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Books & Reading
“This book is goated. The art of war. Steven pressfield.” (5 April 2025)
In the archive
PortalThe Doctrine
Posts1,303
Retweets4,569
Likes53,151
First post10 January 2018
Latest post25 May 2026
Posts by year
2018433
2019142
2020180
2021179
2022153
Related

Books & Reading covers how GritCult reads as much as what he reads. He treats reading as demanding work rather than consumption, prefers old and obscure books to popular ones, and returns again and again to a small martial canon. Later posts add a caution: reading is preparation for life, not a substitute for it.

Views

He is strict about what counts as reading. An audiobook is not reading at all but listening to someone talking; real reading is "an intimate and high effort and high time demanding process", done with notes and background research [1]. The effort is the point, and he is dismissive of reading as display or as a way to avoid acting. In 2023 he described a pace of 2 books a month and praised how sharp deep reading kept his mind, while warning that too much reading dulls the mind and that the aim is an "optimal balance of living life, and reading about it" [2]. Later posts push the same way, mocking people who prepare forever by reading everything and never start.

What reading is for is formation. Great books and autobiographies, he argues, work like affirmations, because they show how someone's brain works and how they responded to the moments that shaped them [3]. That explains the shape of his reading lists, which lean on the lives of builders, fighters and dealmakers. Each year between Christmas and New Year he tries to read one book a day; the 2024 list ran from Bronze Age Mindset and The Cultured Thug to biographies of Steve Jobs, Elon Musk and Rockefeller, plus Trump's The Art of the Deal [4].

His filter is age. In 2018 he argued for reading older books because they are time tested, and whatever is still relevant has "in some regards become antifragile" [5]; later he dismissed most new books outright and warned against reading authors simply because they are popular. The canon he keeps returning to is martial and largely Japanese. In 2019 Hagakure was on track for his best new book of the year and he told followers to "READ HAGAKURE" [6], a line he reposted in 2021 and a book he kept quoting for years. Mishima later took a similar place: he begged followers to pick up Sun & Steel [7]. His most shared post about a single book is a short verdict on Steven Pressfield's The War of Art, mistitled in the post as The Art of War (he called it a typo the same day): "This book is goated" [8].

Recurring themes

  • reading as high-effort work, not consumption
  • balance between reading and living
  • biographies as a way into other minds
  • old, time-tested books over new and popular ones
  • the samurai and warrior canon

Notable post

The most retweeted GritCult post on the subject, with 380 retweets:

This book is goated.

The art of war.

Steven pressfield.
GRITCULT on X, 5 April 2025

Selected posts

The 120 most retweeted of 1,303 posts in the archive about Books & Reading. Select a column heading to sort.

DateRetweetsLikesPostMediaSource
5 April 20253804,166This book is goated.

The art of war.

Steven pressfield.
Post imageView
19 July 20242982,910THE ROMANCE MAXXING MANIFESTO.

Treat your life like an epic novel. Do main character quests.
Post imageView
24 February 20262942,127Miyamoto Musashi killed his first man at 13. Fought over 60 duels. Never lost a single one. Then at the peak of his power he walked away from fighting entirely and became a painter. A calligrapher. A philosopher.

He wrote The Book of Five Rings in a cave weeks before he died.…
View
12 February 20241831,303You need to be romance maxing.

Treating your life like an epic novel. Doing main character quests.

You need to be throwing yourself into the midst of things and never looking back.

Life is about the breadth of experience. Life is about living. You need to be life maxxing.
View
11 January 20261241,446Private hours determine your public results. Reading becomes conversation. Diet and exercise becomes energy and body. Discipline becomes confidence.

Overtime, what you did in private becomes known.
View
6 November 20241161,019Reading great books and autobiographies is like affirmations. You’re seeing how someone’s brain works. The things and moments that shaped them and how they responded. Reading and writing is a super power on the epigenetic level. It literally changes the shape of your brain.View
13 May 20261081,231read more books. send more DMs. take more risks. start more projects. have more conversations. visit more countries. meet more strangers. fail at more things.

the answer to almost every problem in your 20s and 30s is simply: more.
View
19 July 201978314life as a service

everything will end up as a subscription service

owning a house=>renting
owning a car=>uber
owning books=>kindle
music records=>spotify
owning films=>netflix
relationships=>tinder
social events=> social media
shop=>amazon

purchasing things:
event => service
Post imageView
18 December 2024761,297life hack

its gonna all work out in the end and if you are reading this, you are blessed by GOD
Post imageView
23 March 202673594"So you need to make yourself a big target for luck, and the way to do that is to be curious. Try lots of things, meet lots of people, read lots of books, ask lots of questions."

