Do you have a "bible"?
Asked by
longgone (
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February 21st, 2015
I am not referring to the stories we commonly know as “bible” – I’m using the term to describe a book which gives you answers/grounds you/provides guidance. Is there one particular book or author you keep returning to?
I don’t believe in God, but I do have a book I read when I need some help understanding myself. It provides answers on relationships, and its tone is soothing, to me.
PS: If your “bible” is, in fact, a bible – feel free to say just that.
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15 Answers
I don’t have a single bible. I do find various reading materials useful for specific things in life.
The poster image in this article gives anyone all the ammunition they need to argue in favor of vaccines. That’s my big issue right now.
Alcoholics Anonymous: The Story of How Many Thousands of Men and Women Have Recovered from Alcoholism
The television. I worship every day.
Illusions by Richard Bach did it for me for many years. For probably 10–12 years I made it a practice to read it at least once a year (unless I needed a little up-lift and read it more). I have no idea how many copies I gave away…as many as came my way.
I lost my copy and I’ve not read it for a few years now. Maybe I need to look it up?
I have at times read the books of both Stephen R. Donaldson and Wally Lamb obsessively, but I guess that was just entertainment.
3 authors that have written powerful enough books that at some point I have closed the back cover, contemplated for a few minutes and opened the front cover for another read.
The Ferengi Rules of Acquisition. Unabridged and fully annotated, with all 47 commentaries, all 900 major and minor judgements, all 10000 considered opinions. There is a rule for every conceivable situation.
The internet, various books and past knowledge I collected for many years.
Really, anything can be a bit of a “Bible” for me as long as it provides me with knowledge.
I don’t have a bible.
I haven’t looked at it for a long time, but I regularly used to read Deepak Chopra’s Seven Spiritual Laws of Success.
Standard Handbook for Mechanical Engineers by Baumeister & Marks. My copy is the seventh edition from 1967. It is well worn. Open it to any page and you will learn something.
I will open to four random pages now:
Properties of Non-ferrous metals, Copper and its alloys (6–73)
Rotary and reciprocating elements – ratio of connecting rod length to crank length (8–99)
Aeronautics, Airfoils, ratio of lift to drag vs angle of attack (11–83)
Electrical engineering, dielectric circuit, capacitance of capacitors. (15–25)
It is a fantastic book. I used to browse it before bed and let serendipity have its way with me. Every page is interesting.
For the most part, no. I pretty much go from my gut instead of from any text. The closest would probably be The Illuminatus! Trilogy to remind me that the world isn’t always what it seems. While I’m not a conspiracy nut, I do sometimes get a little too rigid in my thinking and need a little derailment. Illuminatus! gives me just enough of that sideways nudge to make me pay attention to the world outside my skull.
I actually managed to bring it to boot camp as a religious text.
@LuckyGuy What? No Machinery’s Handbook?
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