The two books I recommend and gift to people the most right now are «As a man thinketh» by James Allen and «Tao Te Ching» by Lao Tzu.
Both I read shamefully late.
Both have the rare effect similar to injecting your brain with nootropic drug (like NZT from movie «Limitless»).
Both stood the test of time (first is 100+ years old, second — 2000+ years old)
Both should be re-read multiple times.
P.S.: Also both of these books are very short.
They can be read in a couple of hours.
Actually the audio version of «As a man thinketh» I like the most is the one I found on The Resilient Mind Podcast's feed and it's 55 minutes long — https://theresilientmind.podbean.com/e/as-a-man-thinketh-by-james-allen/
However the catch is that reading «Tao Te Ching» in one sitting is not the best for retention, it's better to make a lot of pauses to absorb the verses while reading it for the first time).
P.P.S.: Self-help author Randy Gage said that in ideal world «As a man thinketh» should be selling for $10 000 - $15 000.
I agree and add that the same is true for «Tao Te Ching».
