A QUICK WAY TO GET THE WISDOM OF THE WORLD.
One of the best books, amazingly enough, I think, is The Philosopher's Notes, by Brian Johnson - Excellent coverage of the pieces of wisdom, each in one to two pages. Great for your Reminders Book Shelf (see The Grounding Reminders System).
I would recommend also buying the complete set of 6 page summaries, complete with downloads of MP3 summaries and the videos.
Subscribe to the newsletters from his quite useful sites: Entheos.com
RECOMMENDED ORDER TO READ/WATCH
Watch the videos for free (THE PHILOSOPHERS NOTES VIDEOS), for a good summary overview of all the world's wisdom and to find the books, by type. In two days or four half-days, you can overview all the great life books!
The order in which I would recommend viewing the videos and reading the books or summaries also: (Print this page and insert a V when you've viewed the video, an S when you've read the summary, and a B when you've read the book. Keep any notes you make in a notebook in alphabetical order by the author's name.)
Happiness
_____ Authentic Happiness, Martin Seligman
_____ Learned Optimism, Martin Seligman
_____ Happy For No Reason, Marci Shimoff
_____ Happier, Tal Ben-Shahar
_____ The Pursuit Of Perfect, Tal Ben-Shahar
_____ The How Of Happiness, Sonja Lyubomirsky
_____ Constructive Living, David K. Reynolds
_____ Loving What Is, Byron Katie
_____ The Psychology Of Winning, Denis Waitley
_____ Do You!: 12 Laws To Access The Power In You To Achieve Happiness and Success, Russell
Simmons
Fear/Worry
_____ The Places That Scare You, Pema Chodron
_____ How To Stop Worrying And Start Living, Dale Carnegie
Inspiring "Progress" In Life
_____ Tony Robbins - Brian discussed Robbins' work
_____ The Power Of Full Engagement, Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz
_____ The Other 90%, Robert K. Cooper
_____ The First 30 Days: Your Guide To Making Any Change Easier, Ariane de Bonvoisin
_____ The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari, Robin Sharma
Success
_____ The Success Principles, Jack Canfield (You absolutely must buy this book!)
_____ The 80/20 Principle, Richard Koch
_____ Focal Point, Brian Tracy
_____ Overachievement: The New Science Of Working Less To Accomplish More, Hohn Eliot, Ph. D.
_____ The 7 Habits Of Highly Effective People, Stephen R. Covey
_____ The Now Habit, Neil Fiore
_____ The Path Of Least Resistance: Learning To Become The Creative Force In Your Life, Robert Fritz
_____ The Power Of TED, David Emerald
Psychology
_____ Emotional Intelligence, Daniel Goldman
_____ As A Man Thinketh, James Allen
_____ The Four Agreements, Don Miguel Ruiz
_____ The Magic Of Thinking Big, David J. Schwartz
_____ The Big Leap, Gay Hendricks
_____ The Six Pillars Of Self-Esteem, Nathaniel Branden
_____ The Power Of Decision, Raymond Charles Barker
_____ Everyday Enlightenment, Dan Millman
_____ Body Mind Mastery, Dan Millman
_____ Mastery, George Leonard
_____ Integrative Nutrition, Joshua Rosenthal
_____ The Thrive Diet, Brendan Brazier
_____ Strength For Life: The Fitness Plan For The Rest Of Your Life, Shawn Phillips
_____ The Science Of Being Great, Wallace D. Wattles
_____ Take Off From Within, Ervin Seale
_____ Psycho-Cybernetics, Maxwell Maltz
_____ The Silva Mind Control Method Of Mental Dynamics, Jose Silva
_____ The Book Of Understanding, Osho
_____ Thresholds Of The Mind, Bill Harris
_____ Paulo Coelho, Brian Johnson
_____ Your Erroneous Zones, Dr. Wayne W. Dyer
_____ Real Magic, Dr. Wayne W. Dyer
_____ The Power Of Intention, Dr. Wayne W. Dyer
_____ Spiritual Liberation, Michael Bernard Beckwith
_____ The Spontaneous Fulfillment Of Desire, Deepak Chopra
_____ The Amazing Power Of Deliberate Intent, Esther and Jerry Hicks
_____ Ask And It Is Given, Esther and Jerry Hicks
_____ Creative Mind And Success, Ernest Holmes
_____ Positive Addiction, William Glaser
_____ The Courage To Create, Rollo May
_____ Flow, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
_____ Motivation And Personality, Abraham Maslow
_____ Man's Search For Meaning, Victor Frankl
_____ The Gifted Adult, Mary-Elaine Jacobsen, Psy. D.
"Abundance"
___ Read the books in the Abundance Books section, especially:
_____ The Science Of Getting Rich, Wallace D. Wattles
_____ The Seven Spiritual Laws Of Success, Deepak Chopra
_____ Think And Grow Rich, Napoleon Hill
Classics
_____ Old School Classics section: Read in any order