prolog

Chapter 1… Reading a book that helps you discover yourself at a turning point in your life

1.
Schopenhauer's Theory of Happiness and Life by Arthur Schopenhauer
2.
The Conquest of Happiness by Bertrand Russell
3.
Self-Determination by Pascal Mercier
4.
The Joy of Immersion by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
5.
Emile by Jean-Jacques Rousseau
6.
Nicomachean Ethics by Aristotle

Chapter 2… Discovering the Meaning of Life in Books When You Feel Helpless

7.
Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl
8.
The Second Mountain by David Brooks
9.
Thus Spoke Zarathustra by Nietzsche
10.
『The Road Still to Go』 M.
Scott Peck
11.
Self-Reliance by Ralph Waldo Emerson
12.
Everything Shines Brightly by Hubert Dreyfuss et al.
13.
Discourse on the Method by René Descartes

Chapter 3… Why I Think I'm Unhappy Now

14.
The Illusion of Fairness by Michael Sandel
15.
Han Byeong-cheol's "Fatigue Society"
16.
To Have or to Be, Erich Fromm
17.
Eichmann in Jerusalem by Hannah Arendt
18.
The End of Average by Todd Rose
19.
The Psychology of Crowds by Gustave Le Bon
20.
Discipline and Punish, Michel Foucault
21.
Liquid Modernity by Zygmunt Bauman

Chapter 4: Understanding Humanity Through History and Religion

22.
Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond
23.
Sapiens by Yuval Harari
24.
Umberto Eco's "A History of Beauty"
25.
The Age of Empire by Eric Hobsbawm
26.
The Axial Age by Karen Armstrong
27.
Pascal's Pensees
28.
The Varieties of Religious Experience, William James

Chapter 5… Reading books that give you strength when facing harsh realities

29.
The Better Angels of Our Nature by Steven Pinker
30.
Compassion for Others by Martha Nussbaum
31.
Factfulness by Hans Rosling
32.
The Pain of Others by Susan Sontag
33.
The Righteous Mind by Jonathan Haidt

Chapter 6… Reading a book that soothes your mind when you're feeling anxious and unsettled

34.
Meditations by Marcus Aurelius
35.
Walden by Henry David Thoreau
36.
Montaigne's Essays
37.
Anxiety by Alain de Botton
38.
The Courage to be Hated by Ichiro Kishimi and Fumitake Koga
39.
Tao Te Ching, Lao Tzu
40.
Confucius from the Analects
41.
『Dasan Prose Collection』 Jeong Yak-yong

Chapter 7… If you want to understand your own psychology and that of others more deeply

42.
The Laws of Human Nature by Robert Greene
43.
The Interpretation of Dreams by Sigmund Freud
44.
The Wisdom of Winning People by Gracián y Morales Baltasar
45.
The Prince by Niccolò Machiavelli
46.
The Birth of an Idea, by Robert Root-Bernstein and Michelle Root-Bernstein
47.
Psychological Types by Carl Jung
48.
The Map of Thought by Richard Nisbett
49.
The Hero with a Thousand Faces by Joseph Campbell
50.
『Editorology』 Kim Jeong-un

To the wavering and anxious forty-year-old
50 humanities books that will give you direction in life!

Not everyone needs to read humanities books.
But there are times in life when it's difficult not to read such books.
That's exactly what happens when you pass through your 20s, when everyone was running in the same direction, and your 30s, when you were brimming with the will and courage to achieve anything, and turn 40.
Today is the same as yesterday, and a vague anxiety about tomorrow suddenly comes over me.
That's why a significant number of people in their forties complain of burnout.
In fact, according to a survey by the Ministry of Health and Welfare, the highest proportion of patients receiving treatment for panic disorder and bipolar disorder are in their 40s.
People in their forties who feel lost and have lost their direction in life are the ones who need the comfort and courage that the humanities can provide.

