What book that has profoundly changed the way you think?

[gekokujo]

can't decide between Jonathan Livingston Seagull and How To Win Friends And Influence People and BE DECISIVE! by Lou Ann Smith

[coydeleon]

bludwid

For some unknown reason, I cannot bring myself to finish Sophie's World (although I admit it's a great reference for those who need a simple definition of philo)

[allthatsnazz]

the little prince
veronika decides to die
conversations with God
Purpose Driven Life

[bleu08]

The Prince - Niccolo Machiavelli
Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden
Tuesdays With Morrie - Mitch Albom

[brimmed]

Purpose Driven Life

When I saw the title of this thread, the book didnt come to my head at all until I saw it in one of the comments, but by examining how I think and the way I view life now, it all traces back to the statements and implications I got from this book..It really sank in my soul already...
Somehow, it's been more than a book to me..

[iluvpink]

The Da vinci Code, made me think so hard really...
I'm a fan of 7 habits of highly effective teens cuz of the non-boring way covey wrote=)

Im so bad, i gave up on day 10 of purpose driven life =(

[BadGiRL]

hope for the flowers

[qtqt]

hi iluvpink,didn't get to finish PURPOSE DRIVEN LIFE too but it did change the way i think- how i go about viewing this world and my role in it....

[tina11]

i read non-fiction books too but i get more emotionally attached to characters in works of fiction and so the things those characters say and do have a more lasting effect on me than any self-help book over the years, books such as Animal Farm and To Kill a Mockingbird have widened my understanding of the world and changed my way of thinking. recently, i finished The World I Made for Her by Thomas Moran. it's about a man who is detached from his family and spends his time going to parties, dating and enjoying his urban bachelor life - but out of nowhere, he gets very sick and spends months in the ICU. the book describes what goes through his mind day in and day out as he lies there weak and helpless, depending on hospital staff to suck the phlegm out of his lungs so he doesn't choke on it and losing control of his bodily functions; and the shy, caring nurse that he falls in love with. it took me 4 nights to read all 273 pages because i kept crying and re-reading the passages i loved.

here's one of them. in this scene, the narrator's brother has just visited him in the ICU and given him a photo album containing pictures of his childhood and early adulthood.
I wept because I'd been reminded that I was connected to the world by blood. There was a place for me in it, and people who would miss me if I were to go. And I had wasted so much time with people and things that counted for nothing.

this book made me thankful that i am healthy and have all these opportunities and experiences to look forward to, and time to spend with the people that i care about; because in the end, they're the ones who matter... not work or prestige or money.

[watchamacallit]

ayn rand's atlas shrugged and the fountainhead. i would advise that only older people who have had some experience in life should read it. rand's philosophy is so persuasive that younger people tend to alienate everyone, trying to live by it. i should know: i'm a recovering randroid. essentially, there's nothing wrong with objectivism. the problem is its appropriate application in real life. i would suggest reading what nathaniel branden has to say on the topic along with the rand books.

[watchamacallit]

currently, the books that have changed the way i see things are the Sandman TPBs by Neil Gaiman and GOOD OMENS by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman. Admittedly, they are so much more entertaining, "reasonable," and more knowing about and sympathetic to the human condition than Rand's books ever were. we are not machines, you know?

[mionenoelle]

The Da Vinci Code
The Alchemist
Veronika decides to Die

[flygurl]

Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman. It snaps me back to the reality that "life is all there is," that everything we do becomes a routine.

[Thoma§]

Doña Jeronima
by Nick Joaquin

Truly, a masterpiece by the late Nick Joaquin. So many values can be derived from this story. My literature classes in college have made closer to Filipino writers in english and my realization is that, people should turn more pages made by these writers because they are very useful here in our own country. Filipino writers know more about the country.

[i_love_killua]

Ayn Rands' Atlas Shrugged and Fountainhead...ever! i agree on her on all accounts...pareho pa kaming atheist.....I think it's her thoughts that made me more responsible in a way and change my utter lack of compassion towards other people....

the gift...nalimutan ko yung author pero napaisip ako tungkol sa freedom and all...naiyak nga ako dito eh....

[Ischaramoochie]

Zen And The Art of Motorcycle Maintenance

[dunbar]

self-help and motivational books have always made me want to, well, throw up.

the closest i got to finishing one was when i browsed through "who cut my cheese?" at national bookstore!

that book was, of course, a cute satire on the rather cheesy "who moved my cheese?"

but that aside, i have to say the two books that really "profoundly" affected me were "catch-22" and "cather in the rye." cute, no?

they didn't really change me. i doubt any book can, but these books got to me. more than i thought possible.

[morganrate]

Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
Communist Manifesto by Engles and Marx
Mass by Sionil Jose
ABNKKBSNPLAKO by Bob Ong

[ShowMeTheMoney]

I don't know if they "profoundly changed" the way I think, but they served as some form of inspiration:

Sun Tzu's Art of War
Robert Greene's 48 Laws of Power

even Robert Kiyosaki's Rich Dad, Poor Dad to a certain extent. It made me more business minded.

[«FickleMinded»]

-- Tuesdays With Morrie
--Who moved my cheese
-- Chicken Soup for the soul.