books on human condition

[KaneKungFu123]

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i am trying to figure out what will make me more happy/content in life.

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The "what" is you.

"A man is about as happy as he makes up his mind to be." Abraham Lincoln

Try "Walden Pond" by Henry David Thoreau

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i read walden as much as one can read walden.

i realize the what is me. i think most people realize that.
getting there and staying there is the hard part.

[KaneKungFu123]

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I know of a book... a very old book, 1000 years old. But it's so great it's still modern. I don't know the excact translation to english, but i think it should be something like "the art of war" , it's wroten by Sun Zi, an old chinese warrior, and tactic... I don't know really what you were looking for, but read it out!

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ive read the art of war as much as one can read the art of war.

[dittoduke]

The last of the ultimate freedoms- the freedom to chose your attitude no matter what the cirumstances are.
Victor Frankel-Man's Search for Meaning
most influential book I've ever read after the Bible.

[esbesb]

Is some high octane FICTION on the human condition. Try Crime and Punishment, The Death of Ivan Illych (you can read it in an afternoon), Moby Dick (if you have a few days), and there are tons more. You will find that works of fiction by great authors sometimes give much greater insight on the human condition (if you want to call it that) than writings by great psychologists and philosophers.

[bilyin]

Read Gustav Flaubert, he wrote something like, to be happy, you need good health, selfishness and stupidity. How true; just look at our president.