- Paul Graham
View
7 March 202173241THE DECLINE OF A DEVELOPED COUNTRY

A CASE STUDY OF THE DECLINE OF JAPAN AND HOW ITS POPULATION CRISIS IS AFFECTING THE COUNTRY...

Maybe a warning for the west... relevant reading to see the effects of the lockdown...
/\
///🧵\\\
/// THREAD \\\
Post imageView
7 December 202271752If you are reading this. This is your sign you need to be sober for all of 2023.

Your reliance and romanticism of altered inhibitions have rendered you weak.

Reality is my drug.
View
19 March 20216335110 LESSONS FROM PETER THIEL'S INFAMOUS CLASS ON START UPS :

BELOW I WILL SHARE THE TOP 10 TAKEAWAYS FROM HIS INFAMOUS LECTURES HE HELD AT STANFORD ABOUT START UPS... THESE CONDENSED LECTURES BECAME THE BOOK

0 TO 1

🧵
THREAD
Post imageView
16 May 20266154599% of people i talk to think too small

if youre reading this, statistically, this is you. youre thinking too small. and the worst part is you already know it. you feel it in your chest every time you talk yourself out of something. that quiet voice in the back of your head that…
View
5 January 202658734dont trust anyone who gets bored

they have access to infinite knowledge, infinite entertainment. the worlds library. the ability to get in contact with anyone on social media. and can train their body and mind to learn any skill.

if youre bored you havent even started
View
10 January 202657831Years of hard reading compounds into sharp conversation. Years of clean eating compounds into sustained energy.

Extreme outcomes require extreme inputs.
View
11 November 202257283Lots of weird connections coming out the woodworks too.

His mom worked for Hillary Clinton and now works for joe Biden. His dad worked with Gary gensler? Caroline Ellison father also worked with gensler.

His. Father showed soros how to evade tax ? Book on right
View
17 December 2022481,112the face of a woman who cannot name 10 books.Post imageView
4 November 202240505You will learn more about women by studying romance novels than you will by studying anything else.

Literally millions of these books, and they are all the same. Same blue print. Same story. Same thing happens.
Post imageView
30 March 202139249IF YOU ARE READING THIS, I WISH YOU THE BESTView
21 November 202236563If you’re reading this and you just lurk on twitter

My advice would be to start posting more

Doesn’t matter what you post. Just start.
View
23 September 202436336There is more wisdom in your gut than there is in the greatest philosophy book.View
17 December 202535543It’s crazy when you break down how fast life goes.

You have 28000 days on average. Avg person reading this has burnt 8-10000 just getting here.

4000 weeks.

77 summers. First 20 or so already gone, last 20 you’ll be old. Limited no. w/ your parents. Limited amount w/ kids
View
16 November 202435326Mike Tyson on reading books in prison.Post imageView
13 January 202634466you can waste years preparing instead of starting. Reading everything. Planing everything
meanwhile someone less informed just started and figured it out

fear disguised as preparation is still fear
View
15 December 202234218go gym
eat meat
drink milk
lift weights
read books
socialise
meet ppl
Be creative
learn history
start a business
help ppl
climb mountains
learn art
fast ~18hours
self improve
experiment with psychadelics
buy crypto
dont wife anyone u won’t have kids with
Have kids
View
2 May 202631182Nikola Tesla arrived in New York in 1884 with 4 cents in his pocket, a book of poems, and a letter of recommendation to Thomas Edison.

