232 masters
Hall of Masters
105,795 records of what they actually said and lived through, organised by person. Find someone by name or field.
Korean or English names and other spellings all work.
Philosophy and wisdom traditions
Old answers to lasting questions: what you control, what is enough, how to live and work well.
46 of 232 masters
Gautama Buddha
Founder of Buddhism
195 records
AskPhoto Tevaprapas Makklay (พระมหาเทวประภาส วชิรญาณเมธี) · CC BY-SA 3.0
Friedrich Nietzsche
German philosopher (1844-1900)
959 records
AskPhoto Friedrich Hermann Hartmann · Public domain
Confucius
Ancient Chinese thinker, founder of Confucianism
780 records
AskPhoto Unknown artist, about 1770 · Public domain
Albert Camus
French author of The Stranger, Nobel laureate (1913-1960)
124 records
AskPhoto Photograph by United Press International · Public domain
Marcus Aurelius
Roman emperor, author of Meditations
812 records
AskPhoto Daniel Martin · CC BY-SA 4.0
Aristotle
Ancient Greek philosopher, student of Plato
942 records
AskPhoto After Lysippos · Public domain
Socrates
Ancient Greek philosopher, teacher of Plato
566 records
AskPhoto Copy of Lysippos (?) · Public domain
Jean-Paul Sartre
French existentialist philosopher (1905-1980)
113 records
AskPhoto Unknown author / Anefo (Dutch National Archives) · CC BY-SA 3.0 nl
Leo Tolstoy
Russian novelist, author of War and Peace (1828-1910)
847 records
AskPhoto Sergei Prokudin-Gorskii · Public domain
Lao Tzu
Founder of Taoism, credited with the Tao Te Ching
179 records
AskPhoto Zhang Lu · Public domain
C. S. Lewis
British author of The Chronicles of Narnia (1898-1963)
189 records
AskPhoto John S. Murray · Public domain
Seneca
Roman Stoic philosopher and statesman
1,047 records
AskPhoto Calidius · CC BY-SA 3.0
Henry David Thoreau
American thinker, author of Walden (1817-1862)
909 records
AskPhoto Benjamin D. Maxham active 1848 - 1858 · Public domain
Ralph Waldo Emerson
19th-century American essayist and poet
1,253 records
AskPhoto Josiah Johnson Hawes · Public domain
Jiddu Krishnamurti
Indian-born philosopher and speaker (1895-1986)
244 records
AskPhoto Unknown author · Public domain
Zhuangzi
Ancient Chinese Taoist philosopher
362 records
AskPhoto Hua Zili (華祖立) · Public domain
Epictetus
Stoic philosopher born into slavery
932 records
AskPhoto William Sonmans / Michael Burghers · Public domain
Michel de Montaigne
French thinker, author of the Essays (1533-1592)
1,105 records
AskPhoto Unknown author · Public domain
Eric Hoffer
Longshoreman turned social philosopher (1902-1983)
113 records
AskPhoto White House of the President of the United States; uploaded to YouTube by TheLBJLibrary · Public domain
Albert Einstein
Physicist who developed relativity (1879-1955)
515 records
AskPhoto Oren Jack Turner · Public domain
George Soros
Hedge fund investor and philanthropist
921 records
AskPhoto Aris Oikonomou / European Commission · CC BY 4.0
Bruce Lee
Martial artist and actor, founder of Jeet Kune Do
131 records
AskPhoto National General Pictures (original photo); uploaded by User:999real, cropped by User:Wabbuh · Public domain
William Shakespeare
English playwright and poet (1564-1616)
97 records
AskPhoto Attributed to John Taylor · Public domain
Mahatma Gandhi
Leader of India's nonviolent independence movement
1,015 records
AskPhoto Elliott & Fry · Public domain
Carl Jung
Psychiatrist who founded analytical psychology (1875-1961)
751 records
AskPhoto Unknown author · Public domain
Fyodor Dostoevsky
Russian novelist, author of Crime and Punishment (1821-1881)
408 records
AskPhoto Vasily Perov · Public domain
Kazuo Inamori
Founder of Kyocera and KDDI (1932-2022)
314 records
AskPhoto Conrad Erb / Science History Institute · CC BY-SA 3.0
Alex Karp
Co-founder and CEO of Palantir
26 records
AskPhoto UK Government · CC BY 2.0
Nassim Nicholas Taleb
Author of The Black Swan, risk thinker
203 records
AskPhoto nrkbeta · CC BY-SA 2.0
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
German writer, author of Faust (1749-1832)
945 records
AskPhoto Joseph Karl Stieler · Public domain
Niccolò Machiavelli
Florentine thinker, author of The Prince (1469-1527)
910 records
AskPhoto Santi di Tito · Public domain
Miyamoto Musashi
Japanese swordsman, author of The Book of Five Rings
81 records
AskPhoto Miyamoto Musashi · Public domain
Konosuke Matsushita
Founder of Panasonic (1894-1989)
41 records
AskPhoto Unknown author · Public domain
Adam Smith
Economist, author of The Wealth of Nations (1723-1790)
743 records
AskPhoto Unknown author · Public domain
Jordan Peterson
Psychologist, author of 12 Rules for Life
399 records
AskPhoto Gage Skidmore from Peoria, AZ, United States of America · CC BY-SA 2.0
Thomas Sowell
Economist, senior fellow at the Hoover Institution
68 records
AskPhoto Internet Archive Book Images · Public domain
Viktor Frankl
Psychiatrist, author of Man's Search for Meaning (1905-1997)
37 records
AskPhoto Prof. Dr. Franz Vesely · CC BY-SA 3.0 de
George Bernard Shaw
Nobel Prize-winning playwright (1856-1950)
784 records
AskPhoto Bain News Service, publisher · Public domain
Marshall McLuhan
Canadian media theorist (1911-1980)
144 records
AskPhoto Josephine Smith · Public domain
Yvon Chouinard
Founder of Patagonia
13 records
AskPhoto Tom Frost · CC BY-SA 3.0
Ryan Holiday
Writer on Stoicism, author of The Obstacle Is the Way
817 records
AskPhoto Luiz Berengue · CC BY-SA 2.0
William James
American psychologist and philosopher (1842-1910)
1,168 records
AskPhoto Notman Studios (photographer) · Public domain
Brunello Cucinelli
Founder of the Italian cashmere brand bearing his name
17 records
AskPhoto US Embassy Italy · Public domain
Baltasar Gracián
17th-century Spanish Jesuit writer and philosopher
33 records
AskPhoto anonymous · Public domain
David Deutsch
Oxford physicist, pioneer of quantum computing
135 records
AskPhoto Simon Benjamin · CC BY 3.0
James Stockdale
US Navy vice admiral, Vietnam prisoner of war (1923-2005)
27 records
AskPhoto U.S. Navy File Photo · Public domain
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