3 Philosophy Books That Will Teach You How to Really Think

These books are meant to be read over and over again.

Happiness is simple. People are complicated.

Philosophy is the intersection between the two that can help complicated people to become happy.

Books are the best way to deliver philosophy to people.

For me, I have ADHD, so by definition, I’m a tad bit inattentive. However, I also love to read. I’m just painfully slow.

I know that I’m a slow reader, but I also know that reading is the best way to learn new skills and ways of being. Because of that, I’m very careful about which books I choose to read. I know I can hardly get through more than 25 books per year, and I don’t want to waste my time with bad books.

I don’t want you to waste your time with bad books, either.

With that said, let’s cut to it. These are the 3 philosophy books that are the best use of your time.

Thus Spoke Zarathustra — Friedrich Nietzhsce

When people ask me for book recommendations, I actually hardly ever recommend Thus Spoke Zarathustra by Friedrich Nietzsche.

This book is a challenge. It’s a tad bit self-indulgent. It’s out there.

Okay. I’ll say tell you what I really think: this book is weird.

It’s so weird, in fact, that when it was first published, hardly anyone bought it.

It’s so weird that when I read it, I worked through it 5 pages at a time. It took my slow-reading brain 2 months to read.

However, the lessons from this book are crucial to becoming yourself. Zarathustra teaches you to step outside the mold. He teaches you to break free from society and all of its conventional ideas of wealth, status, and power. Most of all, Zarathustra teaches you independence.

I dig that.

I don’t agree with everything Zarathustra says, but I do love this book. You’ll never see me running away from my life to live in the woods and “find myself”, but sometimes I do go off on my own in order to just think. If you take nothing from Zarathustra but a habit of going on walks, you’ve gotten more than enough out of this book.

I found this book at a time when I really needed some direction in my life, and the ideas in this book helped steer me down a path toward working for myself, writing professionally, and pursuing my dreams in combat sports — all at the same time. This book taught me how to be alone while not being lonely.

“The lonely one offers his hand too quickly to whomever he encounters.”― Friedrich Nietzsche

Man’s Search For Meaning — Viktor E. Frankl

Man’s Search For Meaning is my favorite book of all time.

I recommend this book so much that it sounds like I am sponsored by Viktor Frankl or some logotherapist somewhere, but I promise, I am not.

Man’s Search For Meaning isn’t just a book, it’s a story that teaches its readers how to handle the pain of life, loss, love, and suffering. It covers everything that most people are afraid to think about.

It covers everything.

When I read this book for the first time 2 years ago, I was about a month away from finishing college, and I was in a bit of a rut. I was down on myself because I was about to graduate during a pandemic and I had basically no career prospects and no idea what I wanted to do with my life. I was making about $100 per week doing an internship that I hated and offered no prospect for growth.

I was spending a lot of time feeling sorry for myself.

Hearing Frankl’s story of losing his mother, father, brother, and pregnant in the concentration camp smacked me square in the face.

I became more grateful for all of the blessings in my life, and over time, I began to see some of the amazing opportunities that I still have in my life. My life felt dry and devoid of meaning, and while Viktor Frankl didn’t “give me meaning”, his writing did teach me how to look for it.

That was all I needed to get started.

“When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves.”―Viktor E. Frankl

The Book of Five Rings — Miyamoto Musashi

The Book of Five Rings is really well known, but I still feel that it’s the most influential book that I read this last year.

When I read it, I was in the midst of a toxic relationship that left me constantly feeling strung out, drained, and bitter. I was “in love”, but I was sacrificing my goals and my morals in order to “make it work” with someone who couldn’t do the same.

I had no moral code, and as a result, I got pushed around a lot.

The Book of Five Rings taught me how to think about the world in a way that requires a code. It required me to think about my own “way”.

I’ve realized that there is no perfect way to look at the world, but part of “the way” is living presently and feeling free to constantly adapt your “way” to the present moment.

This is how you learn how to think. You don’t need to do everything that Miyamoto Musashi does, but you need to try something. You learn to think by taking a stab at “the way” and testing your way in the world.

That’s what they call “living”.

“The true science of martial arts means practicing them in such a way that they will be useful at any time, and to teach them in such a way that they will be useful in all things.”― Miyamoto Musashi

Closing Thoughts

Some of my friends read a book every single week.

I can’t do that, no matter how hard I try. I do too many things. I have to do work. I have to train Jiu-Jitsu. I have to write. I don’t have time to read for 3 hours per day.

But what I’ve realized is that you don’t need to read a new book every week. You don’t need to constantly stuff new ideas down your throat to evolve. Instead, you need to master the concepts illustrated in the best books of all time.

My reading list is short but challenging. I think for long-term mental and spiritual development, it’s better that way.

“I don’t want to read all the books; I just want to read the best 100 over and over again.” — Naval Ravikant

Maybe next time, my reading list for you will be a bit longer, but I don’t want to steer anyone interested in growth in the wrong direction.