Books Recommended by Ryan Holiday
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The Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects
Giorgio Vasari
Source: "A friend and peer of Michelangelo, Da Vinci, Raphael Titian and all the other great minds of the Renaissance sat down in 1550 and wrote biographical sketches of the people he knew or had influenced him." - Ryan Holiday
1 recommender
Totto-Chan
The Little Girl at the Window
Tetsuko Kuroyanagi
Source: "Has sold something like 5 million copies in Japan alone (an insane number). Totto-Chan is a special figure in modern Japanese culture—she is a celebrity on par with Oprah or Ellen." - Ryan Holiday
1 recommender
Letters to His Son on the Art of Becoming a Man of the World and a Gentleman
The Earl of Chesterfield
Source: "[The author] wrote his letters to his illegitimate son, tutoring him on how to learn, how to think, how to act, how to deal with important people. I don’t agree with all his advice but most of it is great." - Ryan Holiday
1 recommender
Letters from a Self-Made Merchant to His Son
George Horace Lorimer
Source: "The (supposedly) preserved correspondence between Old Gorgon Graham, a self-made millionaire in Chicago, and his son who is coming of age and entering the family business." - Ryan Holiday
1 recommender
Boyd
The Fighter Pilot Who Changed the Art of War
Robert Coram
Source: "Probably the greatest post-WWII military strategist; he developed the F-15 and F-16, revolutionized ground tactics in war and covertly designed the US battle plans for the Gulf War." - Ryan Holiday
2 recommenders
2 recommenders
Meditations
Marcus Aurelius
Source: "The private thoughts of the most powerful man in the world, admonishing himself on how to be better, more just, more immune to temptation, wiser." - Ryan Holiday
Sherman
Soldier, Realist, American
B. H. Liddell Hart
Source: "This was someone I knew little about before I read the book, and by the end of it found myself referencing and thinking of him constantly." - Ryan Holiday
1 recommender
Sex on the Brain
The Biological Differences Between Men and Women
Deborah Blum
Source: "One of the better books on evolutionary biology that focuses almost entirely on the biological and psychological differences between men and women." - Ryan Holiday
1 recommender
Titan
The Life of John D. Rockefeller, Sr.
Ron Chernow
Source: "I found Rockefeller to be strangely stoic, incredibly resilient, and, despite his reputation as a robber baron, humble and compassionate." - Ryan Holiday
The Road
Cormac McCarthy
Source: "Read it when you have kids. When I finished this book, [I] walked into my son's room when he was asleep, sat on the floor, and I just wept." - Ryan Holiday
Bird by Bird
Some Instructions on Writing and Life
Anne Lamott
Source: "Ostensibly about the art of writing, but really it too is about life and how to tackle the problems, temptations and opportunities life throws at us." - Ryan Holiday
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The Moral Sayings Of Publius Syrus
A Roman Slave (1855)
Publius Syrus
Source: "A Syrian slave in the first century BC, Publius Syrus is a fountain of quick, helpful wisdom that you cannot help but recall and apply to your life." - Ryan Holiday
1 recommender
Man's Search for Meaning
Viktor E. Frankl
Source: "Looks at how we find purpose by dedicating ourselves to a cause, learning to love and finding a meaning to our suffering." - Ryan Holiday
36 recommendersAniela GregorekBryan JohnsonChelsea HandlerChip ConleyDaniel PinkDave ElitchDavid BlaineDustin MoskovitzEmma WatsonEsther PerelEv WilliamsFedor HolzJim KwikJimmy FallonJocko WillinkJordan PetersonLex FridmanMaria PopovaMichael GervaisNaval RavikantRyan HolidaySam AltmanSimon SinekTerry CrewsTony RobbinsTuria PittPewDiePieShane ParrishMark MansonPhil JacksonTom BilyeuMichael HyattAlastair HumphreysSteve KerrRobin BlackPatrick Bet-David
Fragments
Heraclitus
Source: "A bit poetic. But those beautiful lines are really the same direct advice and timeless, perspective-changing observations." - Ryan Holiday
1 recommender
Average Is Over
Powering America Beyond the Age of the Great Stagnation
Tyler Cowen
Source: "Changes how you see the future and help explain real pain points in our new economy–both good and bad." - Ryan Holiday
1 recommender
The Epic of Gilgamesh
Anonymous
Source: "I read this on my honeymoon (probably the only person on the beach reading it, if I had to guess)." - Ryan Holiday
2 recommenders
Endurance
Shackleton's Incredible Voyage
Alfred Lansing
Source: "This book (and his life) were living proof of his family motto: 'Fortitudine vincimus' (By endurance we conquer)." - Ryan Holiday
Tiny Beautiful Things
Advice on Love and Life from Dear Sugar
Cheryl Strayed
Source: "Contains some of the most cogent insights on life, pain, loss, love, success, youth that I have ever seen." - Ryan Holiday
The Moral Animal
Why We Are, the Way We Are
Robert Wright
Source: "The definitive beginner text on evolutionary psychology and one of the easiest to get into." - Ryan Holiday
2 recommenders
50 books
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