Master Reference List

A comprehensive catalog of all works referenced across my blog, organized alphabetically by author. Those that I find especially powerful—the ones I return to again and again—are marked with a leading *asterisk.

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A

Anonymous

• *Gilgamesh

  Referenced in: The Sword Outwears its Sheath
  I suggest either Gerald J. Davis’ translation or that by Stephen Mitchell. If you love this story as much as I do, you might also be interested in Robert Silverberg’s retelling.

Arendt, Hannah

• "Personal Responsibility Under Dictatorship," collected in Responsibility and Judgment
  Referenced in: Standing Your Ground
  An examination of why certain moral stands become necessary, even when they appear futile.

Aurelius, Marcus

• *Meditations (170s CE)
  Referenced in: Choosing Your Battles Wisely, Finding Peace Through Expanded Horizons, Fighting for Nothing
  Written during the 170s CE while emperor of Rome, facing numerous crises including war and plague. I recommend the translation by Gregory Hays.

B

Baldwin, James

• "As Much Truth As One Can Bear" in New York Times Book Review (January 14, 1962)
  Referenced in: Finding Peace Through Expanded Horizons

Berry, Wendell

• "Manifesto: The Mad Farmer Liberation Front" in The Country of Marriage (1973)
  Referenced in: Finding Peace Through Expanded Horizons

Boroditsky, Lera

• Remembrances of Times East
  Referenced in: Lost in Translation

Buonomano, Dean

• Your Brain Is a Time Machine: The Neuroscience and Physics of Time (2017)
  Referenced in: Finding Peace Through Expanded Horizons

Buffett, Warren

• 1985 letter to Berkshire Hathaway shareholders
  Referenced in: You Can't Rush Wisdom

About Buffet

• The Snowball: Warren Buffett and the Business of Life (biography by Alice Schroeder)

Byron, Lord

• "So We'll Go No More a Roving" (poem)
  Referenced in: The Sword Outwears its Sheath

C

Camus, Albert

• The Myth of Sisyphus (1942)
  Referenced in: The Problem with Happiness

• "Return to Tipasa," published in his collection Summer (L'Été) (1954).

  Referenced in: Fighting for Nothing

Chödrön, Pema

• When Things Fall Apart: Heart Advice for Difficult Times (1996)
  Referenced in: Finding Peace Through Expanded Horizons
  Offers practical wisdom from the Buddhist tradition on finding peace amid chaos.

Christian, David

• Origin Story: A Big History of Everything (2018)
  Referenced in: Finding Peace Through Expanded Horizons
  Places current human challenges within the vast context of cosmic evolution.

Cleveland, Harlan

• The Knowledge Executive (1985)
  Referenced in: Invisible Victories

Costa, Rebecca

• The Watchman's Rattle (2010)
  Referenced in: Invisible Victories
  Examines how cognitive limitations affect our ability to solve complex problems before they become crises, with historical examples of civilizations that either prevented or succumbed to existential challenges.

Covey, Stephen

• The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People (1989)
  Referenced in: Invisible Victories

Csikszentmihalyi, Mihaly

• Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience (1990)
  Referenced in: The Problem with Happiness

D

Damasio, Antonio

• Descartes' Error

  Referenced in: Fighting for Nothing

David, Susan

• Emotional Agility
  Referenced in: Standing Your Ground

Davis, Gerald J.

• *Translation of Gilgamesh
  Referenced in: The Sword Outwears its Sheath
  My favorite translation.

de Botton, Alain

• The Consolations of Philosophy
  Referenced in: You Can't Rush Wisdom

Deutscher, Guy

• Does Your Language Shape How You Think?

  Referenced in: Lost in Translation

Diamond, Jared

• Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed (2005)
  Referenced in: Finding Peace Through Expanded Horizons
  Provides case studies of both successful and unsuccessful responses to environmental and social challenges.

