By ofwisdomowl 
Naval Ravikant is by far one my favorite business leaders. Naval is not only a very successful entrepreneur, angel investor and great innovator, but also, like the rest of us, has spend many years trying to better understand what does happiness really mean for us. Naval is a person of science who also explores knowledge and wisdom in philosophy and other areas of life.
If this is the first time you hear his name, I’d suggest start following him on Twitter. You can also have a look at interviews Naval has done with Joe Rogan and Tim Ferris. Another great podcast that I’m sure you will enjoy. They are all packed with great insights.
Also, do not miss the book “The Almanack of Naval Ravikant” written by Eric Jorgensen. This is a great one. I’d totally recommend getting it. I loved its content. Also, as valuable as the main content of the book itself is, have a look at the appendix where the author shares more on Naval’s role models and people that have inspired him so far. Have a look at my posts on “Best Naval’s Quotes” and “Naval’s Formulas and Rules”
This blog below, will focus on Naval’s inspiration, people that he follows, podcasts and blogs he recommends and his favourite books. Commentary provided below is 100% by Naval himself
“The best book is the one you will devour” – Naval Ravikant
Non-fiction
Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari
“Sapiens is the best book of the last decade I have read. He had decades to write Sapiens. There are lots of great ideas in there and it’s just full of them, chock-full per page.”
The Rational Optimist: How Prosperity Evolves by Matt Ridley
“The most brilliant and enlightening book I’ve read in years. He has written four of my top twenty books. Matt is a scientist, optimist, and forward thinker. One of my favourite authors. I’ve read everything of his, and reread everything of his. Genome: The Autobiography of a Species in 23 Chapters; The Red Queen: Sex and the Evolution of Human Nature; The Origins of Virtue: Human Instincts and the Evolution of Cooperation; The Evolution of Everything: How New Ideas Emerge.
Skin in the Game by Nassim Taleb
“The best book I read in 2018, I highly recommend it. Lots of great ideas in there. Lots of good mental models and constructs. He has a bit of an attitude, but he has that because he’s brilliant, and it’s okay. So just look past the attitude and read the book, learn the concepts. It’s one of the best business books I’ve ever read. And luckily, it doesn’t masquerade as a business book.”
The Bed of Procrustes: Philosophical and Practical Aphorisms by Nassim Taleb
“This is his collection of ancient wisdom. He is also famous for The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable, Antifragile: Things That Gain from Disorder, and Fooled by Randomness: The Hidden Role of Chance in Life and in the Markets, all of which are worth reading.”
The Lessons of History by Will and Ariel Durant
“This is a great book I really like that summarizes some of the larger themes of history; it’s very incisive. And unlike most history books, it’s actually really small, and it covers a lot of ground.”
The Sovereign Individual: Mastering the Transition to the Information Age by James Dale Davidson and Lord William Rees-Mogg
“This is the best book I’ve read since Sapiens (far less mainstream, though).”
Poor Charlie’s Almanack: The Wit and Wisdom of Charles T. Munger by Charlie Munger (edited by Peter Kaufman)
“This masquerades as a business book, but it’s really just Charlie Munger (of Berkshire Hathaway)’s advice on overcoming oneself to live a successful and virtuous life.”
“For game theory, in addition to playing strategy games, you may want to try The Compleat Strategyst: Being a Primer on the Theory of Games of Strategy by J.D. Williams and The Evolution of Cooperation by Robert Axelrod.”
Philosophy and Spirituality
“Everything by Jed McKenna. Jed spits raw truth. His style may be off-putting, but the dedication to truth is unparalleled. Theory of Everything (The Enlightened Perspective) – Dreamstate Trilogy; Jed Talks #1 and #2”
“Everything by Kapil Gupta, MD. Kapil recently became a personal advisor and coach to me, and this comes from a person who doesn’t believe in coaches. A Master’s Secret Whispers: For those who abhor noise and seek The Truth…about life and living. Direct Truth: Uncompromising, non-prescriptive Truths to the enduring questions of life”; “Atmamun: The Path to achieving the bliss of the Himalayan Swamis. And the freedom of a living God”
The Book of Life by Jiddu Krishnamurti
“Krishnamurti is a lesser-known guy, an Indian philosopher who lived at the turn of the last century and is extremely influential to me. He’s an uncompromising, very direct person who basically tells you to look at your own mind at all times. I have been hugely influenced by him.”
Siddhartha by Herman Hesse
“I love this as a classic book on philosophy, a good introduction for someone starting out. I’ve given out more copies of this book than any other.”
Meditations by Marcus Aurelius
“Marcus Aurelius was absolutely life-changing for me. It’s the personal diary of the emperor of Rome. Here’s a guy who was probably the most powerful human being on Earth at the time he lived. He’s writing a diary to himself, never expecting it to be published. When you open this book, you realize he had all the same issues and all the same mental struggles; he was trying to be a better person. Right there, you figure out success and power don’t improve your internal state—you still have to work on it.”
The Tao of Seneca: Practical Letters from a Stoic Master
“My most listened-to audiobook. The most important audiobook I’ve ever heard.”
Striking Thoughts: Bruce Lee’s Wisdom for Daily Living by Bruce Lee
“Oddly enough, Bruce Lee wrote some great philosophy, and Striking Thoughts is a good summary of some of his philosophy”
The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran
“This book reads like a modern-day poetic religious tome. It’s up there with the Bhagavad Gita, the Tao Te Ching, the Bible, and the Qur’an. It is written in the style where it has a feel of religiosity and truth, but it was very approachable, beautiful, nondenominational, and nonsectarian. I loved this book.”
Science Fiction
Ficciones by Jorge Luis Borges
“I love Jorge Luis Borges, an Argentine author. His short story collection Ficciones, or Labyrinths, is amazing. Borges is probably still the most powerful author I have read who wasn’t just outright writing philosophy. There was philosophy in there with the sci-fi.”
Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson
“Snow Crash is an amazing, amazing book. There’s nothing quite similar to Snow Crash. Snow Crash is in a league of its own. Stephenson also wrote The Diamond Age.
The Last Question, a short story by Isaac Asimov
“I quote “The Last Question” all the time. I loved it as a kid.”
Blogs
“Some amazing blogs out there:
@KevinSimler—Melting Asphalt
@farnamstreet—Farnam Street, A Signal in a World Full of Noise
@benthompson—Stratchery
“The Munger Operating System: How to Live a Life That Really Works by @farnamstreet
The Day You Became a Better Writer by Scott Adams
“Even though I am a very good writer and I’ve been writing a lot since I was young, I still open up that blog post and put it in the background anytime I’m writing anything important. It’s that good. I use it as my basic template for how to write well. Think about the title, “The Day You Became a Better Writer.” It’s such a powerful title. He teaches you in one small blog post the importance of surprise, the importance of headlines, the importance of being brief and directed, not using some adjectives and adverbs, using active not the passive voice, etc”
“This one blog post right there will change your writing style forever if you put your ego down and absorb it properly.”
“Want to become smarter in ten minutes? Absorb this: “Crony Beliefs” by Kevin Simler.
Best post I’ve read on “Career Decisions” (in Silicon Valley/tech) by @eladgil
Harari’s Sapiens in lecture/course form on YouTube.
Must-read. “Lazy Leadership” by @Awilkinson
No-holds-barred wisdom from a self-made man. Everything on @EdLatimore’s site is worth reading for overachievers.
Excerpts from: The Almanack of Naval Ravikant by Eric Jorgenson
Feel free to explore some of my favourite book summaries here.