Edison hired him. Promised him $50,000 to redesign his entire DC motor system. Tesla worked 18 hour days for months. Slept on the factory floor.…
Post imageView
25 May 202629427if youre reading this and youre broke, alone, and feel like youve wasted years.

good. you now have clarity most people spend their whole lives avoiding.

you know exactly what doesnt work.

now go build.
View
4 January 202328227IF YOU ARE READING THIS

I WISH UPON YOU BLESSINGS AND GOOD FORTUNE
View
6 June 202128224IF YOU ARE READING THIS

I WISH UPON YOU BLESSINGS AND GOOD FORTUNE
View
18 February 202627336the man who reads one book a month for 10 years will be unrecognisable.

not because of any single book. but because he chose to never stop being curious. curiosity compounds harder than money.

most people stop learning the day they leave school. and then they wonder why nothing…
View
30 November 202425436Everyone reading this is a handsome genius.View
19 November 202025189Passive parents, ideological and corrupt teachers, a controlled media that seeks to subvert all values of a successful civilisation and empty headed kids that have celebrities and pop stars as idols, and comic book characters as gods, are sure a dangerous cocktail of decline.View
2 July 202024203buying books and reading books are separate hobbiesView
25 April 202123118IF YOU ARE READING THIS

I WISH UPON YOU BLESSINGS AND GOOD FORTUNE
View
23 May 202322361reading old school wall st playboys, alex becker and now hormozi

all give the same advice re. starting out

get high paying job
cut expenses low as possible
calculate burn rate
save enough money that you can live off of for 2 years
quit job
start biz
take risks for 2 years
View
12 January 202221162go gym
eat meat
drink milk
lift weights
read books
socialise
meet ppl
Be creative
learn history
start a business
help ppl
climb mountains
learn art
fast ~18hours
self improve
experiment with psychadelics
buy crypto
dont wife anyone u won’t have kids with
Have kids
View
21 December 202220280Read books that AI has not been trained on.

Banned books.
Obscure books.
Lost books
Books that have not been translated.
Thought crime books.
View
14 December 202020148“In joy or sadness, flowers are our constant friends.”
― Okakura Kakuzo, The Book of Tea
View
6 September 202517300"Either write something worth reading, or do something worth writing."

-Ben Franklin
View
28 December 2024162,463@xx_howdy Most of these aren’t books.

They’re porn for women
View
26 November 202216142If you are reading this. You are not being ruthless enough.View
25 November 202215130IF YOU ARE READING THIS

RISE
View
3 March 202314253If you’re reading this. I need you to pray for me.View
2 June 202514251whenever my brain feels too overstimulated or fried.

i either go for a walk. or read a book.

crazy how much it changes your ability to focus and lock in
View
9 January 202514144whenever someone asks with reading recommendations follow up with this.

do not be blindly reading people cos theyre popular

Al ot of popular authors are plainly just wrong and making "middwittism" worse .
View
15 December 202213288Don’t read any of these midwit books.View
1 October 202313240But we are ourselves witnessing another burning of our libraries. Through the death of the internet. The internet is burning and no one cares. Just like how no one cared when Alexandria burnt. Or when the mongols burnt universities in Iraq or when Atlantis fell.View
30 July 202513174Funny enough. Children’s stories and myths. Have more insight and better philosophical wisdom than most philosophy books.

Return to a whimsical awe of life.
View
20 February 202313107Isn’t it crazy that all of modern medication has recognised that the mind is so powerful that it can replicate the effects of some drugs

The placebo effect sounds insane. Like something out of a fantasy novel.
View
2 July 202213100If you are reading this then this is the sign you have been waiting for. You need to spread more psy ops.View
27 November 20221390i love it when women read books and shitView
10 September 202512365Males who are 30 years old.

And women who are 25 years old

Each have a 50/50 chance to EVER have kids.

That’s how bad the fertility rate has gotten.

If you’re reading this and in these age brackets. There is a 50% chance you’ll never have a child.
View
23 February 202512311Please. I’m begging you. Pick up a book. And let that book be Sun & Steel: Art, Action and Ritual Death.

I can’t believe we’re still doing this.
View
10 November 202412162Today I woke up beyond bullish. Beyond euphoria.

I just know we are so early and yet so much more to go.

If you are reading this. You made some right choices to be right here. Right now.
View
8 August 20211283I never realised how much reading improves your writing.

