benefit from them anew on every read. This first chapter is one such
work for me.

I'm not implying that the rest of "Illusions" is worse than this first chapter
(on the contrary, it's great), but this chapter is short, yet so powerful, and
best of all, it stands by itself.

Bonus, if you like to read brief but powerful pieces, pick up "The Prophet" by
Kahlil Gibran and read the chapters that interest you. I'd suggest the "On
Giving" chapter as a great start.

------
geogra4
The Toyota Way - one of the most important books I've read to help understand
why companies are dysfunctional.

I knew corporate America (and even many startups) were so dysfunctional, but I
didn't know what could replace it. The Toyota Way shows a bright path to the
ideal. And makes me realize how far we are from that.

~~~
Kagerjay
Its not the tools its the ideology that matters is basically why many
companies are dysfunctional, from what I remember reading about Toyota Way

~~~
geogra4
Yep, culture eats process/tooling for breakfast.

------
bnchrch
Man's Search for Meaning expanded my view of the human spirit and life in
general.

Deep Work gave me some good insight on how to get the most out of my days.

Sapiens vastly widened and shifted my understanding of the myths that make up
our society.

~~~
cbames89
I'll second deep work by Cal Newport. I didn't realize just how distracted I
was until attempting his methods.

------
Finnucane
I don't think any book has significantly changed my life. I've read a pretty
wide range of books, and remain basically the same schmuck I've always been.

~~~
muzani
That is quite sad. You should read some of the books in this thread. I know
there are at least 10 life changing books for me.

------
toastermoster
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. I'm pretty sure from that point on
I started going down the same rabbit hole as the protagonist. The results of
that are a bit of a mixed bag to be honest, but I wouldn't have it any other
way.

~~~
JDWolf
This was one of my favorites. The style of writing made me rethink what is
possible in storytelling and philosophical/psychological narratives.

------
mhkool
"The Great American Health Hoax" by Raymond Francis made me understand that
health is not gained with medicines but by avoiding toxins and eating
nutricious foods.

[http://raymondfrancisauthor.com/](http://raymondfrancisauthor.com/)

~~~
pasbesoin
Avoiding toxic doctors, too.

When young and before I knew better, I had two surgeries that should not have
been done. Or, for one, not executed in the manner it was; and it was only
necessary because of an unavoidable gap in insurance coverage.

Ha, when I remind myself, the other was necessary because of a string of
failures initially culminating in an incompetent doctor and the PT he lauded.
Then compounded a year later by a surgeon who'd rather operate than image and
then was quite lackadaisical about recovery.

Beyond the topic of doctors, we have so much sugar in our diet, in good part
because ADM needs to move corn products for profit. I imagine they've now
cornered the market on beet sugar, as well, although I don't know. And the
cane sugar growers who continue to lobby very effectively e.g. with the
leverage of Florida state and its political influence.

"Modern medicine" is very limited in what it can actually, thoroughly fix.
Staying healthy is the bulwark, but with a lot of financially motivated people
poking holes in this for their own benefit.

------
cyberpip
"Food of the Gods" by Terrence McKenna was a revelation and led me to dive
into his other books and lectures (and many topics spawned from it). Complete
shift in baseline perception. Though not his quote, he said it frequently:
"The truth is not only stranger than you suppose, it is stranger than you
_can_ suppose."

~~~
throwaway8879
I must've spent a lifetime listening to and reading McKenna. Time to go back
and have another listen.

~~~
cyberpip
Check out [https://asktmk.com/](https://asktmk.com/) too :) There's an API!

------
Thersites
Dune. A camp counselor gave it to me when I was 11, and it changed the course
of my life. Opened my mind to thinking about fear, courage, family, sacrifice,
Empire, and the scope of human affairs. I reread it every 2-3 years.