Drucker, Peter

• The Effective Executive (1967)
  Referenced in: Invisible Victories

Duhigg, Charles

• The Power of Habit (2012)
  Referenced in: Invisible Victories

E

Eagleman, David

• Incognito: The Secret Lives of the Brain (2011)
  Referenced in: Invisible Victories
  Explores how our neural architecture affects our capacity for preventive versus reactive thinking, with implications beyond neuroscience.

Edmondson, Amy

• The Fearless Organization (2018)
  Referenced in: Invisible Victories

Epictetus

• Discourses of Epictetus
  Referenced in: You Can't Rush Wisdom

F

Fisher, Roger

• Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In
  Referenced in: Choosing Your Battles Wisely

Frankl, Viktor

• *Man's Search for Meaning (1946)
  Referenced in: The Problem with Happiness, Finding Peace Through Expanded Horizons, Invisible Victories

Freud, Sigmund

• Beyond the Pleasure Principle (1920)
  Referenced in: The Problem with Happiness

G

Gibran, Kahlil

• *The Prophet
  Referenced in: The Sword Outwears its Sheath

Gottman, John

• The Seven Principles for Making Marriage Work (1999)
  Referenced in: Invisible Victories

Greitens, Eric

• *Resilience: Hard-Won Wisdom for Living a Better Life (2015)
  Referenced in: Finding Peace Through Expanded Horizons

H

Habermas, Jürgen

• The Theory of Communicative Action (1981)
  Referenced in: Invisible Victories

Hadot, Pierre

• Philosophy as a Way of Life

  Referenced in: Fighting for Nothing

Haidt, Jonathan

• The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion
  Referenced in: Standing Your Ground, Choosing Your Battles Wisely

Han, Byung-Chul

• The Burnout Society (2015)
  Referenced in: You Can't Rush Wisdom
  Critiques the pressure in modern society to be constantly productive, introducing the concept of "achievement subjects" who perpetually strive without finding fulfillment.

Havel, Václav

• Disturbing the Peace (1986)
  Referenced in: Finding Peace Through Expanded Horizons

Hays, Gregory

• Translation of Meditations

  Referenced in: Choosing Your Battles Wisely, Finding Peace Through Expanded Horizons

Heidegger, Martin

• Being and Time, Revised Edition
  Referenced in: Lost in Translation

Heraclitus

• Fragments
  Referenced in: Lost in Translation

Holiday, Ryan

• The Obstacle Is the Way
  Referenced in: Not All Fights are Worth the Cost, Fighting for Nothing

• Ego Is the Enemy
  Referenced in: Choosing Your Battles Wisely

I

Ingold, Tim

• "Knowing from the Inside" in Making: Anthropology, Archaeology, Art and Architecture (2013)
  Referenced in: You Can't Rush Wisdom

Isbell, Jason

• "If We Were Vampires" (song)
  Referenced in: The Sword Outwears its Sheath

J

Jakobson, Roman

• On Linguistic Aspects of Translation
  Referenced in: Lost in Translation

James, William

• The Principles of Psychology (1890)
  Referenced in: Choosing Your Battles Wisely, Invisible Victories

Johnstone, Chris

• Active Hope: How to Face the Mess We're in without Going Crazy (2012)
  Referenced in: Finding Peace Through Expanded Horizons

  Written with Joanna Macy.

K

Kahneman, Daniel

• Thinking, Fast and Slow (2011)
  Referenced in: Invisible Victories
  Provides insights into why humans systematically undervalue prevention, preferring visible intervention to invisible avoidance of problems.

Kasparov, Garry

• How Life Imitates Chess (2007)
  Referenced in: Invisible Victories

Kissinger, Henry

• Diplomacy (1994)
  Referenced in: Invisible Victories

Klein, Gary

• Sources of Power: How People Make Decisions (1998)
  Referenced in: Invisible Victories

Klein, Terrance

• Windows into Men’s Souls

  Referenced in: Choosing Your Battles Wisely

Klosterman, Chuck

• But What If We're Wrong: Thinking About the Present As If It Were the Past (2016)
  Referenced in: Finding Peace Through Expanded Horizons
  Explores how future generations might view our current certainties, noting that "any present-tense version of the world is unstable."