I initially fell in love with reading with self help which pulled me up and rescued from a dangerous and reckless path i was on.

It's the one piece of advice I give to anyone and everyone. Read. Learn from those smarter
View
29 September 20191268Read more books tbh
Watch more films
Do more activities

Every year I am astonished at how much wealth of knowledge there is out there.

I shall remain eternally a humble student.
View
17 March 20191232Memes adapted to the current societal make up will continue to get weirder.

Weird = novel.

Humans want to seek out the novel. If a joke gets repeated too often it is no longer funny.

What is truly funny is that the race to the bottom will make all previous events forgotten.
View
25 June 202511245Nothing like a villain arc. To reinvent yourself with.

This might be the start of something that’ll go down in the history books.
View
25 July 202511198If you have a creative block.

Only 3 solutions I e found to work.

- read random book
- go on long ass walk
- drug bender
View
15 July 202411184One of the things I’m excited about rn

Is homeschooling.

Homeschooling ai is ALREADY better than school outcomes and it only is getting better. Homeschool kids outperforming schools in all metrics.

Whitepill as fuck. If you are reading this you should have kids asap.
View
1 April 202111142IF U READING THIS THEN I SUP NOD

DO U SUP NOD BACK?
View
24 December 202211136Reading thisView
29 January 202311105@DejaRu22 one of my favourite books

wrote this a while back
View
4 October 20211180IF YOU ARE READING THIS

I WISH UPON YOU BLESSINGS AND GOOD FORTUNE
View
7 May 20221178Never stop learning. One of the biggest mistakes I made recently was that I stopped learning. Stopped reading. Stopped trying to get better and my life was worse for it. Never forget your beginners. Mind.View
27 December 20211157SUPER EXCITED FOR 2022. I wish everyone reading this the best and good fortune.View
7 March 202610413day 1 on retatrutide. i feel the power oh human ingenuity coursing through my veins, this is how prometheus felt. this is the most spiritual experience ive had since reading nietzsche for the first time. the fog is lifting. my ancestors are smiling down upon me. summer is here.Video stillView
15 October 202210176There’s an entire industry built on the backs of midwit academics.

From books. To podcasts. To shows. Faux Knowledge being consumed as entertainment. Marketed as self help and improvement to middle worker class as something to aspire to. They manufacture desire and sell status.
View
3 February 202410146Reading this great essay by pg how to work hard.

my favourite passage highlighted.

takeaway: Working hard & being smart are both table stakes.

they get you a chair to the table.
View
24 November 202210143It’s not hard to read a book in a week.View
25 December 202210132chastising someone for a bad take is in itself bad

you should be making more takes, non stop takes, have an opinion about everything, constantly trying to game your own mind and philosophy by reading more obscure takes just to take your take game to the next level
View
27 May 201910100Hagakure is currently on track for the best new book read of the year.

READ HAGAKURE.
View
20 June 20211088IF YOU ARE READING THIS, I WISH YOU THE BESTView
30 November 20221086Reading is NOT learning.View
14 June 20211081IF YOU ARE READING THIS, I WISH YOU THE BESTView
21 July 20201076If you have a library and a garden.

You have everything you need.

Cicero.
View
9 June 20211073BUYING BOOKS AND READING BOOKS ARE SEPARATE HOBBIESView
22 April 20231073IN READING THE LIVES OF GREAT MEN, I FOUND THAT THE FIRST VICTORY THEY WON WAS OVER THEMSELVES... SELF-DISCIPLINE WITH ALL OF THEM CAME FIRST. - HARRY S TRUMANView
8 June 20211057reading the @Polkadot light paper currently

one thing sticks out to me

"Will there eventually be one blockchain to
rule them all? We don’t think so."

ill post my thoughts in this thread
View
16 January 20181031After three days without reading, talk becomes flavorless. - Chinese ProverbView
29 October 20259350flights are rape on your nervous system - one of the worst things you can subject your body to.

counteracting this with 50g of creatine, extra protein and caffiene. and will slowly take electrolytes during flight.

also have my library esoteric PDFs.
View
4 May 20269231you. the one scrolling at midnight instead of sleeping.

you already know what you need to do. you dont need another video, another book, another plan.

you need to start. tomorrow morning. no negotiation.
View
21 August 2018986note to self : read more Thomas PAINE

"To argue with a person who has renounced the use of reason
is like administering medicine to the dead."

