Huge thanks to Maryanna Saenko (🙌), Steve Jurvetson (@FutureJurvetson), and the team from Future Ventures (@FutureVenturesVC) for this one. From the description: “In Polynesia we set sail with navigators whose ancestors settled the Pacific ten centuries before Christ. In the Amazon we meet the descendants of a true Lost Civilization, the people of the Anaconda. In the Andes we discover that the Earth really is alive, while in the far reaches of Australia we experience Dreamtime, the all-embracing philosophy of the first humans to walk out of Africa. We then travel to Nepal, where we encounter a wisdom hero, a Bodhisattva, who emerges from forty-five years of Buddhist retreat and solitude. And finally we settle in Borneo, where the last rainforest nomads struggle to survive.”

Sometimes I learn, and absorb usable truths, best through time-tested fiction. Most stories in this book are only 1–5 pages long. Description: “Dervish tales are more than fable, legend, or folklore. For centuries, dervish masters have instructed their disciples by means of these teaching stories, which are said to increase perception and knowledge and provide a better understanding of man and the world. … Idries Shah spent many years traveling through three continents to collect and compare oral versions of these remarkable stories. This anthology…contains stories drawn from the repertories of dervish masters over a period of more than a thousand years.”

This short and powerful book was first recommended to me by investor Ray Dalio. At fewer than 150 pages, it can be digested in a few sittings and offers an impressive overview of human nature and the rise and fall of civilizations. The prose is also beautiful. Here’s the official book description: “A concise survey of the culture and civilization of mankind, The Lessons of History is the result of a lifetime of research from Pulitzer Prize–winning historians Will and Ariel Durant. With their accessible compendium of philosophy and social progress, the Durants take us on a journey through history, exploring the possibilities and limitations of humanity over time."

Written by Miyamoto Musashi, in the Kinokuniya book store in Shinjuku. This poster, which I still have on my wall 20 years later, contains all 1,945 of the jōyō kanji, the characters designated for basic literacy by the Japanese Ministry of Education.

I bought this book at Kinokuniya bookstore in Shinjuku, Tokyo. It is as thick as a Harry Potter book, probably thicker, but the pages are as thin as onion skin. It’s a serious tome. I never expected to finish it, and I tore through it in less than two weeks. If you’re like me and enjoy a good Samurai story – the wandering ronin, epic battle scenes with lots of penetrating (wisdom), then you’ll love Eiji Yoshikawa’s Musashi. It’s sold more than 100 million copies in Japanese. Musashi’s transformation from talented yet conflicted young warrior to one of the greatest (perhaps the greatest) swordsman of all time teaches you about critical thinking, strategizing, and ultimately, that there is more to life than merely surviving. Musashi re-created himself from nothing and rose from destitution to legend. Why not you?

Austen Allred: "Absolutely incredible book. Probably in my top five all-time." Tim Ferriss: "[Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World] has been recommended to me by several billionaires." Ben Horowitz: "Unexpectedly the most interesting book on the topic of how you think about inclusion."