Books are windows into wisdom.
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Last week during Limhi.Live, a viewer asked what books have inspired me. I named a few, and decided to make a list of the books that have inspired me throughout my life. I grew up surrounded by books. My parents bought us all kinds of books to read, from classic children’s stories to short biographies of historical figures. I’ve spent countless hours reading books of different genres. In college I formed the habit of carrying a book with me. I would read a few pages right before class, on breaks between study sessions, during lunch, and while waiting for friends or classmates. When I went to law school, I continued the habit of carrying a book to read.
Reading has brought me understanding, joy, excitement, peace, inspiration, knowledge and wisdom, imagination of new worlds and possibilities, compassion and empathy, and so much more. A book becomes a treasure no one can steal, and one that endures forever. When you read, you open up to the worlds and experiences of others. You learn to see things differently. Reading books allows you to be tutored by the great minds of the ages, and to have personal mentors on all areas of life.
Here is an incomplete list of books that inspire me:
The Amazing Spider-Man comics
Aesop’s Fables
The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway
The Collected Works of Emily Dickinson
The Collected Works of William Shakespeare
Popol Vuh
The Book of Mormon
The Bible (King James Version)
The Koran Interpreted (Arthur Arberry Translation)
The Dhammapada (Eknath Easwaran translation)
The Upanishads (Eknath Easwaran translation)
The Bhagavad Gita (Eknath Easwaran translation)
Tao Te Ching: A New English Version (Stephen Mitchell translation) by Lao Tzu
Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin
The Acts of King Arthur and His Noble Knights by John Steinbeck
The Belgariad Series, The Malloreon Series, The Elenium Series, The Tamuli Series, and The Dreamers Series by David Eddings
The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien
The Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis
The Complete C. S. Lewis Signature Classics by C. S. Lewis
The Inheritance Cycle by Christopher Paolini
The Labyrinth of Solitude by Octavio Paz
Pedro Paramo by Juan Rulfo
The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri
Paradise Lost by John Milton
Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl
The Gift by Hafez
The Essential Rumi
The Harry Potter Series by J. K Rowling
The Alchemist by Paolo Coelho
Jonathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach
Becoming Wise by Krista Tipppett
Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear by Elizabeth Gilbert
The Art of War by Sun Tzu
The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles by Steven Pressfield
Steal Like An Artist and Show Your Work by Austin Kleon
Tribes by Seth Godin
Meditations by Marcus Aurelius
On the Shortness of Life by Seneca
Anam Cara: A Book of Celtic Wisdom by John O’Donohue
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