I ended up beyond help but I'd like to share some books that helped me pull myself as "together" as possible.
Feel free to throw in your suggestions as well, better if you could describe the significance of the book and who it helped you too, as opposed to just posting an image.
I'll start: First off, let's not forget that pic related is basically his diary desu. In so far as you're like me and prefer encouragement about life that refers to empirical data and proven techniques, you're not going to find much of substance here (some of the more metaphysical suggestions here will raise a lot of eyebrows too, especially if you haven't read any other Stoics). Really though, sometimes you just want raw motivation, and Marcus's self-motivation can give you exactly that. Allow me to share the passage from the Meditations I like the most:
>The sun appears to pour itself down, and indeed its light pours in all direction, but the stream does not run out. This pouring is linear extension: that is why its beams are called rays, because they radiate in extended lines. You can see what a ray is if you observe the sun's light entering a dark room through a narrow opening. It extends in a straight line and impacts, so to speak, on any solid body in its path which blocks passage through the air on the other side: it settles there and does not slip off or fall.
I'm cheating here, this isn't a book but Voltaire's thoughts on suicide are very interesting, particularly because they're written with very little (no) access to actual data concerning it, including data he can gather from within himself. As a whole, it's a nice bit of speculation coming form someone looking in at this phenomena from the outside.
Here's a passage I like:
>An almost infallible means of saving yourself from the desire of self-destruction is always to have something to do. Creech, the commentator on Lucretius, marked upon his manuscripts: “N. B. Must hang myself when I have finished.” He kept his word with himself that he might have the pleasure of ending like his author. If he had undertaken a commentary upon Ovid he would have lived longer.
James Jackson
everybody can understand the book, it is frequently listed among retarded self help books for plebs. you can get a lot more out of it with some philosophy background but it's fine as it is.
Adrian Cooper
Delusional Christfag post
Blake Lee
Probably the book that introduced me to philosophy. It's really easy to understand, it's even quite funny sometimes (I remember a line about "people who smell like goats" and how it's not their fault). Just go for it, it's easy, and it changed my life (because of the philosophy within it, and because it made me want to read philosophy in general).
Wyatt Rogers
I'll give it a read then. Thanks.
Dylan Robinson
Pic related is very good as an introduction to "Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction" which is basically that meditation thing all the hippies do but with a lot of the hippie shit toned down a number of notches after doctors realized meditation is actually pretty helpful.
I'd suggest going for the newer versions because he updated recent editions with the very aim of adding more recent empirical findings to his book.
If you're looking for something less general and more specific with respect to advice on how to deal with the "full catastrophe" of life, I'd definitely recommend this.
Jackson Ramirez
Pic related, it counts.
Chances are that you're going to find a novel so light lowsy, but given that you're on Veeky Forums, I will assume that it can hit home nonetheless.
I'd recommend the anime if you find the novel too low-brow for you. I'd be surprised if you haven't heard of this before desu, /a/ loves it and it's one of the rare cases where /a/'s taste is not shit.
Unrelated: This is my last recommendation, I'm going to be hanging myself tomorrow, but I'll be busy sorting out some other things till then so I wanted to post this now. Thanks for everything Veeky Forums I've never been able to connect with a lot of my other friends because they were never into the same things I was but, provided that my questions were specific enough, you've always provided me with fun discussions. I've grown out of a lot of your other bullshit but even so, thanks, young me definitely found you useful. Godspeed :)
Connor Lewis
Why do you post motovational books if you're planning to kill yourself? Don't do it man, what the hell. Cioran is wrong.
Jack Jenkins
>Cioran is wrong.
Not the animefag, but Cioran is 100% right.
Alexander Mitchell
man's search for meaning by viktor frankl
Nathaniel Lee
Anime. Not even once.
Chase White
...
Tyler Edwards
>God, talk about your first-world problems.
Juan Rivera
Letters From a Stoic by Seneca Meditations by Marcus Aurelius Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse Zen Mind: Beginner's Mind by Suzuki Jorge Luis Borges' Collected Fictions (start with The Library of Babel)
Luke Ortiz
Psalms and Ecclesiastes contain some legitimately good stuff even if you're a fedora tipper to be honest.
Andrew Jenkins
The Ego and Its Own
Joseph Morales
The Meditations just made me angry. Marcus Aurelius was so low-energy.
To get out of depression you have to fix yourself goals to better yourself and become the one you want to be. If you don't care about anything, you're lying to yourself. There's always something you want that can be taken by hard work.
Gavin Bell
Lol you truly didn't get anything about the Meditations.
Sebastian Lewis
I have. Stoicists are passive.
Anthony White
how fucking spooked can you be jesus christ
Chase Adams
>leading your men to victory in the battlefield while ill >low energy
Brody Green
It's not the passivity of a neet asshole who has enough money to just live a boring life. It's the passivity of someone who tries every day to reach moral perfection.
Samuel Smith
why would one want to wish for the "easy" times, though? what's so bad about the hard times that makes one want to get through them as fast as possible, gaining little to no personal insight in the process?
Luke Edwards
Infinite Jest
Blake Butler
Stirner. Everything else is a spook but you faggots are too stupid to see it and get "help" from shit.
