Which book changed the way you think, and what did it change?
Recorded Anthony Kennedy said elsewhere, not written here
I think fiction is very important because it gets us into the mind of a person. Hamlet is a tremendous piece of literature. You know Hamlet better than you know most real people. Do you know the reason? Because you know what he’s thinking. And this teaches you that every human has an integrity and an autonomy and a spirituality of his own, of her own, and great literature can teach you that.

Academy of Achievement recorded interview, American Academy of Achievement, 3 June 2005 source ↗

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Jason Portnoy Investor; early finance executive at PayPal and Palantir
The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle. That book changed my life, blew my mind. If you’re going to read that book, take it slow in my opinion.
Recorded Tim Ferriss, The Tim Ferriss Show podcast, 16 June 2022 source ↗
Sylvia Earle Marine biologist and oceanographer; first woman to serve as Chief Scientist of NOAA
I fell in love with the stories by William Beebe, who was an ocean explorer. He discussed what it was like to go down inside a submersible, and peer out of a port hole and see beautiful, luminescent fish, with lights down the side like ocean liners. Bizarre creatures of the sort that you just don’t see walking down the street, or going into the forest, or even looking around in shallow water.
Recorded Academy of Achievement recorded interview, American Academy of Achievement, 27 January 1991 source ↗
George H. W. Bush 41st President of the United States, 1989–1993
One of the historians here in Williamsburg talked about War and Peace. I had to read that in school. It was an inspiring, lengthy treatise. I read it twice. It taught me a lot about life. There was a marvelous book by Salinger called Catcher in the Rye. There was a book about discrimination called Gentleman's Agreement. These books I think helped shape my life. But to be honest with you, not one book stands out as the defining book for me.
Recorded Academy of Achievement interview, Williamsburg, Virginia, 2 June 1995 source ↗
Mohamed ElBaradei Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency, 1997-2009; Nobel Peace Prize 2005
Well, many. I think Steinbeck, for example, was one of my favorites, Somerset Maugham, Hemingway. Quite a few.
Recorded Academy of Achievement interview, 2006 source ↗

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Mohamed ElBaradei, Winston Churchill, Sebastian Junger, Edmund Hillary, Jimmy Carter, George H. W. Bush

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