Explore classics

Managing stress during a difficult personal year (divorce and daughter's medical emergency)

"I did meditate during this challenging year. I was in the middle of a divorce and it really helped, and I probably should find 20 minutes a day to meditate."

Bill Ackman

Rereading at different points in life to deepen his understanding of Stoicism

"Marcus Aurelius talks about the idea of the common good something like 80 times in Meditations, right? 80 times is a lot... It's not until the middle of the pandemic that I'm reading Marcus Aurelius and all these allusions, and in some cases direct referenc..."

Ryan Holiday

Understanding growth, perspective-taking, and the ability to see the same thing differently as you mature

"I really love Anna Karenina. I've been rereading the classics lately. I love Anna Karenina because it's a book of layers. When I was 13 and I read it, I understood basically the plot. When I read it at 17, I understood the European history dynamics and the ..."

Tara Seshan

"You got to watch Apocalypse Now. There's such great beautiful remasterings of that movie. It's visually beautiful. That's a fantastic movie."

Cal Newport

Listening to classics via audiobook while walking

"Some books that I think I should listen to and haven't ever gotten around to reading. I did Moby Dick that way."

Gary Gallagher

Reading to understand human nature, leadership dynamics, ego, jealousy, and insecurity — themes Daunt argues are essential for leaders to grasp.

"You can sit down and just actually get a few plays out. Read your Shakespeare. It's all going to be in there."

James Daunt

Understanding timeless moral truths, philosophy, and the origins of Western civilization's institutions

"The Odyssey is something you should read and watch and read and watch again, but you should read multiple translations and then you have to read the other myths and then you have to read the poetry about it and the stories about it and the interpretations o..."

Ryan Holiday

Studying Epictetus' philosophy as part of the Daily Stoic Epictetus month course

"We're going to be reading Discourses and Enchiridion, studying his life, studying his influences, studying the people who he influenced, and how they put Epictetus' teachings into practice."

Ryan Holiday

Understanding the culture and counterculture of the era

"To this day if you read Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail or if you read Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas or you any of his work you know the Kentucky Derby is decadent and depraved like it's just a phenomenal encapsulation of that."

Joe Rogan

Shared organizational knowledge base across engineering, customer support, sales, and GTM

"Our engineering team — the first place they go when they have a technical question is they ask Foundation that question. Foundation has seen all of our Notion docs, all of our Google Drive docs, all of our coding agent sessions which actually have so much h..."

Jeff Huber

Understanding ancient history and early historical methodology

"I think Herodotus histories is pretty incredible. He's wrong a lot but he's also it's the first history book and in many cases he's going and finding you know firsthand or secondhand uh accounts of what happens. It's it's it's a way to look into the world a..."

Caitlin Kalinowski

Meditating on the idea that the journey is the destination and what we gain along the way matters more than arrival

"One of my favorite poems is a poem about the Odyssey called Ithaca by C.P. Cavafy. And there's this part at the end where it says, 'Keep Ithaca always in your mind because arriving there is what you're destined for, but don't hurry the journey. Better if it..."

Ryan Holiday

Learning about the different Stoic philosophers through biographical accounts

"You can read Diogenes — it's a book, The Lives of Eminent Philosophers, which has biographies of the different Stoics."

Ryan Holiday

"My favorite translation is the Hayes translation which he did for the modern library."

Ryan Holiday

Understanding transitions and post-war perspectives

"I love Mrs. Dalloway, actually. I think it's a very interesting book about transitions, and it was a post-war book um, by Virginia Wolf. So I I really love it and I think it's really wonderful."

Caitlin Kalinowski

Understanding the origins of the Western legal system and how Greek mythology explains the founding of civilization's institutions

"If I could give another recommendation to people, Aeschylus's trilogy the Oresteia is a side plot of the Iliad and the Odyssey that you briefly see in the Odyssey. For people who don't know... it's just incredible. You're reading this play that's basically ..."

Ryan Holiday

Gifts to new friends, understanding socialism and Soviet life, entertainment

"I usually buy M&M in batches of five. You always have copies on your desk at work in case someone wants to borrow one. It is one of the best portrayals, certainly the earliest brilliant portrayal of homo sovieticus. What happens to the human mind when expos..."

Max Levchin

Reading the Odyssey in full as an adult to extract philosophical and life lessons

"It wasn't until I read Emily Wilson's new translation of the Odyssey, and I read it a few years ago, I made it all the way to the end, right? Which you sort of don't do as a kid."

Ryan Holiday