First… I would take a good speed reading, these two subjects usually result in very large tomes. Speed reading will help you focus properly in my opinion. I would also dedicate a hilighter just for juicy quotes… they always come in handy and make you look oh so smart. (specially at weddings) Some of my favs… ........................................... socrates and aristotle – taught humanity to shake off our superstition and question the world around us. friederich nietzche – life wasn’t black and white… morality has grey areas. john locke – father of modern western politics. adam smith – timeless insight of world economy. carl jung – the collective mind tom paine – rights of man the jews will give you a powerful mind and unstoppable at debates – philo, spinoza, russell, maimonidies, buber sprinkle some eastern philosophers – lao tsu, confucius some in some existentialists – jean paul sartre, epicurus, thoreau logic thinkers – william of ockham, kurt godel, gottlob frege, hegel ...................................... Big big list, get the thinnest books possible, learn to love em, plan on taking years to read most of these. The list should be much longer but… Speed read, hilight… I promise you will be a powerful thinker.