The author of this book is a dentist with 16 years of experience, who calls himself a "science-minded person to the bone," and the operator of the blog "Yeorumi Library," which has been ranked number one on Naver Books for three years in a row.
After completing my dental school studies, I was in the midst of a hectic time when I was overcome with questions like, "Is this the life I truly wanted? Why am I so unhappy?"
The author confesses that he had been following society's lead diligently, but at some point he felt like he had lost his sense of direction in life and was wandering around trying to find meaning in life. He started reading books to hear the stories of those who had struggled before him and to steal their answers.
And in the end, he said, he realized that all books lead to the humanities.


The virtue of the humanities, the author argues, lies above all in its ability to show the possibility of other lives.
The author states, “There is no such thing as a natural path, a natural life, or a natural reality in this world,” and “The humanities present various alternatives and encourage us to choose and open up a better life right here and now.”
That is why I emphasize that reading humanities is 'an act of gaining the freedom to be happy.'
When you want to ask yourself, "Am I really walking the right path?" or doubt whether happiness awaits at the end of this life, the author recommends reading a book on the humanities.


From Schopenhauer's "On Happiness and Life" to Alain de Botton's "Anxiety"
A humanities guide for adults seeking answers to life's challenges.

『50 Must-Read Humanities Books for Those in Their Forties』 contains 50 carefully selected humanities books for those who want to find answers to the overwhelming challenges life throws at them, from 『Schopenhauer's On Happiness and On Life』 to Alain de Botton's 『Anxiety』.
The author recommends books such as "The Conquest of Happiness," "Self-Determination," "Emile," and "The Joy of Immersion" as helpful for those who want to discover themselves at a turning point in their lives and rediscover the path to true happiness.
When you feel weary and discouraged by the arduous daily life, you can find life wisdom that transcends time and space and soothes your heart from the classics of humanities, such as 『Meditations』, 『Tao Te Ching』, 『Analects of Confucius』, and 『Dasan Prose Collection』.
If you are feeling helpless right now, try reading books like The Second Mountain, Thus Spoke Zarathustra, The Road Still to Be Traveled, Self-Reliance, and Everything Shines.
These books encourage reflection, helping us overcome nihilism, a chronic disease of modern people, discover the meaning of life, and rise again.

The reason I feel unhappy now is not necessarily inside me.
There are also books that help us understand the causes of anxiety by understanding the social structures that surround us.
『The Fatigued Society』, 『To Have or to Be』, 『The End of Average』.
『Liquid Modernity』 and other works allow me to gain a new understanding of my own problems by facing the problems of the modern social system.
In addition, books that help us gain insight into history and religion, such as 『Guns, Germs, and Steel』, 『Sapiens』, 『The Axial Age』, and 『Age of Empire』, allow us to humbly reflect on ourselves within the long flow of civilization and history, asking who we are and where we are going.


Even when we feel weary of the harsh, violent, and sometimes hateful reality, there are books that give us reasons to not give up hope for humanity.
The author introduces books such as 『The Better Angels of Our Nature』, 『Compassion for Others』, and 『The Righteous Mind』.
Lastly, 『The Laws of Human Nature』, 『The Wisdom of Winning People』, 『The Prince』, 『The Map of Thought』, and 『The Hero with a Thousand Faces』 provide wisdom for living together by understanding the lives of ourselves and others more deeply.


The author says, “I deliberately introduced books that everyone has heard of at least once, but are rumored to be difficult and thick, so no one dares to try them.” He adds, “I wanted to show that if you actually read them, they are not as difficult as you might think, and that they are worth reading.”
In fact, the list of fifty books includes a wide range of books, from easy to difficult, thin to thick, old classics to recent bestsellers.
This book will be an essential humanities guide for adults who, at the midpoint of their lives, are seeking to rediscover themselves for a happy life, understand the present through the past, gain the strength to face the harsh reality, and grow together with others.
I especially recommend this book to those who are vaguely anxious about turning forty or are planning a new life.
What people need most at forty is not practical life skills, but the question of finding meaning in life.
At the midpoint of your life, you already know well enough 'how' to live.
Now is the time to find the true meaning of life and ask yourself, ‘Why?’
Humanities books will provide the clue.