These are writings that changed me or influenced the way I see the world (for better or worse, I suppose). I am probably missing a few, no doubt. Many of the titles below you can find fully online.
They are placed in roughly the chronological order in which they were written:
- The Epic of Gilgamesh (special attention to what Siduri says to Gilgamesh)
- Plato’s Allegory of the Cave (short section in The Republic)
- Dao De Jing
- Book of Genesis, Psalm 23, Book of Daniel
- Zhuangzi’s parable of a butterfly (short allegory)
- Gospel of Luke (in particular the parables of the Good Samaritan and the Prodigal Son)
- 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 (Paul on Love)
- 1,001 Nights
- 12 Years a Slave – Solomon Northup
- Frederick Douglass’ Autobiography
- “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” - Ambrose Bierce (short story)
- Frankenstein – Mary Shelley
- “The War Prayer” – Mark Twain (short story)
- The Hobbit – JRR Tolkien
- The Myth of Sisyphus – Camus (essay)
- The Trail - Kafka
- Man’s Search for Meaning – Frankl
- Slaughter-House Five – Kurt Vonnegut
- 1984 & Animal Farm – George Orwell
- MLK’s Letter from the Birmingham Jail
- “The Library of Babel” – Borges (short story)
- The Amazing Spider-Man #33 - "The Final Chapter" - Lee & Ditko
- The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy – Adams
- The Sunflower - Simon Wiesenthal
- The Tao of Pooh – Benjamin Hoff
- Walking with the Wind – John Lewis
- Meeting Jesus Again for the First Time – Marcus Borg
- Come As You Are - Azzerrad
- The Calvin and Hobbes Tenth Anniversary Book - Waterson
- “They’re Made of Meat” – Terry Bison (short story)
- Kurt Vonnegut’s letter to students, 2006