------
mcswell
As a handful of other people have said here, the Bible. It changed my life
(although who knows what I would have become if I hadn't read it). Eventually,
I decided that if it made such a difference in my life, I should be part of
making it available to others. So I studied linguistics, and became a member
of Wycliffe Bible Translators/ Summer Institute of Linguistics, who translate
the Bible into minority languages (usually languages which were previously
unwritten). That got me into computational linguistics. While I'm not a
WBT/SIL member any more, I am still a Christian, and I do still work in
computational linguistics, which I'm pretty sure I would not otherwise have
gotten into. And it has been worth it all.

------
yesenadam
A book published in 1946 is "very old"?! hehe. Maybe try Plutarch's _Lives_
(about 100AD), or Xenophon's _Memorabilia of Socrates_ (about 370BC), both of
which are extremely readable, gossipy even, and touch on that subject. Marvel
at how little's changed.

If I had to name one book, I guess Emerson's _Essays: First and Second Series_
, (that first copy I had also included _Representative Men_ ) which I
discovered when I was about 20, and read from almost every day for at least 10
years, and still never go more than a few days without....well, _it 's more
myself than I am_ (to paraphrase Emerson, I think). Trying to track that quote
down just now, I realized that Emerson's _Uses of Great Men_ [0] explains the
matter far better than I could.

The first time I read it, it was like he'd described 10,000 things I'd
experienced, and had thought couldn't possibly be described. That was 27 years
ago. I can't imagine at all what difference _not_ coming across him would have
made, but I guess "it actually changed my life" would be a huge
understatement. Also Russell, Hazlitt, Chesterton, Santayana, Stevenson,
William James, Nietzsche etc have been hugely important, but....somehow, in
various ways, none are quite such admirable characters, or teachers for all
seasons.[1] This:

"It is nothing for any man sitting in his chair to be overcome with the sense
of the immediacy of life, to feel the spur of courage, the victory of good
over evil, the value, now and forever, of all great-hearted endeavor. Such
moments come to us all. But for a man to sit in his chair and write what shall
call up these forces in the bosoms of others – that is desert, that is
greatness. To do this was the gift of Emerson. The whole earth is enriched by
every moment of converse with him. The shows and shams of life become
transparent, the lost kingdoms are brought back, the shutters of the spirit
are opened, and provinces and realms of our own existence lie gleaming before
us." – JJ Chapman

[0][https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Representative_Men/Uses_of_Gr...](https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Representative_Men/Uses_of_Great_Men)

[1] I almost added Thoreau, but he seems an extension of Emerson, unimaginable
without him. Well, you could say that about Nietzsche too.

" _Emerson._ – Never have I felt so much at home in a book, and in my home, as
– I may not praise it, it is too close to me." – Nietzsche

------
numtel
Paraphrasing Cory Doctorow, "be worried about the person who only reads one
book." [1]

Your life changes when you read many books from many authors.

[1] [https://YouTu.be/Fvhb4WqJ7pg](https://YouTu.be/Fvhb4WqJ7pg)

~~~
toomuchtodo
Something Doctorow said in a blog post (not one of his books surprisingly) has
had the most impact on my life (paraphrased): “You shouldn’t have a bug out
bag, you should have a bug in bag. You’ll live longer as a group than on your
own, so prepare with supplies and tools to help others.”

[https://boingboing.net/2015/12/21/a-survivalist-on-why-
you-s...](https://boingboing.net/2015/12/21/a-survivalist-on-why-you-
shoul.html)

------
RickJWagner
The Holy Bible.

Even without the religious aspects, it's an incredible document. A lot of
human nature is explained.

------
pagutierrezn
The Prince by Niccolò Machiavelli. Specially the edition annotated by Napoleon
Bonaparte itself. It was enlightening for me in a moment when I discovered
there was a dark side of human nature that I couldn't ignore.

------
petecooper
Some more answers here from about 4 years ago:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8716111](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8716111)

------
jemani_one
Mind if I ask how the book changed your life?

Personally, A Farewell to Arms has likely caused the biggest change. I became
really absorbed in the book and at the same time in life was expecting my
first child. I didn’t know the story at all, and was not expecting the ending
in the least.

There have been many things in life that have taught me to enjoy what I have
because it can all be gone in an instant. But that book combined with where I
was in life cemented the lesson.

I’m interested in how Man’s Search caused a change in your life.

