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Last updated: March 15, 2026Stories that shaped me.
Books philosophical, existential, transcendent
- Jahangirnama“I am a king by nature, not by fortune. My throne is the throne of my ancestors, and it is mine by right.”
- Bhagavad Gita“You have a right to perform your prescribed duties, but you are not entitled to the fruits of your actions.”
- Thus Spoke Zarathustra“Man is a rope, tied between beast and overman — a rope over an abyss. What is great in man is that he is a bridge and not an end.”
- Crime and Punishment“Pain and suffering are always inevitable for a large intelligence and a deep heart.”
- The Prophet“Your children are not your children. They are the sons and daughters of Life’s longing for itself.”
- The Great Gatsby“So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.”
Poetry melancholic, visceral, stoic
- La Belle Dame sans Merci“And this is why I sojourn here / Alone and palely loitering / Though the sedge is wither’d from the lake / And no birds sing.”
- Bluebird“there’s a bluebird in my heart that wants to get out / but I’m too tough for him.”
- If—“If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster / And treat those two impostors just the same…”
- Who Can Live Without Hope“Who can live without hope in our country? / Forward! Forward! The people awaken.”
Films introspective, life-affirming, whimsical
- The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (2013)“To see the world, things dangerous to come to, to see behind walls, draw closer, to find each other, and to feel. That is the purpose of life.”
- Into the Wild (2007)“Happiness only real when shared.”
- About Time (2013)“All we can do is do our best to relish this remarkable ride.”
- Cloud Atlas (2012)“Our lives are not our own. From womb to tomb, we are bound to others, past and present.”
- The Fountain (2006)“Death is the road to awe.”
- Hector and the Search for Happiness (2014)“Happiness is answering your calling.”
- The Art of Getting By (2011)“We’re all going to die anyway, so what’s the point?”
“The purpose of art is washing the dust of daily life off our souls.”
Pablo Picasso