Childhood's End, by Arthur C. Clarke. It helped me understand that all things must end eventually, and that it is okay. I must admit I was pretty depressed for

Childhood's End, by Arthur C. Clarke. It helped me understand that all things must end eventually, and that it is okay. I must admit I was pretty depressed for a few days after finishing it though. The City and the Stars, also by Clarke. This one encouraged me to explore as much as possible, and also that people sometimes cognitively isolate themselves, and only come out of this isolation if they personally want to. They cannot be externally motivated, e.g. you cannot convince a truly zealous religious person that their religion is flawed, they need to realise it themselves. There is also a curious anecdote involving this novel - as Clarke had rewritten the story some years after the inital publishing. The anecdote involves two people discussing the novel without realising that each had read a different version of the story [0]. [0] - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_City_and_the_Stars https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_City_and_the_Stars