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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177 thinkers
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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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Psychology
Lev Vygotsky
1896-1934 · Russia / Soviet Union
Lev Semyonovich Vygotsky (1896-1934) was a Russian psychologist whose ideas about how children learn and develop have become central to education and developmental psychology worldwide.…
Scientific thinking Research skills Critical thinking Ethical thinking +1
"What a child can do with assistance today she will be able to do by herself tomorrow."
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Education
Linda Tuhiwai Smith
1950-present · Aotearoa New Zealand
Linda Tuhiwai Smith is a Māori scholar from Aotearoa New Zealand. She is one of the most important Indigenous thinkers on research and education in…
Critical thinking Research skills Ethical thinking Cultural heritage and identity +1
"The word itself, 'research', is probably one of the dirtiest words in the Indigenous world's vocabulary."
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Philosophy
Ludwig Wittgenstein
1889-1951 · Austria-Hungary / United Kingdom
Ludwig Wittgenstein was an Austrian-British philosopher. Many consider him the greatest philosopher of the twentieth century. He was born on 26 April 1889 in Vienna,…
Critical thinking Creative expression Research skills Ethical thinking +1
"The limits of my language mean the limits of my world."
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Biology
Lynn Margulis
1938-2011 · United States
Lynn Margulis (1938-2011) was an American biologist and theorist. She was born Lynn Alexander in Chicago, graduated from the University of Chicago at eighteen, and…
Scientific thinking Environmental thinking Critical thinking Systems thinking +1
"Life did not take over the globe by combat, but by networking."
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Education
Malala Yousafzai
1997-present · Pakistan
Malala Yousafzai is a Pakistani education activist. She is the youngest person ever to win the Nobel Peace Prize. She was born on 12 July…
Critical thinking Ethical thinking Cultural heritage and identity Emotional intelligence +1
"One child, one teacher, one book, one pen can change the world."
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Politics
Mao Zedong
1893-1976 · China
Mao Zedong was a Chinese revolutionary and political leader. He founded the People's Republic of China in 1949 and ruled it until his death in…
Critical thinking Ethical thinking Cultural heritage and identity Problem solving +1
"The Chinese people have stood up."
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Anthropology & Culture
Margaret Mead
1901-1978 · United States
Margaret Mead (1901-1978) was an American cultural anthropologist who became the most publicly prominent and widely read anthropologist of the twentieth century. She was born…
Critical thinking Research skills Cultural heritage and identity Scientific thinking +1
"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it is the only thing…"
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Physics
Marie Curie
1867–1934 · Warsaw, Poland / Paris, France
Marie Curie (1867–1934) was a physicist and chemist born in Warsaw, Poland, at a time when Poland was occupied by Russia and women were barred…
Critical thinking Resilience Metacognition Intercultural competence
"Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood."
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Technology & Engineering
Marshall McLuhan
1911-1980 · Canada
Marshall McLuhan (1911-1980) was a Canadian media theorist. He was born in Edmonton, Alberta, and studied literature at the University of Manitoba and Cambridge University…
Media literacy Digital literacy Critical thinking Civic media and democracy +1
"The medium is the message. This is merely to say that the personal and social consequences of any medium result…"
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Philosophy
Martha Nussbaum
1947-present · United States
Martha Craven Nussbaum is an American philosopher. She is one of the most influential and widely read philosophers of the past fifty years. She was…
Ethical thinking Critical thinking Emotional intelligence Cultural heritage and identity +1
"The best approach to the question of social justice is the capabilities approach: what are people actually able to do…"
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Religion
Martin Luther
1483-1546 · Germany (Lutheran / Protestant Reformer)
Martin Luther (1483-1546) was a German friar, theologian, and biblical scholar whose objections to Catholic practice became the catalyst for the Protestant Reformation — a…
Critical thinking Ethical thinking Cultural heritage and identity Creative expression +1
"Here I stand; I can do no other."
