In the Life of Naval Ravikant, CEO of Angellist
When I asked Naval what he would like to pass down to his grandchildren, he said that "it would just be a pile of books."
This is said pile of books.
Check out his interview here.
Total Freedom by Jiddu Krishnamurti
"Krishnamurti is a very difficult read, but he speaks the kind of truths that resonate in your head for months afterward. The kind of freedom he talks about, the freedom from attachment, the freedom to not react, the freedom from the ups and downs of life, is not what we normally think of when we think of freedom."
Siddhartha by Herman Hesse
"A lyrical story of one seeker's quest. Compelling and beautiful."
Meditations by Marcus Aurelius (Gregory Hays translation)
"The secret diary of one of the most powerful men who ever lived - and how he suffered from the same struggles that we all do. Heavily reinforces that everyone should ask the important questions, and everyone has to seek their own answers."
Poor Charlie's Almanack by Peter Kaufman
"Masquerades as a business book, but it's really just Charlie Munger's (of Berkshire Hathaway) advice on overcoming oneself to live a successful and virtuous life."
Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman! by Richard Feynman
"Physicist, bongo player, painter, adventurer, and most importantly, free thinker. You're never going to get ahead in life if you listen to everyone else. Feynman combines independent thinking with intellectual rigor in his every day life. It was an inspiration for me as a child."
The Lessons History by Will and Ariel Durant
"Concise and well written, summarizes the long arc of history with poetic insights."
Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari
"An orthogonal and clinical examination of the human animal, from the beginning to now. Humans are story-telling alpha predators that killed the competition and domesticated the survivors. This is our story, and it's not all pretty."
The Rational Optimist by Matt Ridley
"The abundance created by technology, starting with fire, allows specialization of labor, exchange, and trade. Trade leads to language and cognitive development, not the other way around. The anti-malthusian."
Genome by Matt Ridley
"To understand the human animal, you have to understand evolution. It explains our psychology, our rituals, our incentives, our civilization. Genome is a wonderful introduction."
The Origins of Virtue by Matt Ridley
"The iterated prisoner's dilemma underlies much of human cooperation and decision making. Understand this to understand how to deal with strangers and friends alike."
Ficciones by Jorge Luis Borges
"A collection of short stories by a master, who weaved science-fiction, art, science, and literature to come up with fundamental insights about humans and the structure of their universe. Start with "The Library of Babel," one of the densest and most insightful works in any language."
The Prophet by Khalil Gibran
"A religious book for the modern non-religious person."
The Great Challenge by Osho
"Osho isn't always rational, and he isn't always modest, but when he's on, he's on. The most accessible of the enlightened ones. Start with the chapter "God is Existence Itself.""
Tao Te Ching by Lao-Tzu
"Wisdom distilled to its purest form. The oldest books often have the best answers to the oldest questions."
Good Calories, Bad Calories BY Gary Taubes
"Not about philosophy per se, but you can't be physically healthy as you get older unless you understand some of the critical points in Gary's work."
Striking Thoughts by Bruce Lee
"Bruce Lee was a philosopher who expressed his philosophy through his martial arts. A fully realized being."