"The real man smiles in trouble,
gathers strength from distress,
and grows brave by reflection."
View
17 June 2021980IF YOU ARE READING THIS, I WISH YOU THE BESTView
20 April 2021972IF YOU WANT TO GET ANYWHERE, YOU NEED TO BE ABLE TO GO IN ONE DIRECTION FOR A VERY LONG TIME

IF YOU ARE READING THIS, BE PREPARED FOR THE LONG ROAD
View
1 August 2020970Most business books are merely advertisements for their authors’ services.View
21 March 2020963Twitter is the modern day library of AlexandriaView
10 October 2018961I never realised how much reading improves your writing.

I initially fell in love with reading with self help which pulled me up and rescued from a dangerous and reckless path i was on.

It's the one piece of advice I give to anyone and everyone. Read. Learn from those smarter
View
20 September 2021959BUYING BOOKS AND READING BOOKS ARE SEPARATE HOBBIESView
4 October 2021943note to self : read more Thomas PAINE

"To argue with a person who has renounced the use of reason
is like administering medicine to the dead."

"The real man smiles in trouble,
gathers strength from distress,
and grows brave by reflection."
View
23 January 2020936i think there is a case of all celebrities/public figures/brands being in the uncanny valley.

and anyone who seeks to be novel and original
View
5 July 2021933A MAN ONLY LEARNS IN TWO WAYS, ONE BY READING, AND THE OTHER BY ASSOCIATION WITH SMARTER PEOPLE. - WILL ROGERSView
16 September 2021925WHEN WRITERS DIE THEY BECOME BOOKS, WHICH IS, AFTER ALL, NOT TOO BAD AN INCARNATION. - JORGE LUIS BORGESView
11 December 2020919Merry Christmas,

honestly LOVE my followers and community.

wanna give back

RT this to win 5 random books(might bump this up to 10), and some merch from @qopi_ic (not yet properly launched) ill also send you some GRIT Industrial Concepts stickers.
View
1 March 20238111if u r reading this, i love youView
3 November 2018879The west is fucked.

5 year old Chinese kid has read more books than most people I know.
View
6 August 2020868Plebs reading philosophy is not Lindy.

Philosophy is good for solving abstract and complex problems.

Most people alive do not warrant the reading of philosophy as they do not have enough problems.
View
21 October 2018847You don't "read" an audiobook. You listen to someone talking.

Reading, for me at least, is an intimate and high effort and high time demanding process.

I always take notes and do background reading. To get a larger grasp. Or if I don't understand something I Google etc
View
11 August 2023847Passive parents, ideological and corrupt teachers, a controlled media that seeks to subvert all values of a successful civilisation and empty headed kids that have celebrities and pop stars as idols, and comic book characters as gods, are sure a dangerous cocktail of decline.View
16 March 2019833Takeaways:

Short Netflix

Entertainment industry is decentralising

Content = attention economy.
The main metric is distraction hours

YouTube = p2p
Netflix = c2p

Cost & risk asymmetry

Instead of reading Shakespeare, here you are reading @GRITCULT

"proximity"
View
6 February 20198211yr update:
Since then developed alot.
Now Memetic and abstraction research part of a decentralised research unit: @MADResearchUnit

Here is a podcast reading of the 1500 word tweet thread. Will be transferring into essay for
View
8 November 20227201Isaac Asimov wrote like 400 novels. For first 40 years of his career he averaged 1000 words a day. For the last 20 years of his life he averaged 1700 words a day.

