<p>what do you think they are? </p>
<p>I posted this in the cafe, but I’ll also post it here. :D</p>
<li>Bible (of course)</li>
</ol>
<p>Throw out a few titles and where exactly to place them can later be debated.</p>
<ol>
<li>The Audacity of Hope (Barack Obama)</li>
</ol>
<ol>
<li>Uncle Tom's Cabin</li>
<li>War and Peace</li>
<li>Pride and Prejudice</li>
<li>Harry Potter (Think about it. HP really was quite influential.)</li>
</ol>
<p>I like Obama and all, but it wasn't influential.</p>
<ol>
<li>Brave New World - (Huxley)</li>
</ol>
<p>I wouldn't include religious text. Because as a Muslim, I can argue that Quran has influenced Muslims all over the world. It became the top-selling book after 9-11. Hindus have the Vedas, Buddhists have a holy book too.
So the top 20 would comprise all the religious texts.</p>
<p>I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell-Tucker Max</p>
<ol>
<li>Siddharta</li>
</ol>
<p>EVERYONE should read it
I mean EVERYONE
It's one hellofa book</p>
<ol>
<li>The Odyssey</li>
</ol>
<p>i think Da Vinci Code is pretty infuential... or controversial</p>
<p>Palestine Peace Not Apartheid by Jimmy Carter</p>
<p>"Memoirs of a Geisha" by Arthur Golden...I loved this book, it inspired me.</p>
<p>of course the bible is #1....i wrote a 1-pager on the bible 2day</p>
<p>The Feminine Mystique by Betty Friedan
(regardless of whether or not you're a feminist, this book absolutely changed America to an extreme extent..I think everyone should read it)</p>
<p>i advocate a movie: a moment to remember =D!</p>
<p>austin, I'm a Muslim as well, but to say that religious texts shouldn't be included is kind of ridiculous. Whether you like it or not, the history and morals which the Bible preach have profoundly affected the very basis of our society. It's extremely relevant to our lives in terms of how it impacts the world.</p>
<p>From my class reading list this year (of course there are others...)</p>
<p>Plato - Republic
Hobbes - Leviathan
Marx - The Communist Manifesto</p>
<p>We read some other great books, but I wouldn't call them overly influential.</p>
<p>illuminar, could you provide evidence? I know for sure that abortion and gay rights are not advocated in any religion whatsoever(I am not saying that I oppose it). What is the society based on religious principles that you talk of? Does Bible allow fornication(I am not saying that I don't do it)?America was never free of slavery until 1864. And when was Bible revealed? Did it not tell us to treat each other on the premise of equity?
I am not saying whether one religious is better than another, but don't we all believe in common ground principles and so called 'morals'? Have you read all the religious texts out there? Every religious text has pretty much the same, common morals that it preaches to its followers. Peace, harmony, compassion, respect for parents/elders, etc.</p>
<p>The Art of War - Sun Tzu</p>
<p>Austin: I agree that many religious texts have extremely large similarities (the ones I've read, at least - Torah, Quran, Bible). I do think, though, that the Bible has had a huge impact on society - maybe not modern society as much as old society (which is what I think you meant). I don't think that everything in the Bible needed to be followed for it to have a huge impact on people. The wars (ex. Crusades), executions, governments (Catholic Church's rule), great people (ex. Galileo), etc. have a lot to do with religious texts. Those are huge events that shaped the way our lives are today.</p>
<p>I, also, think the following (some of which were already mentioned):
Plato - Republic
Hugo - Les Miserables
Sinclair - The Jungle
Proust - In Remembrance of Things Past/In Search of Lost Times (or any of the seven books)
Home - The Iliad and The Odyssey
Euclid - Elements
Various works - Aristotle
The Prince - Machiavelli
Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy - Newton
The Trial - Kafka
1984 - Orwell
Thus Spake Zarathustra - Nietzsche
The Interpretation of Dreams - Freud
Relativity - Einstein
Don Quixote de la Mancha - de Cervantes
War and Peace - Tolstoy<br>
Ulysses - James Joyce</p>
<p>Gosh...I think I listed almost twenty...</p>