Philosophy

I think Philosophy is the most abused word in India,everybody uses it without even caring about the meaning of it. I understand the real meaning and implications of it after reading Ayn rand's Philosophy who needs it. It is the best non-fiction novel I have read till date.
If you think philosophy is a boring thing which has nothing to do with concrete real world issues which you face read the following para from Ayn Rand.

" You might claim--as most people do--that you have never been influenced by philosophy. I will ask you to check that claim. Have you ever thought or said the following? "Don't be so sure--nobody can be certain of anything." You got that notion from David Hume (and many, many others), even though you might never have heard of him. Or: "This may be good in theory, but it doesn't work in practice.You got that from Plato. Or: "That was a rotten thing to do, but it's only human,nobody is perfect in this world." You got that from Augustine. Or: "It may be true for you, but it's not true for me." You got it from William James. Or: "I couldn't help it! Nobody can help anything he does." You got it from Hegel. Or: "I can't prove it, but I feel that it's true." You got it from Kant. Or: "It's logical, but logic has nothing to do with reality." You got it from Kant. Or: "It's evil, because it's selfish." You got it from Kant. Have you heard the modern activists say: "Act first, think afterward"? They got it from John Dewey.Some people might answer: "Sure, I've said those things at different times, but I don't have to believe that stuff all of the time. It may have been true yesterday, but it's not true today." They got it from Hegel. They might say: "Consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds." They got it from a very little mind, Emerson. They might say: "But can't one compromise and borrow different ideas from different philosophies according to the expediency of the moment?" They got it from Richard Nixon--who got it from William James." (Ayn Rand)

So you don't have a choice of not having a philosophy,either u decide that ur conciseness guide u towards a rational philosophy or let the mindless generalizations guide you .

The best way to develop your philosophical knowledge is reading Ayn rands "Fountainhead' and 'Atlas shrugged ' which are fictional novel setup in a philosophical background. I didn't see any one even attempting to write a 1000 pages novels where the conflict between antagonist and protagonist is meta physical (philosophical).As the story was setup with real life characters we will be able to visualize the impact even though we may not understand the implied philosophy.