Why people recommend it
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert M. Pirsig is a philosophical novel that follows a father and son on a motorcycle trip while exploring profound questions about values, meaning, and quality. On The Joe Rogan Experience, Josh Brolin recommended the book as a unique work that successfully captures a distinct spiritual feeling. Jim Mullane similarly noted on Modern Wisdom that it is a legendary text that was passed down to him by an uncle. Other guests referenced the book's core concepts on various podcasts; for instance, Josh Waitzkin discussed Pirsig's philosophy regarding dynamic versus static quality on both the Lex Fridman Podcast and Huberman Lab, while Ethan Hawke mentioned the book on The Joe Rogan Experience to illustrate the idea that a broad understanding of life can be seen in all things. Furthermore, Ezra Klein talked about its themes on The Ezra Klein Show, Steve Levitt brought it up on People I (Mostly) Admire, and John Williams reflected on the author's legacy on The Book Review.
Who recommended it
- Josh Waitzkin Discussed
- Ezra Klein Discussed
- Ethan Hawke Discussed
- Steve Levitt Discussed
- Josh Brolin Recommended
- John Williams Discussed
- Reginald Dwayne Betts Discussed
- Roy Sebag Discussed
- Jordan Peterson Discussed
- Kate Courtney Discussed
- Peter Wang Discussed
- Robert Breedlove Discussed
- Jim Mullane Recommended
Josh Waitzkin — 2 mentions
“Robert Pirsig, my favorite the most important philosopher in my life, Robert Pirsig wrote Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. Have you read Have you read that book?”
“then you could think about Robert PK's work and and there Motorcycle Maintenance and lla around Dynamic quality versus static quality”
Ezra Klein — 1 mention
“And you quote quite a lot from "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance," which is a classic book.”
Ethan Hawke — 1 mention
“I carried that in the art of motorcycle maintenance. That's the same idea.”
Steve Levitt — 1 mention
“okay what about Zen In The Art of Motorcycle Maintenance I know that book it is not in the library”
Josh Brolin — 1 mention
“there's something on a if you read Zen in the-art of Motorcycle Maintenance which is the only book that's ever been written that's kind of gets close to the kind of spiritual place”
John Williams — 1 mention
“Robert pers died last month at 88 and so I'm reading the only book he's known for which is Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance”
Reginald Dwayne Betts — 1 mention
“but with Zen and the other Motorcycle Maintenance, I know that book it is not in the library”
Roy Sebag — 1 mention
“I remember when I was about 17, I read this book, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. Oh yes, wonderful book!”
Jordan Peterson — 1 mention
“I mean, that's something that Pirsig investigated in 'Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance,' right? We could assume that value is no more than what we say it is.”
Kate Courtney — 1 mention
“i love there's a quote i think it's from the zenon art of motorcycle maintenance where he says it's the it's the sides of the mountain that's sustained life not the top”
Peter Wang — 1 mention
“so i'm just stealing wholesale here from robert persig who is the author of zen in the art of motorcycle maintenance”
Robert Breedlove — 1 mention
“but this dovetailed nicely with another book called Leela um the the author is Robert perig so he wrote Zen In The Art of Motorcycle Maintenance which is a very popular book book 20 years later he wrote Leela which no one's heard of”
Jim Mullane — 1 mention
“one of them was that the this Zen art of motorcycle maintenance all right it's one of those legendary”
Mentioned on the show without a named speaker — 1
“right the journey matters I mean just like persig and Zen In The Art of Motorcycle Maintenance talks about that a great deal”
Also mentioned in the same episodes
Other mentions (3: passing, ad reads, own books)
“Zen in the art of motorcycle repair. God damn. Zen in the art of archery.”
“it was in the art of motorcycle maintenance yeah”
“Fadis was his name; is that in the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance? Exactly!”