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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Subject: Literature × Ethical thinking × Page 1 of 3
Literature
Aimé Césaire
1913-2008 · Martinique, Caribbean
Aimé Césaire (1913-2008) was a poet, playwright, and political thinker from Martinique, an island in the Caribbean that was, and still is, a French territory.…
Cultural heritage and identity Critical literacy Citizenship Ethical thinking +1
"A civilisation that proves incapable of solving the problems it creates is a decadent civilisation."
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Literature
Albert Camus
1913-1960 · Algeria / France
Albert Camus (1913-1960) was a French-Algerian novelist, playwright, and philosopher. He was born in Mondovi in French colonial Algeria into a poor working-class family: his…
Ethical thinking Critical thinking Resilience Storytelling and narrative +1
"There is but one truly serious philosophical problem, and that is suicide."
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Literature
Annie Ernaux
1940-present · France
Annie Ernaux is a French writer. In 2022 she became the first French woman to win the Nobel Prize in Literature. She was born Annie…
Creative expression Cultural heritage and identity Ethical thinking Emotional intelligence +1
"I shall not say my father, my mother, my sister: I shall name them."
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Literature
Aphra Behn
c. 1640-1689 · England
Aphra Behn was an English writer. She is the first woman known to have earned her living by writing in English. Almost every fact about…
Creative expression Critical thinking Cultural heritage and identity Ethical thinking +1
"All women together ought to let flowers fall upon the tomb of Aphra Behn... for it was she who earned…"
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Literature
Audre Lorde
1934-1992 · United States
Audre Lorde (1934-1992) was an American poet, essayist, teacher, and political activist whose work insisted on the interconnection of race, gender, sexuality, and class in…
Creative expression Ethical thinking Critical thinking Cultural heritage and identity +1
"There is no such thing as a single-issue struggle because we do not live single-issue lives."
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Literature
Chinua Achebe
1930-2013 · Nigeria, West Africa
Chinua Achebe (1930-2013) was a Nigerian novelist, poet, critic, and professor. He was born Albert Chinualumogu Achebe in Ogidi, in southeastern Nigeria, into an Igbo…
Storytelling and narrative Critical literacy Cultural heritage and identity Ethical thinking +1
"Until the lions have their own historians, the history of the hunt will always glorify the hunter."
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Literature
Christine de Pizan
c. 1364-c. 1430 · Italy / France
Christine de Pizan was a medieval Italian-French writer. She is widely considered the first woman in Europe to make her living as a professional author.…
Creative expression Ethical thinking Cultural heritage and identity Critical thinking +1
"Just the sight of this book made me wonder how it happened that so many different men have been so…"
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Literature
Christopher Hitchens
1949 - 2011 · United Kingdom (later United States)
Christopher Hitchens was a British-American journalist, essayist, and writer. He was one of the most famous public intellectuals of the late 20th and early 21st…
Creative expression Critical thinking Ethical thinking Research skills +1
"What can be asserted without evidence can also be dismissed without evidence."
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Literature
Dante Alighieri
1265-1321 · Florence, Italy
Dante Alighieri (1265-1321) was an Italian poet, writer, and political thinker. He was born in Florence, one of the most important cities in medieval Italy,…
Storytelling and narrative Ethical thinking Critical thinking Cultural heritage and identity +1
"In the middle of the journey of our life I came to myself within a dark wood where the straight…"
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Literature
Edward Said
1935-2003 · Palestine / United States
Edward Wadie Said was a Palestinian-American literary critic, public intellectual, and music critic. He was one of the founders of postcolonial studies. He was born…
Critical thinking Cultural heritage and identity Ethical thinking Research skills +1
"The Orient was almost a European invention, and had been since antiquity a place of romance, exotic beings, haunting memories…"
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Literature
Fatima Ahmed Ibrahim
c. 1933-2017 · Sudan
Fatima Ahmed Ibrahim was a Sudanese feminist, socialist, writer, and political leader. She was the first woman elected to the Sudanese parliament and, according to…
Ethical thinking Critical thinking Cultural heritage and identity Problem solving +1
"We did not want to become another copy of the Western woman. We wanted to be free as Sudanese women,…"
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Literature
Flora Tristan
1803-1844 · France and Peru
Flora Tristan was a French-Peruvian writer and activist. She was one of the earliest voices to link women's liberation with workers' liberation. She was born…
Critical thinking Ethical thinking Cultural heritage and identity Research skills +1
"Workers, unite!"
