Beyond Good and Evil

Friedrich Nietzsche

Morality is shaped by the need of the era. This was the first book that allowed me to see that morality is flexible.

Siddhartha

Hermann Hesse

This book allowed me the courage to pursue my own morality and was the first step towards internalizing a value system that was my own.

The Brothers Karamazov

Fyodor Dostoevsky

Dostoevsky is one of my favorite writers. This book taught me so much about the existential crisis one has in their youth pertaining to god and morality. I wish I had gotten a hold of this book way earlier than I had. One of the moments that came to me was the conversation that Ivan has with Alyosha in the tavern. What a great book and what a great writer.

The Death of Ivan Ilyich

Leo Tolstoy

Tolstoy's Ivan Ilyich died so that we can live. I owe this book so much credit for making me realize what a painful death is. I try everyday to live life to the fullest so I can remain content on my deathbed.

"Ivan Ilych's life had been most simple and most ordinary and therefore most terrible."

The Bridge on the Drina

Ivo Andrić

This book talks about the bridge over Drina in Bosnia and the lives of people around it for nearly 400 years. I had the honor of reading this book while in Bosnia, which for centuries been passed to many hands and many kingdoms. This book told me how small fault lines can take the shape of large chasms, and how a thousand differences between humans pale into insignificance when ones humanity demands it.

"I am not afraid of the humans, but of what is inhuman in them."