Great Thinkers

Meet the great minds whose ideas have shaped the world — philosophers, scientists, artists, leaders, and revolutionaries whose thinking still matters today.

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34 thinkers
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Subject: Literature × Era: Modern × Page 2 of 2
Literature
Peter Drucker
1909-2005 · United States (born Austria)
Peter Ferdinand Drucker (1909-2005) was an Austrian-American writer and teacher whose books and articles over seven decades shaped the practice of management and helped establish…
Critical thinking Ethical thinking Research skills Creative expression +1
"The purpose of a business is to create a customer."
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Literature
Rabindranath Tagore
1861-1941 · Bengal, India / South Asia
Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941) was an Indian poet, philosopher, and educator from Bengal, a region now divided between India and Bangladesh. He was born into a…
Learning how to learn Creativity Citizenship Ethical thinking +1
"The highest education is that which does not merely give us information but makes our life in harmony with all…"
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Literature
Seamus Heaney
1939-2013 · Northern Ireland / Ireland
Seamus Heaney was an Irish poet. He won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1995. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest English-language…
Creative expression Cultural heritage and identity Emotional intelligence Ethical thinking +1
"Between my finger and my thumb / The squat pen rests; snug as a gun."
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Literature
T.S. Eliot
1888-1965 · United States / United Kingdom
T.S. Eliot was a poet and critic. His full name was Thomas Stearns Eliot. He is seen as one of the most important poets in…
Creative expression Critical thinking Emotional intelligence Cultural heritage and identity +1
"April is the cruellest month."
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Literature
Tayeb Salih
1929-2009 · Sudan
Tayeb Salih (al-Tayyib Salih) was a Sudanese novelist, short-story writer, and journalist, widely considered one of the most important Arab writers of the twentieth century.…
Creative expression Cultural heritage and identity Critical thinking Ethical thinking +1
"I returned, ladies and gentlemen, after a long absence, seven years to be exact, during which I was studying in…"
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Literature
Toni Morrison
1931-2019 · United States
Toni Morrison (1931-2019) was an American novelist, essayist, editor, and professor. She was born Chloe Ardelia Wofford in Lorain, Ohio, into a Black working-class family…
Storytelling and narrative Critical literacy Cultural heritage and identity Ethical thinking +1
"If you have some power, then your job is to empower somebody else."
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Literature
Ursula K. Le Guin
1929-2018 · United States
Ursula Kroeber Le Guin was an American novelist, essayist, and poet. She is one of the most important writers of science fiction and fantasy in…
Creative expression Critical thinking Ethical thinking Cultural heritage and identity +1
"We live in capitalism. Its power seems inescapable. So did the divine right of kings. Any human power can be…"
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Literature
Vine Deloria Jr.
1933 - 2005 · United States (Standing Rock Sioux)
Vine Deloria Jr. was a Native American scholar, writer, and activist. He was the most influential Native American intellectual of the 20th century. His books…
Critical thinking Ethical thinking Cultural heritage and identity Research skills +1
"We are the only humans who became Indians."
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Literature
Virginia Woolf
1882-1941 · England
Virginia Woolf was an English novelist, essayist, and literary critic. She is one of the most important writers of the 20th century. She was born…
Creative expression Critical thinking Cultural heritage and identity Emotional intelligence +1
"A woman must have money and a room of her own if she is to write fiction."
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Literature
Wole Soyinka
1934 - present · Nigeria (Yoruba)
Wole Soyinka is a Nigerian playwright, poet, novelist, essayist, and political activist. In 1986 he became the first African writer to win the Nobel Prize…
Creative expression Ethical thinking Cultural heritage and identity Critical thinking +1
"A tiger does not proclaim its tigritude. It pounces."
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