Kneebone, Roger L.

• Expert: Understanding the Path to Mastery (2021)
  Referenced in: You Can't Rush Wisdom
  Insights about becoming an expert as "an internal, ontological process; a shift in the nature of who you are, not just what you can do."

L

Lao Tzu

• *Tao Te Ching
  Referenced in: Not All Fights are Worth the Cost, Fighting for Nothing
  I have read several translations of this. My favorites are Stephen Mitchell’s and Sam Torode’s; it just depends on the verse I’m reading.

Lax, Eric

• The Mold in Dr. Florey's Coat
  Referenced in: Standing Your Ground

Levathes, Louise

• When China Ruled the Seas: The Treasure Fleet of the Dragon Throne
  Referenced in: Choosing Your Battles Wisely

Lewis, C.S.

• The Four Loves
  Referenced in: The Sword Outwears its Sheath

Loftus, Elizabeth

• Reconstruction of Automobile Destruction
  Referenced in: Lost in Translation
  Research showing how the wording of questions can alter people's memories of events.

M

Macfarlane, Gwyn

• Alexander Fleming: The Man and the Myth
  Referenced in: Standing Your Ground
  Biography of Fleming and the discovery of penicillin.

Macy, Joanna

• Active Hope: How to Face the Mess We're in without Going Crazy (2012)
  Referenced in: Finding Peace Through Expanded Horizons

  Written with Chris Johnstone.

Meadows, Donella

• Thinking in Systems: A Primer (2008)
  Referenced in: Invisible Victories

Mitchell, Stephen

• Translation of Gilgamesh
  Referenced in: The Sword Outwears its Sheath
  My second choice of translation, after that by Gerald J. Davis.

• *Translation of Tao Te Ching
  Referenced in: Not All Fights are Worth the Cost

  One of my preferred translations.

N

Niebuhr, Reinhold

• "Serenity Prayer" (c. 1934)
  Referenced in: Finding Peace Through Expanded Horizons

Nietzsche, Friedrich

• Ecce Homo (1908)
  Referenced in: Finding Peace Through Expanded Horizons

• The Gay Science (1882)

  Referenced in: Finding Peace Through Expanded Horizons

• Thus Spake Zarathustra
  Referenced in: Lost in Translation

O

Oliver, Mary

• "In Blackwater Woods" was originally published in the collection American Primitive
  Referenced in: The Sword Outwears its Sheath

P

Pinker, Steven

• The Better Angels of Our Nature
  Referenced in: Choosing Your Battles Wisely

Plutarch

• Life of Pyrrhus
  Referenced in: Not All Fights are Worth the Cost

Popper, Karl

• The Open Society and Its Enemies (1945)
  Referenced in: Invisible Victories
  Introduces his concept of "piecemeal social engineering" as opposed to "utopian social engineering."

R

Rabbi Tarfon

• Pirkei Avot (Ethics of the Fathers)
  Referenced in: Finding Peace Through Expanded Horizons

Rafael, Dan

• “The Upset” (2005)

  Referenced in: Fighting for Nothing

Reason, James

• Human Error (1990)

  Referenced in: Invisible Victories

• Managing the Risks of Organizational Accidents (1997)
  Referenced in: Invisible Victories

Rilke, Rainer Maria

• Letter to his wife Clara, dated January 1, 1907
  Referenced in: Lost in Translation

• Letters to a Young Poet (1929)
  Referenced in: Finding Peace Through Expanded Horizons

Rothman, Joshua

• Becoming You, published October 3, 2022 on The New Yorker
  Referenced in: Lost in Translation
  Article questioning whether we remain the same people throughout our lives or change substantially.