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Literature
Frederick Douglass
c. 1818-1895 · United States
Frederick Douglass (c.1818-1895) was an American abolitionist, orator, writer, and statesman. He was born into slavery in Talbot County, Maryland, the son of an enslaved…
Citizenship Critical literacy Ethical thinking Storytelling and narrative +1
"Once you learn to read, you will be forever free."
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Literature
George Orwell
1903-1950 · England
George Orwell was the pen name of Eric Arthur Blair, an English writer, journalist, and essayist. He is one of the most quoted writers of…
Critical thinking Ethical thinking Creative expression Research skills +1
"All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others."
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Literature
Halide Edib Adıvar
1884-1964 · Ottoman Empire / Republic of Turkey
Halide Edib Adıvar was a Turkish novelist, feminist political leader, soldier, and public intellectual. She is widely regarded as the founding mother of the modern…
Creative expression Ethical thinking Cultural heritage and identity Critical thinking +1
"We Turks have lost so much. We must not also lose our self-respect."
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Literature
Han Kang
1970-present · South Korea
Han Kang is a South Korean writer. In 2024 she became the first Asian woman, and the first Korean writer of any gender, to win…
Creative expression Ethical thinking Emotional intelligence Cultural heritage and identity +1
"I have dreams sometimes. Dreams I cannot bear."
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Literature
Harriet Martineau
1802-1876 · United Kingdom
Harriet Martineau was an English writer and social theorist. Many scholars now call her the first woman sociologist. She was born on 12 June 1802…
Critical thinking Research skills Ethical thinking Cultural heritage and identity +1
"Readers are plentiful: thinkers are rare."
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Literature
Ibn Battuta
1304 - c. 1369 · Morocco
Ibn Battuta was a Moroccan traveller, scholar, and writer. He travelled more widely than almost anyone else in the medieval world. Over about 30 years,…
Research skills Cultural heritage and identity Creative expression Critical thinking +1
"Travelling: it leaves you speechless, then turns you into a storyteller."
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Literature
James Baldwin
1924-1987 · United States
James Baldwin (1924-1987) was an American novelist, essayist, playwright, and activist. He was born in Harlem, New York, the eldest of nine children. His mother's…
Critical literacy Ethical thinking Cultural heritage and identity Storytelling and narrative +1
"Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced."
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Literature
John Milton
1608 - 1674 · England
John Milton was an English poet, political writer, and government official. He wrote one of the greatest poems in the English language, Paradise Lost. He…
Creative expression Ethical thinking Critical thinking Research skills +1
"Better to reign in Hell than serve in Heaven."
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Literature
José Carlos Mariátegui
1894-1930 · Peru
José Carlos Mariátegui was a Peruvian thinker, journalist, and political activist. He was one of the most original political writers in Latin American history. He…
Critical thinking Ethical thinking Cultural heritage and identity Research skills +1
"We certainly do not want socialism in Latin America to be a copy or an imitation. It must be a…"
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Literature
Laozi
c. 6th century BCE (traditional) / 4th century BCE (modern view) · China
Laozi is the name given to the author of the Daodejing, one of the most important books in Chinese thought. The name means 'Old Master'.…
Critical thinking Ethical thinking Cultural heritage and identity Emotional intelligence +1
"The Dao that can be spoken of is not the true Dao. The name that can be named is not…"
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Literature
Leanne Betasamosake Simpson
1971 - present · Mississauga Nishnaabeg / Canada
Leanne Betasamosake Simpson is a Mississauga Nishnaabeg writer, scholar, musician, and activist. She is one of the most important contemporary indigenous thinkers in North America.…
Cultural heritage and identity Creative expression Ethical thinking Critical thinking +1
"Resurgence is the act of building our own house, our own way, in our own time, on our own land."
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Literature
Lesya Ukrainka
1871-1913 · Ukraine (Russian Empire)
Lesya Ukrainka was a Ukrainian poet, dramatist, essayist, and political activist. She is widely regarded as the greatest Ukrainian woman writer and one of the…
Creative expression Ethical thinking Cultural heritage and identity Critical thinking +1
"Without hope, I will hope."
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