~~~
natalyarostova
Holy shit, that's a bad time to read that book. I think I may share that book
with you as one of the most life-changing books. I remember crying during the
ending as a teenager.

------
IloveHN84
Learning OpenCV from O'Reilly

Helped me a lot getting to know computer vision from a practical aspect and
became one of the best professional in my department and got to work on so
much futuristic projects that would have be seen only in some film.

------
Entangled
"For a New Liberty" by Murray Rothbard, not only solidified my understanding
of power, politics and the state already explained in "Anatomy of the State"
by the same Rothbard, but also opened my mind about the eternal struggle
between power and liberty, aggression and defense, the essential traits of
life in the whole universe.

~~~
timtas
This is a very impactful book, but challenging for those new to the topic. I
would recommend reading his "The Ethics of Liberty" first.

------
dangwu
How to Make Friends and Influence People

~~~
tabtab
I agree it should be required reading in college. However, it has one _glaring
fault_ : it doesn't provide many tips on motivating yourself to take personal
interest in others. We geeks like gizmos and logic and stuff, people bore us.

It's like a health book that reveals eating more vegetables and whole grains,
and getting more exercise is the way to better health. That's useful info, but
the hard part is motivating yourself to eat such and exercise often enough.

------
code_slave_123
Nausea by Sartre. I used to really struggle with existential anxiety, and
still do to some degree. That book took away much of that concern, it gave me
a new way to think about meaning in life

------
bg4
Meditations by Marcus Aurelius

~~~
leesec
"Waste no more time arguing what a good man should be, be one"

Always been a favorite.

------
dbs
Demon Haunted World (Sagan). The art of baloney detection and scientific
thinking.

Letters from a Stoic (Seneca). The pursuit of happiness is meaningless, focus
on the pursuit of wisdom.

Poor Charlie's Almanac (Charles T. Munger). A library of mental/thinking
models can take you a long way.

Of Human Bondage (Maugham). What is the meaning of life?

------
amerine
“Real Food, Fake Food” was absolutely critical in getting me into a mindset of
caring about the quality of my food. That mindset shift has led to 100+lbs of
weight loss.

------
rodri
"Stranger in a Strange Land"by Robert A. Heinlein.

It's a science fiction book, but it made me question everything, made me
change my way of thinking towards a lot of concepts, and integrate those new
concepts it in my life. I can definitely say it changed my life.

------
highhedgehog
1984 - George Orwell

Makes you think we closer to that than we think

~~~
sosense
Flagged! Just kidding, but mine may be..

------
davidandgoliath
`Why We Sleep: Unlocking the Power of Sleep and Dreams` by Matthew Walker.
Still in the midst of it actually, and it's had a huge impact.

Runner-up would be `the end of religion` by Bruxy Cavey.

~~~
mrfusion
I’d be curious to hear abit more about those two.

~~~
davidandgoliath
Why we sleep has given me an immense amount of respect for sleep, something I
rather apparently knew so little about. I've put off sleep for decades, and
amidst this book I've come to understand that it's been a really stupid
approach to realizing my goals.

I still don't understand sleep, but, Walker breaks down sleeps benefits &
shows the data to back up why we should be getting a full night's rest. He has
given me a newfound respect for something I wantonly would throw away at my
next personal whim. Silly me, it's been working against me the whole time.

Fewer late nights learning to code, and I'm making much better progress
already in the memory department.

As for Cavey's book: Cavey takes a really interesting look at Jesus through a
historical lens, coupled with all these little things I had missed in my own
reading of the New Testament. It's full of goodies, and is one of those books
I've got 20 copies of in my library to hand out like candy.

------
mindcrime
_Nineteen Eighty Four_ \- George Orwell

I read this in high-school, and I can see very clearly how it has influenced
my thinking up to the current day (and I'm 45 now). I would definitely say
this book was a big part of influencing my to my strongly anti-state / anti-
government position. I was so angry at the end of that book, and that still
resonates with me today.