Cooper White
Go to bed Trump jr.
Julian Wilson
muh sides
Sebastian Harris
please dont seriously
Elijah Diaz
Yeah there's some wisdom in there no doubt but I wouldn't base my perception of reality off a book of outdated mythology though
Sebastian Carter
>people I disagree with are trump because trump is evil because I politically disagree with him
You are so stupid it's painful
Aiden Sanders
I think people have more of a problem with Stoic cosmology although read metaphorically its consistent with everything else (i.e., you are not an alien on this earth, you have as much right to be here as anyone or anything else, you are not inherently fucked up or flawed, in fact you are inherently perfect if you'd get out of your own way etc.).
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy is pretty much the commercial form of The Meditations with a bit of goal-setting theory bolted on.
Nathaniel Bailey
In fact, I take that back, not just CBT but any all worthwhile forms of therapeutic anything are just rewrites of The Meditations.
If you didn't get anything out of it, you're doing it wrong.
Henry Lee
>never read the Bible >pretends to understand it how hard is it for you to just not talk about the things you don't know about
Joshua Bell
>implying there is some great knowledge to understand or I would waste my time pouring over that shit
No
Xavier Richardson
he is either trolling or just a retarded teenager, ignore him and let him learn a lesson later on life when he maybe meets intelligent people since almost of all them understand the importance of the bible
Leo Wright
>importance of the bible Surely you jest
Jayden Harris
Notes From Underground is the point where I started steering my depression around. I was unsettled by the kinds of thinking I had in common and I resolved to not let that be me.
Brody Phillips
I'm not usually one to call out redditors but holy shit go back
Luis Collins
>thinking the bible is a waste of time=reddit
Bentley Ross
>how dare you claim I have anything to do with the person I quoted verbatim
Dylan Morales
you are obviously new here
Oliver Ramirez
'Fraid not just don't like de bibble
Benjamin Gutierrez
>don't like haven't read.
at least be honest about one thing
Brody Diaz
Haven't read it and don't want to,wouldn't pretend I have nor have I pretended I have. As a genuine question if you find it to be of worth to you in your life why is it?
Andrew Wright
nigger did you even read the book? the whole thing is about doing hard work.
Jason Moore
Don't kys, my man
Andrew Garcia
If a book helps you get through hard times your hard times aren't hard and probably feels shit too
Connor Reyes
Do you ever get out of your house? Do you know anyone above the age of 25?
It's quite common for people to read or be recommended certain books to HELP them through times I'm sure even you would call hard. Terminal illnesses, loss of children, loved ones, prison rape, etcetera.
Ryan Bell
Enjoy mediocrity you little monkey
Nathan Foster
It's so peculiar how that word has any sort of meaning, let alone that you'd think it was a kind of insult.
Oh how I dread being like most people. You're telling me I won't be seen as special? Oh the horror.
Oliver Carter
Pic related
Joshua Diaz
he got cucked
Elijah Scott
>be = seem Oh how I dread not being Hamlet
David Richardson
sorry, had to drive out of town and back. >As a genuine question if you find it to be of worth to you in your life why is it? that's an odd line of questioning, considering the Bible's range, scope, and influence. foremost, it's influence in western literature is immeasurable. There are so many aphorisms and quotes from famous works that were lifted straight from the Bible. It's a mine of knowledge and themes. Proverbs, probably being the most obvious, is a book of aphoristic wisdom. Ecclesiastes is my favorite book. The proto-absurdism appeals to me heavily. "Better not to have been born at all, but to have gone straight from womb to the grave" is a common sentiment, you find it in Ecclesiastes, Job, and Lamentations. Job is incredibly grounding, it's the most "literary" book and has these absurdist themes of being a human and enduring life, seeking simple joys of loving family, your neighbors, God, and nature because "all is vanity". If nothing else, at least do yourself a favor and read Ecclesiastes.
The Gospels are great. You'd be surprised at how often atheists critique religion and are parroting Jesus' words almost verbatim. Romans is very uplifting and optimistic. The prophetic and apocryphal books are pretty intense, it's cool seeing the old testament prophesies being fulfilled in the new testament like 1,500 years later. It's 66 books written by dozens of people over thousands of years, I don't see how you could think that it isn't worth your while. Unless of course youre one of those pseudo-intellectuals who thinks the Bible is 4,000 pages of verses trying to convince you that God is real and silly stories
Aaron Reed
>not realizing that the underground man was meant to be a model, not a warning
Nathaniel Morales
don't man
Evan Bailey
You're not supposed to read it like a normal book. There is no story or narrative, it's exhausting to read segment after segment and they all start blending together. Read a couple of paragraphs at a time, then put the book down and let them sink in.
Charles Campbell
Don't do it
David Jones
Definitely not true. Lol'd though
Thomas Cruz
Dude, you realize NHK is all about keep going even when you don't see a reason why? Why would you recommend it to us if you're gonna kys?
And yeah, don't do it
Levi Perez
You can sort of open it up wherever you want and read bits and pieces then skim through to get anything you've missed later. If you have any amount of anxiety or existential angst you should find at least a few introspective gems.
