Great Thinkers

My nana says that in order to be a learned person, you need to make sure that you have read the wisdom of the past. It's a good saying, and I think that it is a shame that students today read so little of the wisdom of those who have come before them. It leads to a society that thinks that it knows everything, that thinks it is the center of the world, and that elects people into office who know little of history or the ideas of the past. These kinds of people do things that everyone knows failed in the past, and rather than stand on the shoulders of giants and make our society better, they jump off the giants back into the muck and make our society worse.

So whose writings do I consider worthwhile reading? One of my readers wrote me and pointed out a list of the 25 greatest thinkers that every college student should read, and it's a good list. College students- or even high school students- should be familiar with these thinkers and have read some of their material at some point in their schooling. Go through the list yourself- have you read these great thinkers?


Western Philosophers such as Ralph Waldo Emerson, John Stuart Mill, Immanuel Kant, Soren Kierkegaard, and Niccolo Machiavelli. Eastern Thinkers like Confucius, Avicenna, Laozi, Siddhartha Gautama, or D.T. Suzuki.

Statesman like Winston Churchill, Thomas Jefferson, Ataturk, Mao Zedong, and Nelson Mandela. Writers and Artists like Mark Twain, George Orwell, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Albert Camus, Khalil Gibran, Kurt Vonnegut, Gunter Grass, Marcel Proust, Issac Asimov, and Arthur Rimbaud.

If you don't recognize any of these writers, and I confess that there are a couple on here that I have not read, check out the article in its entirely. It discusses who the person is and what contributions they made to society.

Lastly, put this information to use. In your own life, try to read these works and draw on the thought and ideas that they present. Listen to others talk, and challenge them when their ideas are deficient or lacking in deep thought. Be a jerk and demand that people display their knowledge of past great thinkers, especially those who would lead you and pretend to rule you. Stand on the shoulders of giants and make our society better.