Orwell might not have been a libertarian himself, but his book helped make at
least one, whether that's what he intended or not. :-)

~~~
phaus
I have a lot of quasi-libertarian beliefs. However, if you read up on the
history of capitalism in America and how poor and middle-class people have
been manipulated, mistreated, and oppressed by rich landowners and large
corporations since the beginning and you may come to the conclusion that I
did: Unfettered capitalism is just as shitty as communism.

I think a better form of government results from trying to achieve a balance
between capitalism and socialism (Possibly other things too, I'm not a
political science major). I'm not sure how far it should lean one way or the
other, I just know that both ideologies lead to plenty of human suffering when
allowed to completely dominate.

1984 is one of my all-time favorites. I love dystopian fiction. Have you also
read Brave New World?

------
rachel1792
Feeling Good by David Burns

Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking by Susan
Cain

~~~
vickychijwani
Quiet has been the one life-changing book for me. I read it at a time when I
thought of myself as unsocial (because I didn't like parties) and was
uncomfortable expressing myself even among a large group of friends. After
reading that book and realizing how widespread introversion is, I became more
and more comfortable in my own skin. Ironically I also started enjoying more
at parties because I wasn't judging myself constantly, which helped me become
more of a pseudo-extrovert when I needed to be.

------
thefourthchime
Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion by Robert B. Cialdini

~~~
dorchadas
I haven't read that one, but I read is _Pre-suasion_ last year, and it was
definitely an eyeopener. Have quite a lot of bookmarks in that one still. Need
to get around to _Influence_ too.

------
Regardsyjc
To Live by Yu Hua. It was one of the most traumatic books I've ever read. A
simple stoic "tale of an ordinary man enduring hardships--both of his own and
others' doing."

I always felt my life was messed up and unfair because it seemed I managed to
experience almost every suffering possible. This book opened up my eyes to how
much someone could actually suffer and how it doesn't matter in the end in the
long run.

------
a-saleh
Not a book, but a series of lectures on old testament from yale open courses.
I found them as a young Lutheran, at a time more evangelical and
fundamentalist influences were comming into my community, including young-
earth creacionists.

Understanding the origin of my sacred text from scientific point of viewhelped
me keep my faith while being able to accept modern, liberal society as my own.

------
creep
The Brother's Karamazov by Dostoevsky.

I gained an entirely new perspective on love for mankind. There was a passage
about taking the blame for all of humanity's sins onto oneself, realizing that
this is true, and then forgiving yourself. It's a hard idea to explain or even
agree with, but the principle moves me, and the more I think about it, the
truer it seems.

------
SZJX
Might be a bit of an unconventional pick, but Muv-Luv Alternative, the highest
rated Visual Novel of all time, is simply life-changing (a sentiment shared by
quite a few reviewers). It's especially powerful against tendencies of
procrastination and escapism (which I believe are present in everybody to
varying degrees). One shall never ever run away from any challenges or
hardship after experiencing what the protagonist and the other characters have
been through. A story perfectly suited to that particular medium and so
incredibly convincing. Don't think it will ever be surpassed by any similar
work.

(The ratings sorted on VNDB:
[https://vndb.org/v/all?q=;fil=tagspoil-0;rfil=;o=d;s=rating](https://vndb.org/v/all?q=;fil=tagspoil-0;rfil=;o=d;s=rating)
See how MLA leaves every other VN in its trail. It's absurd.)

------
karmajunkie
Far from the only book that's been life shaping for me, but one of the _first_
: Brave New World by Aldous Huxley.

------
kyoob
"Finite and Infinite Games" by James Carse.

Changed the way I think about the rat race, how the rules are agreed upon,
what we mean when we think about winners and losers. Gave me a nice framework
for dealing with all these roles I take on. Pointed me toward what's really
important and how (and why) to help others get by.

------
starbugs
The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F#ck

Learn how to decide where to invest your energy (f#cks), which things you
should really not worry about too much, and what happens if you don't choose
wisely. Get an idea of why "being positive" about everything leads to "The
Feedback Loop from Hell" and learn how to get out.

Best book ever.

------
kevin42
What Got You Here Won't Get You There: How Successful People Become Even More
Successful by Marshall Goldsmith

I wish I had read that in my late 20's instead of in my mid-30s. If you are a
successful technical person who has been or wants to be promoted to a
supervisory or management position, it's a must read.

------
monksy
Right now: "The Untethered Soul"

Books that have brought a lot of influence:

. 4hr Body

. Captivate

. Good Calories/bad Calories / How we get fat

. How to cook everything

. I will teach you to be rich

------
ztauras
Buddha's Little Finger (aka Clay Machine-Gun) / Чапаев и Пустота (Chapayev and
Void) (1996) by Victor Pelevin

it helped me trough my mental illness, also other works by him are very
strong.

Also a very good translation to lithuanian of Understanding Media: The
Extensions of Man a 1964 book by Marshall McLuhan

------
thorin
Travels - Michael Crichton, got me into travelling, the outdoors and an
interest in inner travel

The hobbit - came with the adventure game that my aunty had on her c64 got me
into computers and reading aged about 7

Fear - Thich nhat hahn, read repeatably during recent hard times. Might need
to re-read again soon...

