Person
Every book Will Smith recommended on podcasts
Will Smith’s most recommended books
- Bible by Bible
- Quran by Talal Itani
- The Bhagavad Gita by Jack Hawley
- The Tibetan book of living and dying by Sogyal Rinpoche
- Ask And It Is Given by Esther Hicks
- Dying by Martin Shepard
- Inner Engineering by Sadhguru
- The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
- The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle
- The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success by Deepak Chopra, Deepak Chopra M.D.
Will Smith is an American actor, film producer, and musician. During an appearance on On Purpose with Jay Shetty, he discussed several influential works from his life and preparation. Smith mentioned reading Sogyal Rinpoche's The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying alongside Donna Dickenson, Malcolm Johnson, Malcolm Lewis Johnson, and Jeanne Katz's Death, Dying and Bereavement while preparing for a film role dealing with the death of a daughter during his father's passing. He recounted reading the Quran after being asked to by a girl he dated at age 16, reading James L. Kugel's How to Read the Bible to alleviate guilt around celebrating Christmas without having read scripture, returning to read the Bhagavad Gita as the book of his upbringing, and observing his wife Jada's marked-up copy of the Bible. Furthermore, Smith mentioned becoming emotional while reading Deepak Chopra's The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success and noted that reading Abraham-Hicks's Ask and It Is Given helped shift his overall vibration.
Books recommended by Will Smith
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Bible
The Bible is a foundational anthology of sacred texts and scriptures central to both Judaism and Christianity, detailing narratives of creation, prophetic guidance, historical accounts, and moral teachings that have shaped Western civilization for millennia.
Discussed“i read the bible because we would celebrate christmas and i'd feel guilty that we celebrated christmas but i didn't hadn't read the bible”
Where to get it
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Quran
Quran by Talal Itani is an accessible English translation of Islam's holy text that outlines the core theological teachings and foundational messages of the religion.
Discussed“i dated a muslim girl who asked me to read the quran that's how i read the quran which was a wonderful experience of my life at 16”
Where to get it
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The Bhagavad Gita
The Bhagavad Gita, translated by Jack Hawley, is an ancient sacred text that imparts profound spiritual wisdom, ethical duties, and philosophical guidance through a dialogue between Prince Arjuna and Krishna.
Discussed“and then i was just reading so many different books and finally i came back to the gita which was the book i was brought up with”
Where to get it
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The Tibetan book of living and dying
The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying by Sogyal Rinpoche offers profound spiritual teachings on mortality, impermanence, and the contemplative preparation for death.
Discussed“so i was into the tibetan book of living and dying and um reading all the uh was it elizabeth kubler uh just reading all the all this stuff about death”
Where to get it
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Ask And It Is Given
Ask And It Is Given by Esther and Jerry Hicks is a prominent spiritual self-help book focused on the law of attraction and how thoughts shape reality.
Discussed“and i remember reading asking and it's given by stranger hicks and like feeling my whole vibration change”
Where to get it
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Dying
Although the provided text touches upon several distinct titles regarding mortality and philosophy, the discussions frequently circle back to classic traditions and texts that grapple with the reality of death.
Discussed“so i was into the tibetan book of living and dying and um reading all the uh was it elizabeth kubler uh just reading all the all this stuff about death”
Where to get it
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Inner Engineering
Inner Engineering: A Yogi's Guide to Joy by Sadhguru is a spiritual guide that offers practical methods for self-transformation and inner well-being by treating the human body and mind as a sophisticated system requiring conscious management.
Discussed“i'm reading inner engineering by sad guru so that's something that i've been putting my time into every day”
Where to get it
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The Alchemist
The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho is a celebrated philosophical novel that follows a young Andalusian shepherd boy named Santiago on his journey across the desert in search of treasure, ultimately discovering a message about listening to one's heart and pursuing personal destiny.
Discussed“he put me on to the alchemist um you know”
Where to get it
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The Power of Now
The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle is a spiritual guide designed to help readers live in the present moment and transcend compulsive thinking.
Discussed“as this past year and past couple years have been happening i got into the power of now book and just sort of just the whole ideology around just being present”
Where to get it
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The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success
The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success by Deepak Chopra is a popular self-help and spiritual guide outlining principles such as pure potentiality, giving and receiving, karma, and detachment to redefine personal achievement.
Discussed“i remember reading the seven spiritual laws of success and tearing up you know”
Where to get it
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Think and Grow Rich
Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill is a classic self-help guide focused on mindset, motivation, and the psychological principles behind personal achievement rather than traditional financial literacy.
Discussed“we read napoleon hill so we understand the power of a mastermind”
Where to get it
Books Will Smith wrote
Appearances
Other mentions (1: passing, ad reads, own books)
“we were at animal farm the hobby all these great books that helped me”