How the fuck did he write so much!!?
View
18 December 20247199biggest midwit signal authors:

bari weiss, sam harris, ben shapiro, yuval noah harari, jordan peterson, daniel kahneman, douglas murray

you would be better off not reading anything of their work than to be contaminated by their mind viruses
View
26 June 20217115im gonna finish reading these 400 tabs i have open and never use the internet againView
19 March 2020760u dont pay for books with money....

you pay for books with parts of your soul and sanity... and time.

the best books have the ability to make u break ur own reality
View
25 March 2021755READING MORE BOOKS AND WATCHING MORE FILMS AND LISTENING TO MORE SONGS, WILL MAKE YOU BETTER AT EVERYTHING YOU DOView
6 February 2020753“WHAT IS BORN WILL DIE, WHAT HAS BEEN GATHERED WILL BE DISPERSED, WHAT HAS BEEN ACCUMULATED WILL BE EXHAUSTED, WHAT HAS BEEN BUILT UP WILL COLLAPSE AND WHAT HAS BEEN HIGH WILL BE BROUGHT LOW.”

~ SOGYAL RINPOCHE,

THE TIBETAN BOOK OF LIVING AND DYING
View
11 June 2021744LIFE AS A SERVICE

EVERYTHING WILL END UP AS A SUBSCRIPTION SERVICE

OWNING A HOUSE=>RENTING
OWNING A CAR=>UBER
OWNING BOOKS=>KINDLE
MUSIC RECORDS=>SPOTIFY
OWNING FILMS=>NETFLIX
RELATIONSHIPS=>TINDER
SOCIAL EVENTS=> SOCIAL MEDIA
SHOP=>AMAZON

PURCHASING THINGS:
View
16 August 2018740Reading @GuruAnaerobic's lovely and succinct paper on fasting, which touches on implementation, hunter-gatherer behavior and the evolutionary "why?" behind fasting. …
via : @recborg
Post imageView
6 October 202173919th century cover book design hit different.View
7 June 2019737The Nazis used to burn books.

Now we delete data of Nazis.
View
18 March 2019723The world is more connected.
Easier to share stories / narratives / memes.

Humans are Memetic engines. We exchange stories.

People will spend all day on twitter and YouTube, reading watching talking.

Doing what?

Exchanging stories.
View
27 November 2021714Reading. Now.

From the description. If this becomes true then would lead to a new DeFi summer. Huge.
View
14 March 2018711quotes by George orwell from his book The road to wigan pier :

"It is so with all types of manual work; it keeps us alive, and we are oblivious of its existence. It raises in you a momentary doubt about your own status as an 'intellectual' and a superior person generally."
View
29 May 20236155me reading my own tweetsView
17 December 20236121I was given this book in the scientology temple in london while I was in university like a decade ago.

it is by far,

STILL the best book on how to study

and how to LEARN FAST
View
9 May 20216110BUYING BOOKS AND READING BOOKS ARE SEPARATE HOBBIESView
22 August 2021698BUYING BOOKS AND READING BOOKS ARE SEPARATE HOBBIESView
20 March 2020694im gonna finish reading these 400 tabs i have open and never use the internet againView

History

GritCult first posted about Books & Reading on 10 January 2018, and most recently on 25 May 2026. Across the archive the subject comes up 1,303 times, most often in 2018 (433 posts).

See also

References

  1. ^GRITCULT [@GRITCULT] (21 October 2018). You don't "read" an audiobook. You listen to someone talking. Reading, for me at least, is an intimate and high effort and high time demanding process. I always take notes and do background reading. X.
  2. ^GRITCULT [@GRITCULT] (25 July 2023). currently reading 2 books a month... too much reading can dull you however, need to have optimal balance of living life, and reading about it. X.
  3. ^GRITCULT [@GRITCULT] (6 November 2024). Reading great books and autobiographies is like affirmations. You're seeing how someone's brain works. X.
  4. ^GRITCULT [@GRITCULT] (24 December 2024). Every year; between christmas and new years, i like to read 1 book a day. X.
  5. ^GRITCULT [@GRITCULT] (10 July 2018). why you should also read more older books older books => time tested if still relevant then knowledge within is in some regards become antifragile. X.
  6. ^GRITCULT [@GRITCULT] (27 May 2019). Hagakure is currently on track for the best new book read of the year. READ HAGAKURE. X.
  7. ^GRITCULT [@GRITCULT] (23 February 2025). Please. I'm begging you. Pick up a book. And let that book be Sun & Steel: Art, Action and Ritual Death. X.
  8. ^GRITCULT [@GRITCULT] (5 April 2025). This book is goated. The art of war. Steven pressfield. X.

Further reading