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Philosophy
Mary Anning
1799-1847 · England
Mary Anning (1799-1847) was an English fossil collector and self-taught palaeontologist whose discoveries on the cliffs of Lyme Regis in Dorset transformed scientific understanding of…
Scientific thinking Research skills Critical thinking Cultural heritage and identity +1
"The world has used me so unkindly, I fear it has made me suspicious of everyone."
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Politics
Mary Parker Follett
1868-1933 · United States
Mary Parker Follett (1868-1933) was an American political philosopher and management thinker whose ideas about authority, conflict, and organisation anticipated much of the later twentieth…
Critical thinking Ethical thinking Cultural heritage and identity Creative expression +1
"Power is with, not power over."
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Literature
Mary Shelley
1797-1851 · England
Mary Shelley (1797-1851) was an English novelist whose Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus, written when she was eighteen years old, is widely regarded as the…
Creative expression Ethical thinking Critical thinking Scientific thinking +1
"Learn from me, if not by my precepts, at least by my example, how dangerous is the acquirement of knowledge."
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Literature
Mary Wollstonecraft
1759–1797 · England, Britain
Mary Wollstonecraft (1759–1797) was a British writer, philosopher, and early advocate for women's rights. She grew up in poverty and educated herself by reading widely…
Critical thinking Critical literacy Intercultural competence Resilience
"I do not wish women to have power over men, but over themselves."
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Sociology
Max Weber
1864-1920 · Germany
Max Weber (1864-1920) was a German sociologist who wrote about religion, politics, economics, and the nature of modern society. He was born in Erfurt, in…
Critical thinking Scientific thinking Research skills Ethical thinking +1
"The fate of our times is characterised by rationalisation and intellectualisation, and, above all, by the disenchantment of the world."
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Literature
Maya Angelou
1928-2014 · United States
Maya Angelou (1928-2014) was an American poet, memoirist, essayist, and public figure whose seven-volume autobiography and body of poetry made her one of the most…
Creative expression Ethical thinking Critical thinking Cultural heritage and identity +1
"I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget…"
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Philosophy
Mencius
c. 371-289 BCE · China
Mencius was a Chinese philosopher. His Chinese name was Meng Ke, which means 'Master Meng'. Later Chinese tradition called him the 'Second Sage', meaning second…
Ethical thinking Critical thinking Emotional intelligence Cultural heritage and identity +1
"The feeling of pity is the beginning of kindness. The feeling of shame is the beginning of doing right. The…"
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Economics
Michael Porter
b. 1947 · United States
Michael Eugene Porter (born 1947) is an American academic whose work on competitive strategy, national competitiveness, and the economic analysis of healthcare and social problems…
Critical thinking Scientific thinking Research skills Problem solving +1
"The essence of strategy is choosing what not to do."
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Philosophy
Michel Foucault
1926-1984 · France
Michel Foucault was a French philosopher and historian. He was one of the most influential thinkers of the 20th century. He was born on 15…
Critical thinking Research skills Ethical thinking Cultural heritage and identity +1
"Where there is power, there is resistance."
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Politics
Millicent Fawcett
1847-1929 · United Kingdom
Dame Millicent Garrett Fawcett was an English political activist and writer. She led the largest peaceful campaign for British women's right to vote for over…
Ethical thinking Critical thinking Problem solving Cultural heritage and identity +1
"Courage calls to courage everywhere, and its voice cannot be denied."
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Literature
Mirabai
c. 1498-c. 1547 · India (Rajasthan)
Mirabai was a sixteenth-century Indian poet and saint. She is one of the most loved figures in the bhakti movement, a Hindu devotional tradition that…
Creative expression Ethical thinking Cultural heritage and identity Emotional intelligence +1
"Mira's lord is the clever Mountain Lifter; she is his slave forever, at the dust of his lotus feet."
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Religion
Moses Maimonides
1138-1204 · Al-Andalus / Egypt (Sephardic Jewish)
Moses ben Maimon (1138-1204), a religious figure known in Hebrew as Rambam and in Arabic as Musa ibn Maymun, was a Sephardic Jewish philosopher, legal…
Critical thinking Ethical thinking Cultural heritage and identity Research skills +1
"The truth does not become more true by virtue of the fact that the entire world agrees with it, nor…"
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