S

Sapolsky, Robert

• Behave: The Biology of Humans at Our Best and Worst
  Referenced in: Not All Fights are Worth the Cost

Sarasvathy, Saras

• "What Makes Entrepreneurs Entrepreneurial?"
  Referenced in: Choosing Your Battles Wisely
  Explores "effectual reasoning" in entrepreneurship, with parallels to conflict management.

Schelling, Thomas

• Arms and Influence (1966)
  Referenced in: Invisible Victories
  Explores how credible deterrence prevents conflicts from materializing, with applications beyond international relations.

Schroeder, Alice

• The Snowball: Warren Buffett and the Business of Life

  Referenced in: Not All Fights are Worth the Cost

Schultz, George

• Turmoil and Triumph: My Years as Secretary of State (1993)
  Referenced in: Invisible Victories

Seligman, Martin

• Learned Optimism: How to Change Your Mind and Your Life (2006)
  Referenced in: Finding Peace Through Expanded Horizons

Seneca

• On the Shortness of Life (AD 49)
  Referenced in: You Can't Rush Wisdom, The Sword Outwears its Sheath

• Letters from a Stoic (1st century CE)
  Referenced in: Finding Peace Through Expanded Horizons, Invisible Victories

Silverberg, Robert

• Gilgamesh the King
  Referenced in: The Sword Outwears its Sheath
  Attempts to ground the more fantastic aspects of the epic in reality. Gives a lot of context to obtuse and archaic religious practices mentioned in the epic.

Snyder, Timothy

• Bloodlands: Europe Between Hitler and Stalin
  Referenced in: Standing Your Ground
  Documents examples of moral courage in extreme circumstances.

Solnit, Rebecca

• Hope in the Dark (2004, updated 2016)
  Referenced in: Finding Peace Through Expanded Horizons
  Explores how social movements create change over time, often in ways not immediately visible.

Spinoza, Baruch

• Ethics (1677)
  Referenced in: Finding Peace Through Expanded Horizons

Steinberg, Jonathan

• Bismarck: A Life (2011)
  Referenced in: Invisible Victories

Sun Tzu

• The Art of War (5th century BCE)
  Referenced in: Invisible Victories, Fighting for Nothing

T

Taylor, Charles

• Sources of the Self
  Referenced in: Standing Your Ground
  Explores how moral frameworks form the background against which we make significant life decisions.

Torode, Sam

• *Translation of Tao Te Ching
  Referenced in: Not All Fights are Worth the Cost

Tuchman, Barbara

• The March of Folly: From Troy to Vietnam (1984)
  Referenced in: Invisible Victories, Fighting for Nothing
  Analyzes "wooden-headedness" in historical decision-making and why governments pursue policies contrary to their own interests.

U

Ury, William

• Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In
  Referenced in: Choosing Your Battles Wisely

• Getting to Yes with Yourself
  Referenced in: Not All Fights are Worth the Cost, Fighting for Nothing

V

van der Kolk, Bessel

• The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma (2014)
  Referenced in: Finding Peace Through Expanded Horizons

van Gogh, Vincent

• Letter to brother Theo, dated July 9, 1888
  Referenced in: Finding Peace Through Expanded Horizons

von Clausewitz, Carl

• On War (1832)

  Referenced in: Fighting for Nothing

W

WarGames

• 1983 film directed by John Badham
  Referenced in: Not All Fights are Worth the Cost

Weir, Alison

• The Life of Elizabeth I
  Referenced in: Choosing Your Battles Wisely

Weil, Simone

• Gravity and Grace (1952)
  Referenced in: You Can't Rush Wisdom

Wellesley, Arthur (1st Duke of Wellington)

• The Dispatches of Field Marshal the Duke of Wellington (edited by Lieutenant Colonel John Gurwood)
  Referenced in: Choosing Your Battles Wisely

Windsor, Tim D. et al.

• “Sense of purpose as a psychological resource for aging well”
  Referenced in: The Problem with Happiness
  Research finding that as people increased their sense of purpose, their well-being and health improved.