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Brian Grazer

Film and television producer; co-founder of Imagine Entertainment

Recorded said elsewhere, not written here
The book that I gift most to people, because it has had a lasting impact on my psyche, is The Warrior Within: The Philosophies of Bruce Lee. I admire Bruce Lee for his physicality, of course, but more so for his deep philosophy, known as “Jeet Kune Do” or “the way of the intercepting fist.” The key element of Jeet Kune Do is its “formless form.” Bruce Lee rejected the rigid rules and structures of Kung Fu and other traditional fighting styles. Instead, he borrowed from several styles to create his own fluid, rapidly efficient technique that was all his. In The Warrior Within, John Little explains how Bruce Lee’s philosophy helped him overcome tremendous challenges and pain to become a man whose originality, intense belief, and commitment I’ve long admired.

Tim Ferriss, Tribe of Mentors guest post, The Blog of Author Tim Ferriss, 9 September 2019 source ↗

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Lisa Ling American journalist
The book that I have gifted the most often, you would not expect this of me, but it’s called Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World .
Recorded Tim Ferriss, The Tim Ferriss Show podcast, 6 October 2019 source ↗
Navdeep Chandel Professor of medicine and cell biology at Northwestern University
I usually like to give, at least younger people, Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse. Tim Ferriss: Why is that? Navdeep Chandel: It’s a nice book about a journey of an evolution of a young man into an adult. That transition, I still struggle with, so it’s a good read all the time. Tim Ferriss: It’s a short book, too. Navdeep Chandel: That’s the real key. It could use a few more pictures, but generally it’s – Tim Ferriss: For those people listening, Siddhartha is probably in the top five or six most frequently given answers to this question. Josh Waitzkin, Naval Ravikant – there is a pretty long list. For those who haven’t read it, I think that is a – David Sabatini: So it’s not original, then. Tim Ferriss: It’s a classic. Navdeep Chandel: I’ve actually read it maybe 25 years ago and it struck – but I come from that world anyway. So maybe I was programmed a little bit. For me, the experience is more important than the end goal and I think that’s one of the messages of that book. You collect experiences rather than objects and other things. It’s about the journey and the experience rather than plowing through it and getting to the end. Tim Ferriss: The so-called objective
Recorded Tim Ferriss, The Tim Ferriss Show podcast, 5 June 2018 source ↗
Ryan Flaherty American baseball player & coach
Good question. I’ve heard you ask this before, and I didn’t think you were going to ask me, and I should have been prepared for this. I’m a huge, avid reader. I truly believe – and I tell every person I train – is that one of the biggest reasons – the difference between where you are and where you want to go is knowledge. Read as much as you can. So, that’s a tough question. I think The Alchemist is a big one. I’ve loved that book for a very long time. The Bible is a big one, but I’ll give you an off-the-wall one, which is called The Slight Edge . Have you ever heard of that one?
Recorded Tim Ferriss, The Tim Ferriss Show podcast, 1 June 2018 source ↗
Sue Flood Wildlife photographer and filmmaker
Oh, what a great question. I actually gifted one recently. So a friend of mine, Ian Dawson, he trains mountain rescue people, mountain rescuers in Scotland. He was working with me at the North Pole and he’d never seen a polar bear before. He absolutely fell in love with the environment and I gifted him a book called Arctic Dreams by Barry Lopez. Have you read that? Tim Ferriss: This is on my to-read list, Of Wolves And Men by Barry Lopez is one of my favorite nonfiction books I’ve read in the last 10 years. Sue Flood: Oh, it would be. Tim Ferriss: And Arctic Dreams , I was just saying on the way here in the airplane that I wished I had Arctic Dreams , so I haven’t read it yet. Sue Flood: It is a magical book and yeah, I gifted that to Ian and I know he loved it and yeah, that is a great read. You have to immediately dash off, well perhaps not now, but when you get back to civilization. Yeah, that’s a really beautiful book and I’ve bought that for quite a few people.
Recorded Tim Ferriss, The Tim Ferriss Show podcast, 30 January 2022 source ↗

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