~~~
decasteve
Bruce Lee: Artist of Life (in 2001). This book set me on a path that
transformed my life more than any other book.

I met Thich Nhat Hanh in 2005. It's a meeting that changed my life. I've been
rereading The Heart of the Buddha's Teaching since then.

~~~
thorin
I have already been recommended the bruce lee book, I'd order it now but I've
literally just fired off an order for some of the books in this thread.

------
RikNieu
Wings To Awakening by Thanissaro Bhikkhu.

I was always interested and had a vaguely interested in Buddhism, but this
book laid out everything about it nice and clear(well, in dense language at
times), almost like paint-by-numbers. Everything just made sense from then on.

------
natmaka
"The Breakdown of Nations", by Leopold Kohr. Big organizations,
centralization... are not good for humans, nor really efficient or
sustainable. Some/many/most(?) of us feel it, this book clearly shows why.

------
Lordarminius
The 7 Habits Of Highly Effective People.

If you have never read it, do yourself a favor and do so.

------
hello_newman
Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill. It really opened my mind to so many
fascinating mental constructs. I’ve probably read a half a dozen times and
take something new from it each time I re-read it.

~~~
daphneokeefe
No doubt this book has been an inspiration to many (including myself), but
what I find most fascinating about it is the author.

Here's a quote from the link below: "Napoleon Hill is the most famous conman
you’ve probably never heard of. Born into poverty in rural Virginia at the end
of the 19th century, Hill went on to write one of the most successful self-
help books of the 20th century: Think and Grow Rich. In fact, he helped invent
the genre. But it’s the untold story of Hill’s fraudulent business practices,
tawdry sex life, and membership in a New York cult that makes him so
fascinating..."

[https://paleofuture.gizmodo.com/the-untold-story-of-
napoleon...](https://paleofuture.gizmodo.com/the-untold-story-of-napoleon-
hill-the-greatest-self-he-1789385645)

------
hell0w0rld
Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut Jr.

------
sh87
For me it wasn't a book but NPR's planet money podcast that triggered my foray
into reading up on real world economics. It does a great job at pointing at
important concepts that are relatable and breaking it down into simpler parts
I can pick up at anytime and travel deep into understanding it.

Sorry if this is off-topic, but thats what comes to mind when I think of a
constant source of highly valuable information (besides HN)

~~~
lzy
I really enjoy Planet Money too. As an economics noob, what type of
reading/books do you recommend for one's foray into real world economics?

~~~
sh87
I'd start with books by Tim Hartford and Richard Thaler and go from there.

