Ego Is the Enemy
by Ryan Holiday
★ Top 25 book of 2016 · #13 on Best Books of 2016
Ryan Holiday argues that our biggest obstacle to success is our own ego, which hinders learning, blinds us when we succeed and deepens the pain of failure. He illustrates this with stories of figures who conquered it.
Best for: Ambitious people who want to tame pride and build humility for lasting success
Ego Is the Enemy is #13 on BookWard's Best Books of 2016, out of 68 2016 books that cleared our data bar.
What Ego Is the Enemy is about
Ryan Holiday's fourth book argues that our biggest obstacles often come from inside us. Attitude, selfishness and self-absorption, he says, do more damage than outside circumstances. He uses "ego" in the everyday sense of an unhealthy belief in your own importance, not the Freudian term or a clinical diagnosis, and he takes care to separate it from real confidence.
His answer is humility, self-awareness, purpose and realism. The book shows how ego slows learning early in a career, hides our faults when things go well, and makes setbacks hurt more. To make the case he draws on literature, philosophy and history, and on figures such as Steve Jobs, Larry Page, John DeLorean, Jackie Robinson and Eleanor Roosevelt, some who stumbled and some who succeeded by keeping ego in check. It also speaks to an age of social media, reality TV and constant self-promotion. Direct and motivational, it will suit ambitious people at any stage who want a steadier way to work and to handle both wins and failures.
Ego Is the Enemy on the Best Books of 2016
Ego Is the Enemy came out in 2016. Of the 68 books first published in 2016 that met BookWard's data bar, it ranks #13 on our Best Books of 2016 list.
Why it made the list: 1,610 readers have shelved it on Open Library; readers rate it 3.8 out of 5 (51 ratings); 127 are reading it right now. The list ranks each year’s books on how many readers have picked them up, how highly readers rate them, and how many are reading them right now.
It earns Being read right now.
Nearby on the 2016 list
- Crooked Kingdom Leigh Bardugo, #11
- Scythe Neal Shusterman, #12
- The Way I Used to Be Amber Smith, #14
- Culpa Tuya Mercedes Ron, #15
See all Best Books of 2016 Best books by year
More years: Best Books of 2015 Best Books of 2017.
The numbers behind it
- Readers: 1,413 want to read it, 127 are reading it now and 70 have read it, according to Open Library.
- Ratings: 3.8 out of 5 from 51 Open Library ratings.
| Signal | This book (0 to 100) | Weight |
|---|---|---|
| Reach | 91 | 55% |
| Reader love | 21 | 25% |
| Being read right now | 93 | 20% |
Questions about Ego Is the Enemy
When was Ego Is the Enemy published?
Ego Is the Enemy by Ryan Holiday was first published in 2016.
Was Ego Is the Enemy one of the best books of 2016?
Ego Is the Enemy is #13 on BookWard's Best Books of 2016, out of 68 2016 books that cleared our data bar. 1,610 readers have shelved it on Open Library; readers rate it 3.8 out of 5 (51 ratings); 127 are reading it right now.
Why is Ego Is the Enemy on the Best Books of 2016 list?
1,610 readers have shelved it on Open Library; readers rate it 3.8 out of 5 (51 ratings); 127 are reading it right now.
More of the best books of 2016
- It Ends with Us Colleen Hoover, #1
- Dog Man Dav Pilkey, #2
- The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck Mark Manson, #3
- Never Split the Difference Chris Voss, #4
- The Hidden Oracle Rick Riordan, #5
- Born a Crime Trevor Noah, #6
See the full Best Books of 2016, the Top 100, or new books on Rising.
How we know
This page uses public data: Open Library reader counts and ratings, and Wikipedia page views for recent years. The description is paraphrased from real source text. Rankings reflect reading interest, not quality or sales, and can be affected by data gaps. Lists update monthly.
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