Some realistic (or cynical) authors I've read
Robert Ringer's "Looking out for #1" and "Winning through intimidation". Guides to life and business from Objectivist point of view. Take with a small pinch of salt, but pretty good.
Eric Hoffer's "The True believer" which is about why people join movements. Gives great insight into why someone gets caught up in ideals bigger than themselves, and his conclusions are relevant in pretty much any area of life
If you happen to be really cynical, the Marquis de Sade, the only writer to make deviant sex boring to read about
Robert Ringer's "Looking out for #1" and "Winning through intimidation". Guides to life and business from Objectivist point of view. Take with a small pinch of salt, but pretty good.
Eric Hoffer's "The True believer" which is about why people join movements. Gives great insight into why someone gets caught up in ideals bigger than themselves, and his conclusions are relevant in pretty much any area of life
If you happen to be really cynical, the Marquis de Sade, the only writer to make deviant sex boring to read about
"The woman most eager to jump out of her petticoat to assert her rights is the first to jump back into it when threatened with a switching for misusing them,"
-Ambrose Bierce, The Devil's Dictionary