Friday 8 July 2016

Books that changed me for better.



Fiction will take you and turn you on your head. It will leave you in tears, or with a content heart or gasping for another page. Fiction also stretches its fingers to the depths of your mind and heart and sows a seed of something new. A lesson. A thought. A feeling. Something that changes your perception of life. That something will make you, will guide you. Fiction will become your teacher or an inspirational story that motivates you. It will be your drive, you motto. Stories or writings that will change the way you look at life. This is top 5 of my top ten novels that has taken me in its words and changed me with its stories. 



The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand
                                                                                                                                                                             



Ayn Rand single-handedly changed my perspective on life. Fountainhead showed me what it means to be a true man, a human being  who will not negotiate his principles because what are you when you forgo your principles? Atlas Shrugged liberated me on so many levels. It showed me it is okay to be selfish, rather selfish is the way to live. To remember that without the ‘I’ there is no self. For instance, the ‘I’ in ‘I love you’ is more important that the word love itself. To remember only I can grant myself true happiness. 

This is my favorite Ayn rand quote:
Achievement of your happiness is the only moral purpose of your life, and that happiness, not pain or mindless self-indulgence, is the proof of your moral integrity, since it is the proof and the result of your loyalty to the achievement of your values.


The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry


“All grown-ups were once children... but only few of them remember it.”
How much I adore this book. The Little Prince will teach you to never forget the child in you, to never erase the creativity and imagination as you grown up. The book will stay with you, I promise. You will carry it in your heart as a secret weapon against the world’s ugly.

Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse

Ah, this book. When I got through the last page I had this urge to hold the book close, to not let anything I had discovered between those pages fade. It will connect to your spiritual side and will give it a makeover.
“Wisdom cannot be imparted. Wisdom that a wise man attempts to impart always sounds like foolishness to someone else ... Knowledge can be communicated, but not wisdom. One can find it, live it, do wonders through it, but one cannot communicate and teach it.”

Particles, Jottings, Sparks: The Collected Brief Poems of Rabindranath Tagore

I love this man. Period. His are the only works that has brought tears to my eyes not because of how sad the story was but just how beautiful his words are. There is in him a stillness of nature, and my personal love for nature is augmented by Tagore’s lyrics.

“Let your life lightly dance on the edges of
Time like dew on the tip of a leaf.” 

Harry Potter by J K Rowling

Yes, you can argue that there are more amazing classics out there that should be in top five. Harry Potter has been such an integral part of my growing up that it refuses to make way for any book of any league out there. It has been a paramount source in molding my first principles of life. Simple lessons like how sometimes you need to make the harder choices or to accept your destiny and not back down even when death is facing you. 
  “Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.”


What books feature in your top five?


Note:Pictures do not belong to me(except the first one).

16 comments:

  1. The Harry Potter world is just golden, incredible how many life the stories have affected people in a positive and inspiring way! Xx

    www.thefashionfolks.com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You cannot dispute Harry Potter.
      Stories tend to do that!

      Delete
  2. It's always interesting to see which books have influenced people the most. I find it all depends on at what time of life you read a book, as to how much of an impact it makes! Oh and great choice with Harry Potter haha, I'm sure it has made a good impression on everyone :)

    aglassofice.com
    x

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I have to agree with you! It definitely depends on at what time you find the book in you life.

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  3. I need to check some of these! I love all Jane Austen books.. but cannot think of one that changed me...
    xoxo

    Ileana

    Novelstyle Blog

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You should!
      I loved Pride and Prejudice. Her books are worth a read anytime.

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  4. I agree with you - so many books can teach you so many different things! I have read The Little Prince and even though it is a lovely story on its own, it's also teeming with lovely life lessons which are worthwhile knowing. I love it <3

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    Replies
    1. The Little Prince has a very special place in my heart. It has many profound stories hidden in its simplicity.

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  5. I haven't read all of these, so I need to look them up, but I agree that we learn so much from all kinds of books and that is just lovely!

    xo
    www.carinavardie.com

    ReplyDelete
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    1. You should! (you haven't read Harry Potter?)
      Thank you!

      Delete
  6. Its always delightful to see Harry Potter on a list such as this. I loved Fountainhead(you know that).As for the rest,I will have to check them out. Book lists always get me excited.Haha.

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    1. Harry Potter does that to you! Book lists are happy goals :)

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  7. This is a great and interesting post..loved it...xo, Neha

    http://www.theinstylejournal.com/

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  8. I haven't read any but Harry Potter in your list, but I love all the reasons why they have a place in your heart and what they've taught you. I had always loved reading, but never LOVED the book that I read until Harry Potter. It taught me what kind of stories that I was looking for. It changed everything about my reading experiences in addition to the different lessons to learn in the series.

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  9. Ooooh! This sounds so wonderful. Thank you for giving me an idea for my future reading list (after I finish all the books I have).
    The books that feature my top five are :
    1) State of fear, Michael Crichton
    2) Contact, Carl Sagan
    3) The Secret, Rhonda Byrne
    4) The Lost World, Michael Crichton
    5) The last lecture, Randy Pausch

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