The 64 Best Books on Human Nature

"If I had to say what the primary law of human nature is, it is to deny that we are subject to these forces. We think, I'm not irrational, I'm not aggressive, I don't feel envy, I'm not a narcissist. It's always the other side… they're the ones who are irrational and aggressive. Me? No." – Robert Greene

"Behavior is hard to fix. When people say they’ve learned their lesson they underestimate how much of their previous mistake was caused by emotions that will return when faced with the same circumstances." – Morgan Housel

Psychology

1. The Denial of Death by Ernest Becker
2. The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel van der Kolk
3. Strangers to Ourselves by Timothy Wilson
4. The School of Life: An Emotional Education by Alain de Botton
5. Influence by Robert Cialdini
6. Pre-Suasion by Robert Cialdini
7. Yes!: 50 Scientifically Proven Ways to Be Persuasive by Robert Cialdini
8. Modern Man in Search of a Soul by Carl Jung
9. Understanding Human Nature by Alfred Adler
10. The Evolution of Desire by David Buss
11. On Confidence by The School of Life
12. Mindset by Carol Dweck
13. On Becoming a Person by Carl Rogers.
14. A Way of Being by Carl Rogers
15. The Science of Living by Alfred Adler

Philosophy

1. The Great Conversation by Norman Melchert
2. The Laws of Human Nature by Robert Greene
3. The Daily Laws by Robert Greene
4. The 48 Laws of Power by Robert Greene
5. How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie
6. Beyond Good and Evil by Friedrich Nietzsche
7. Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl
8. The True Believer by Eric Hoffer
9. Meditations by Marcus Aurelius
10. Enlightenment Now by Steven Pinker
11. The Blank Slate by Steven Pinker

Literature

1. The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
2. Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky
3. Notes From Underground by Fyodor Dostoevsky
4. 1984 by George Orwell
5. The Old Testament
6. The New Testament
7. Macbeth by Shakespeare
8. Shutter Island by Dennis Lehane
9. After Hours by Haruki Murakami
10. Titan: The Life of John D. Rockefeller, Sr. by Ron Chernow
11. Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow
12. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
13. The Red Book by Carl Jung

Biography

1. Leadership in Turbulent Times by Doris Kearns Goodwin
2. Memories, Dreams, Reflections by Carl Jung
3. Little Known Facts About Well Known People by Dale Carnegie
4. Season of the Witch: Enchantment, Terror, and Deliverance in San Francisco by David Talbot
5. Born of This Land: My Life Story by Chung Ju-Yung
6. Made in Japan: Akio Morita and Sony by Akio Morita

Mindset

1. The Happiness Hypothesis by Jonathan Haidt
2. The Coddling of the American Mind by Jonathan Haidt
3. The Righteous Mind by Jonathan Haidt
4. A Billion Wicked Thoughts by Sai Gaddam
5. The Courage to be Disliked by Ichiro Kishimi
6. Courage by Osho
7. Lying by Sam Harris
8. The Like Switch by Jack Schafer

Movies and Videos

1. Shutter Island (2010) directed by Martin Scorsese
2. Orgasm Inc: The Story of OneTaste (2022) Netflix Documentary
3. Crumb (1994) Documentary
4. David Choe on Joe Rogan Podcast (2020)
5. The Tragic Story of Junko Furuta by Hailey Elizabeth (2022)

Courses and Lectures

1. Discovering Personality by Jordan Peterson [Paid course]
2. Personality and its Transformation (2017) by Jordan Peterson
3. Human Behavioral Biology (2010) by Robert Sapolsky
4. The Psychological Significance of the Biblical Stories by Jordan Peterson
5. Maps of Meaning (2017) by Jordan Peterson
6. Hardcore History by Dan Carlin [Paid podcast]
7. Charisma University by Charisma on Command [Paid course]

Articles

1. New York Magazine's Sex Diaries series by Alyssa Shelasky
2. Tough Love by Theodore Dalrymple
3. The Frivolity of Evil by Theodore Dalrymple
4. The Rush from Judgment by Theodore Dalrymple
5. “It’s Your Fault I Killed” by Theodore Dalrymple
6. Dares, Costly Signals, and Psychopaths by Sarah Perry
7. A Message to the 21st Century by Isaiah Berlin

Tests

1. Big Five personality traits test
2. Intelligence quotient (IQ) test

Artwork