------
timtas
The Law by Frédéric Bastiat [1]

Weighing in at 75 pages, you can read this 176 year old classic in a weekend.
For some reason Locke's Second Treatise on Government made it into the canon
as the be-and-end-all of the classical liberal political philosophy, and this
masterwork was overlooked. Just read it.

[1] [https://mises.org/library/law](https://mises.org/library/law)

------
wizzerking
Bible for myself, especially the new testament

------
vga805
The Buddhist Bible. A collection of Buddhist texts collected by a few Beat
Generation types.

Anything by John Gottman regarding the four horsemen of the relationship
apocalypse. It really pinpointed some serious communication issues I had with
romantic partners.

Code. It's what got me here!

------
pumpsie
The Structure of Scientific Revolutions and Notes from the Underground:

[https://goo.gl/x6QLgC](https://goo.gl/x6QLgC)
[https://goo.gl/aDPsUz](https://goo.gl/aDPsUz)

------
abraham_s
I wouldn't say it changed my life. But "Deep Work" resonated very deeply with
me.

------
weatherlight
"The Conspiracy against the Human Race: A Contrivance of Horror" by Thomas
Ligotti. I was also expecting my first child at the time and it made me
question my values and is it appropriate or fair to bring a child into this
world.

------
Lausbert
Momo, Michael Ende

------
ng-user
Rich Dad, Poor Dad

------
Hermione01
For me it is "The subtle art of not giving a fck" by Mark Manson.

“Self-awareness is like an onion. There are multiple layers to it, and the
more you peel them back, the more likely you're going to start crying at
inappropriate time.”

------
m_ransing
You can also go through this thread for more answers
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17168136](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17168136).

------
zamazingo
Gender Trouble by J. Butler and Precarious Life by J. Butler

These two allowed me to adopt a whole new perspective on not just gender but
life and liberty in general. Also, great writing style!

------
strasse86
Discourses of Epictetus

------
johnnyRose
It's not particularly intellectual, but The Total Money Makeover by Dave
Ramsey has definitely changed my life for the better. I wish I had read it
years ago.

------
quietthrow
Meditations by Marcus Aurelius

Mans Search for Meaning - Viktor Frankl.

I know you asked for 1 and I am giving 2 recommendations but nothing wrong
with being generous with good things.

------
beamatronic
Who Moved My Cheese?

------
fileoffset
Aesop's Fables. I read any copy I could find when I was a child, and together,
they had a lasting and profound impact on my life.

------
akeck
"Chasing the Rabbit" by Steven Spear. It gave me a much deeper understanding
of the Lean/Toyota than other books.

------
gadders
Charisma by Marcia Grad - helped me become less shy as a teenager

How to Win Friends and Influence People

The Keill Randor books got me influenced in martial arts.

------
sdx23
Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes. I'm surprised nobody mentioned it yet.
It made me reconsider quite a few things.

------
andrei_says_
I am that, collected talks with nisargadatta maharaj.

Simple, instructional, profound in its ability to change me beyond words.

And fierce beyond imagination.

------
tw1010
I'll give you a much higher life-changing-amplitude if you relax the one-book
constraint. One book and I can give you something that might impact your life
a few months, but that you'll likely forget afterwards. Allow me to suggest
ten books (which I promise will all be focused on one specific area, and you
promise you'll study seriously), and I'll give you something that will make a
much higher, and long lasting, impact.

~~~
Grangar
It's been 16 hours. Are you gonna make good on that promise?

------
the1iplay
The Anti-Christ by Friedrich Nietzsche. It made me question my faith and my
entire existence.

------
sloaken
Siddhartha

It is the one book I always re-read every couple of years.

I first read in high school - it is a fairly short book.

------
gesman
Laura Day: Practical Intuition

(Inadvertently predicted Sep 11 attack while doing exercises in this book)

------
roymurdock
omnivore's dilemma - fantastic look at modern day industrial food supply chain
and consequences/alternatives. perfect amount of science, business, psychology
analysis applied to a topic that affects all of us 3+ times a day

~~~
decasteve
I read In Defense of Food first and that seemed to stick with me too.

