The Choice is Yours: Books Can Only Guide You

All that a book can do is guide you – towards what? Towards a lot of things, emotions – determination, discipline, success, happiness, sadness, and many more feelings that you did not think you have. A book is capable of pouring so many questions into your mind that you never knew you could ask or think about. Along with that books can only guide you towards the path you need to follow to be successful in your field. But the choice is yours weather to follow that guideline or not. At first the choice you need to make is – which book do you want to read? Which writer do you want to read? Why are you going to read it? What are you going to do after reading it? But yes, always recommend a good book that you think your close ones need to read.

You probably have no clue how much books can inspire and influence you. Barack Obama got inspired by Joseph Conrad’s renowned 1899 novel ‘Heart of Darkness’, that book provided him with a profound understanding of the prejudices white people hold against people of color and the personal fears which lead to them learning to hate others. It certainly guided him to learn how he should tackle, tolerate and run the States as the first African-American President.

The co-founder of the Twitter application and the CEO of Square, a cell phone payment company, Jack Dorsey gives a copy of ‘The Checklist Manifesto’ written by Dr. Atul Gawande. This book is Dorsey’s favorite read, it is a compilation of true short stories and it presents how easy checklists can save your finance and time. This book guided him towards success and made it easier for him to save his time in this busy world, where ‘time is money.

Novelist Joyce Oates was inspired by one of the most famous books in children’s literature, ‘Alice in Wonderland’. When she was eight, she memorized the book and used the book as many of her literary makings. What she most admires and what is certainly the main theme of this celebrated book is the amalgamation of ‘real and surreal’. Oates even wrote a novel named ‘Wonderland’. This book by Lewis Carroll guided her to comprehend reality and surrealism. It inspired and influenced her to become an artist and writer.

‘The Alchemist’ written by Paulo Coelho inspired artists like Madonna, Will Smith, and Pharrell Williams. Oprah who is also fond of this book, in an interview told that Madonna introduced her to this book in 1996 and Madonna said this book changed her life. For Pharrell Williams, it was like an epiphany, and because of this book, he got the chance to retrospect and be thankful for the life he has and everyone who helped him. In an interview, Will Smith talked ardently about this book and how he offers his life to let people realize that the impossible is only possible if tried.

Books and their genre have no ending – general knowledge, books for success, musical books, learn languages, literature, criminal, thriller, modern drama, psychological, mythological, and whatnot. A book can influence you, motivate you, inspire you in ways you would not imagine, and on more occasions, a book has the power to decide your interest and what career path you are going to choose. It is up to you what you choose to read and by which book you get inspired. All that a book can do is guide you but the choice is yours weather to follow the provided guideline or skip it.

Also Read: 5 Books that Present Pain and Tragedy of Kashmiri Pandits