"The dystopian side of Huxley produced Brave New World, which foretold the myriad bleak worlds to come. The Perennial Philosophy is the mirror opposite, or perhaps the cure. In describing the common features of world spirituality, it outlines with clarity the transcendent strain in what humans aspire to become. Without a transcendent vision, I can’t imagine anyone’s life having deeply rooted purpose and meaning."

"The Art of Worldly Wisdom by Baltasar Gracian is an easy read of 300 aphorisms that offers some good advice on living in the world. Though it was written over 300 hundred years ago, its philosophy is still relevant. This dude was a ordained minister who was banned from his home for publishing his thoughts without permission. Pretty rock 'n' roll if you ask me!"

"Buddhist monk Matthieu Ricard and astrophysicist Trinh Xuan Thuan explore the connections between science and Buddhist philosophy. Taking a scientific and secular approach, the authors explain the Buddhist theory of emptiness: the concept that all beings and events are relational and interconnected and therefore have no separate, absolute reality in space and time. I keep this book on my desk and go back to it often for clarity and inspiration."

"The Maysles are masters. Their philosophy of Direct Cinema is proved in these films. Life is as interesting as fiction. This is not reality TV; it is observational documentation in the purest sense. It is not manipulated; the only filter is the obvious love the filmmakers have for their subjects. Salesman is as deep as Death of a Salesman or The Iceman Cometh, and Gimme Shelter is like Greek tragedy."

"The Maysles are masters. Their philosophy of Direct Cinema is proved in these films. Life is as interesting as fiction. This is not reality TV; it is observational documentation in the purest sense. It is not manipulated; the only filter is the obvious love the filmmakers have for their subjects. Salesman is as deep as Death of a Salesman or The Iceman Cometh, and Gimme Shelter is like Greek tragedy."

"The Little Prince will be on many peoples best loved book lists. I first read this at 14 and the anarchic wisdom of this book with it's delicate philosophy of the outsider influenced my own thinking about the pitfalls of trading childhood wonder for adulthood,but most of all it taught me about accepting other's differences and the fragile nature of relationship. "That which is essential is invisible to the eye"

"“In 1987, Thurston and I were both reading Philip K. Dick, whose writing has more in common with philosophy than science fiction, and whose descriptions of schizophrenia were better than those of any medical journal. Philip Dick had a twin sister who died shortly after she was born and whose memory plagued him his whole life—which is maybe how and why our new album ended up being called Sister."