------
amai
For the mind:

"One small step can change your life" by Robert Maurer

For the body:

"You Are Your Own Gym" by Mark Lauren

------
malux85
On Intelligence, Jeff Hawkins

------
qwerty456127
is there a similar topic for videos? Some YouTube videos can cause profound
changes in yourself an your life in minutes (if you are sufficiently open and
actually want the change).

~~~
BOOSTERHIDROGEN
How to be open ?

~~~
qwerty456127
I'm sure there is a great video or a great book just for you answering this
question but finding it among all answering the question in the ways that are
not going to help you may be a problem. Threads like this may help greatly.

"In a nutshell" being the kind of open I mean means that every time you
read/listen to somebody your prime interest is to understand them (even if
they speak weird to nonsensical) and find how, when and why can this possibly
make sense (if you fail - try harder and harder) rather than the opposite and
being always willing to rationally disprove, correct and expand your view
rather than to prove you're right to the others and yourself. In the majority
of arguments (and whenever you read/listen to somebody whose views don't mach
yours perfectly, an inaudible argument is happening inside your head and
chances are you lack conscious awareness of this) each party seems mostly
interested in defending its view and disproving that of the other but it
usually is more beneficial to "be open" and think about how the opponent's
view may possibly enrich mine.

------
barrow-rider
On Killing, by Lt. Col. Dave Grossman.

Changed my view of people, for the better.

------
user7878
Shreemad Bhagvad Geeta

~~~
chauhankiran
Which version? I mean you have read direct Sanskrit version or any translation
by B. Tilak or Vinoba Bhave or from others?

------
notacoward
Don't remember the exact title or author, but it was the first book I read
about logic, proof, and fallacies. It allowed me to separate the gems from the
garbage in most of the other books I see mentioned here.

------
framebit
Drawing from the Right Side of the Brain by Betty Edwards

------
yewenjie
Rationality: from AI to Zombies by Eliezer Yudkowsky.

------
undefined_user4
Hegel's Phenomenology of Mind. It blew my mind.

------
koolhead17
Discourses and Selected Writings by Epictetus.

------
fanf2
The book that caused me the biggest intellectual turnaround was Gödel, Escher,
Bach by Douglas Hofstadter. I was a teenager, recently went through Anglican
confirmation, but most of my faith was based on some magical source of
intelligence or consciousness (the Christian afterlife or the idea of an
active god seemed to be obvious bullshit).

GEB convinced me that intelligence and consciousness could be mechanical. I
already knew about chaos and fractals, so I already had the idea that
mechanical things could be infinitely complicated and unpredictable. But GEB
sealed the deal, and that was it: atheism.

------
enriquto
Calculus on Manifolds, by Michael Spivak

------
dangwu
“The Power of Habit”, by Charles Duhigg.

------
Simulacra
Atlas Shrugged

~~~
phakding
Seriously?

------
jclvicerra
For me it was the Dip by Seth Godin.

------
daphneokeefe
Obligatory "48 Laws of Power". You have to understand the rules, even if you
don't want to actively participate. Greene's other books are good, too.

~~~
monksy
They're not as strong. But to echo that.

21 Strategies of war is good the 51st law is not so great. Mastery Is ok

The last I heard from Robert Greene was that he was working on a book about
the motivations of people. However, I haven't heard of any progress.

~~~
daphneokeefe
"The Laws of Human Nature" is scheduled for publication in October 2018. You
can pre-order it here: [https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07BJLX414/ref=dp-kindle-
redirect?...](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07BJLX414/ref=dp-kindle-
redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1)

------
casper345
The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini

------
magikbum
Tuesdays with Morrie

------
probinso
Fox in socks

------
gebBook83
Godel, Escher, Bach

One doesn’t read it so much as study and marvel it

~~~
codewritinfool
I would suggest "I Am A Strange Loop". Same author.

------
skookumchuck
"How To Win Friends and Influence People" by Dale Carnegie

It's an enduring classic for good reason.

