Learn at Every Opportunity

You want to learn as much powerful information as you can.

Elon elaborates: “It’s great to read books and talk to interesting people, and learn as much as possible…”

“Maybe it was Plato or Socrates who said: To know everything is to know nothing…”

So keep an open mind.

The moment you think you know everything is the moment you fail to learn anything…

So keep learning.

If you think you know everything it will be difficult to learn anything.

At ​​Italian TechWeek Elon elaborated:

“I think you should maximize your feedback loop and your ability to learn.  As soon as you think you know too much and people can’t teach you things that’s when you start getting very dumb…”

Stay curious.  Keep asking questions.  Be a lifelong learner.

Audio Books are a Great Way to Learn More

Elon Musk listens to audio books as he goes to sleep usually.

Elon is a lover of history and audio books.

Particularly favoring historical, biographical, and epic works—many with themes of war, civilization, and leadership.

He often emphasizes listening to classics like ancient epics in audio format, noting that they were originally meant to be spoken.

Here are some of his most frequently or enthusiastically recommended audiobooks:

• The Iliad (Penguin Edition, narrated for audiobook): Musk has repeatedly praised this highly, saying “Can’t recommend The Iliad enough!” and recommending the Penguin audiobook at 1.25x speed. He stresses it’s best experienced as a spoken story.
• The Story of Civilization by Will and Ariel Durant: Tops his list of audiobook recommendations, described as “very much worthwhile” despite its length (multi-volume series on world history).
• The Road to Serfdom by Friedrich Hayek: Included in his curated audiobook list, focusing on economics and freedom.
• American Caesar by William Manchester: A biography of Douglas MacArthur, part of his history-focused recommendations.
• Masters of Doom by David Kushner: About the creators of Doom video games—appeals to Musk’s gaming interests.
• The Wages of Destruction by Adam Tooze: Economic history of Nazi Germany.
• Storm of Steel by Ernst Jünger: A WWI memoir.
• The Guns of August by Barbara Tuchman: On the outbreak of WWI.
• The Gallic Wars by Julius Caesar: Caesar’s own account of his campaigns.
• Twelve Against the Gods by William Bolitho: Profiles of historical adventurers.
• Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World by Jack Weatherford: Musk has shown interest in Genghis Khan’s history separately.

Additionally, he highly recommended the audio version of Destined for War by Graham Allison, saying “could not recommend this book more. Audio version is great.”