Great thinkers
Ten minds. Ten answers.
Not biographies — but what each one thought about meaning, purpose, and how a life is best lived.
- Ancient GreekSocratesc. 470–399 BCE
“The unexamined life is not worth living.”
- Ancient GreekPlatoc. 428–348 BCE
“The good life is a life turned toward the Good.”
- Ancient GreekAristotle384–322 BCE
“Happiness is an activity of the soul in accordance with virtue.”
- Roman StoicMarcus Aurelius121–180 CE
“A ruler writing to himself about how to be good.”
- German philosophyFriedrich Nietzsche1844–1900
“He who has a why can bear almost any how.”
- Existential psychologyViktor Frankl1905–1997
“Meaning is what pulls us forward, even through suffering.”
- Depth psychologyCarl Jung1875–1961
“The privilege of a lifetime is to become who you truly are.”
- Eastern philosophy in the WestAlan Watts1915–1973
“You are it. There is nothing to attain.”
- Sufi poetRumi1207–1273
“The wound is the place where the light enters you.”
- TaoismLao Tzutraditionally 6th century BCE
“The way that can be spoken is not the eternal way.”