What's a good place to start?

I'm interested in reading the works of the philosophers. Overall my reading comprehension is very good. But recently I began reading Nietzsche's Beyond Good and Evil and found it very difficult. I read some Thoreau and had a pretty thorough understanding of it. I just need someone to recommend an easier read so that I can work my way up to the more difficult stuff. I'm interested in Descartes, Kierkgaard, Heideggar, Nietzsche, and Sartre.

 

You could save time and start with spirituality- as that is where philosophy inevitably leads. :sultan:

 

Camus is an easy read, but still bery powerful. He was a journalist, so he doesnt fall into the void of very long and elaborated thoughts. His sentences are short and concise which really helps in following the sotey and not getting lost in endless labyrinths like you can with Nietzsche

 

It is a philosophically proven fact that approaching philosophy directly is impossible, because understanding a statement as simple as " the cat on the mat" requires some basic level of knowledge about cats and mats and about prepositions and definite articles, so now imagine the level of philosophical knowledge you need to be pre equipped with in order to understand Nietzsche and Sartre. I have made the mistake of trying to start with Nietzsche too, it was absurd, total failure, and I had to read more basic books such as " Sophie's World" which is the most beautiful and easily grasped introduction to philosophy in the entire world, after reading books like these, and engaging in philosophical discussions, I found my self gradually developing a capacity to understand philosophy and even think philosophically. Now when I read Nietzsche, it sounds like reading something I wrote, because I have already thought about Nietzsche's ideas in the course of my previous debates and contemplation. To conclude, philosophy is an activity and we should act upon this definition by practicing it, not just reading it.