Alan Watts

British philosopher, writer, and speaker (1915-1973)

Albert Camus

French philosopher and author (1913-1960)

Alexander Woollcott

Drama critic (1887-1943)

Alice Walker

Novelist, poet, and social activist (1944-present)

Amy Schumer

Actress, comedian, and writer (1981-present)

Anne Frank

Jewish diarist and Holocaust victim (1929-1945)

Annie Ernaux

Nobel Prize-winning French writer (1940-present)

Aristotle

Ancient Greek philosopher (384-322 BCE)

Audrey Hepburn

Actress and humanitarian (1929-1993)

Bessie Anderson Stanley

Writer (1879-1952)

Betty White

Actress and comedian (1922-2021)

Bob Goff

Lawyer, speaker, and author (1959-present)

Bob Marley

Jamaican reggae singer (1945-1981)

Buddhist proverb

Buddy Wakefield

Poet (1974-present)

C.S. Lewis

British writer (1898-1963)

Charles Baudelaire

French poet, essayist, and art critic (1821-1867)

Charles Wagner

French pastor (1852-1918)

Charlotte Brontë

Author and poet (1816-1855)

Cheryl Strayed

Author (1968-present)

Chris Burden

Christopher Moore

Author (1957-present)

Daisaku Ikeda

Japanese Buddhist philosopher (1928-2023)

David Bowie

Singer, songwriter, and actor (1947-2016)

David Brooks

Political commentator (1961-present)

David Lynch

Filmmaker (1946-2025)

David Steindl-Rast

Diana Vreeland

Fashion editor (1903-1989)

Eckhart Tolle

Spiritual teacher and self-help author (1948-present)

Edith Wharton

Pulitzer Prize-winning author (1862-1937)

Edward Hopper

Realist painter (1882-1967)

Eleanor Roosevelt

Humanitarian and former U.S. first lady (1884-1962)

Emily Dickinson

Poet (1830-1886)

Epictetus

Greek Stoic philosopher (c. 50-135 CE)

Epicurus

Greek philosopher (341-270 BCE)

Etty Hillesum

Dutch author and diarist (1914-1943)

Eugène Ionesco

Romanian French playwright (1909-1994)

Fernando Pessoa

Flannery O'Connor

Novelist, short story writer, and essayist (1925-1964)

Francis Bacon

English philosopher and statesman (1561-1626)

Frank Lloyd Wright

Freida Pinto

Gabrielle Zevin

Gautama Buddha

Religious teacher and founder of Buddhism (c. 563 or 480 BCE-483 or 400 BCE)

George Herbert

English poet and priest (1593-1633)

George Santayana

Spanish American philosopher and writer (1863-1952)

Hafez

Persian lyric poet (c. 1325-c. 1390)

Helen Keller

Author, educator, and activist (1880-1968)

Henry David Thoreau

Writer, philosopher, and naturalist (1817-1862)

Henry Miller

Novelist and short story writer (1891-1980)

Hermann Hesse

Horace

Iris Apfel

J.J. van der Leeuw

Dutch author (1893-1934)

James Baldwin

Writer and civil rights activist (1924-1987)

Jamie Lee Curtis

Jane Austen

English author (1775-1817)

Jane Goodall

Animal scientist and conservationist (1934-2025)

Jean Antoine Petit-Senn

Jim Carrey

Actor (1962-present)

Joan Didion

Writer and journalist (1934-2021)

Joan Rivers

Actress, comedian, and writer (1933-2014)

John Steinbeck

Nobel and Pulitzer Prize-winning writer (1902-1968)

Jonathan Sacks

English Orthodox rabbi (1948-2020)

Kevin Kelly

Editor and publisher (1952-present)

Kurt Schwitters

Laozi

Leo Tolstoy

Russian author (1828-1910)

Ludwig van Beethoven

German composer (1770-1827)

Ludwig Wittgenstein

Austro-British philosopher (1889-1951)

Mahatma Gandhi

Indian independence leader (1869-1948)

Marcus Aurelius

Roman emperor (121-180 CE)

Margaret Wander Bonanno

Maria Popova

Essayist and poet (1984-present)

Martha Beck

Sociologist and author (1962-present)

Martha Graham

Dancer and choreographer (1894-1991)

Marthe Troly-Curtin

Author (Unknown)

Mary Lou Retton

Olympic gymnast (1968-present)

Mary Shelley

English novelist (1797-1851)

Maya Angelou

Poet, author, and civil rights activist (1928-2014)

Mel Robbins

Meryl Streep

Oscar-winning actress (1949-present)

Michael J. Fox

Michelle Obama

Former U.S. first lady (1964-present)

Mindy Kaling

Actress, producer, and screenwriter (1979-present)

Miriam Miranda

Moby

Musician and DJ (1965-present)

Nikos Kazantzakis

Greek writer, journalist, and politician (1883-1957)

Patti Smith

Singer, songwriter, and poet (1946-present)

Paulo Coelho

Brazilian author (1947-present)

Pema Chödrön

Buddhist nun and teacher (1936-present)

Pericles

Phoebe Waller-Bridge

English actress, writer, and producer (1985-present)

Proverbs 17:22

Rachel Carson

Marine biologist, author, and environmental activist (1907-1964)

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Writer and philosopher (1803-1882)

Richard Bach

Author and pilot (1936-present)

Robert Harling

Writer, producer, and director (1951-present)

Robert Hunter

Poet and lyricist for the Grateful Dead (1941-2019)

Robert Rabensteiner

Rockwell Kent

Painter and illustrator (1882-1971)

Sarah Williams

Sharon Salzberg

Author and meditation pioneer (1952-present)

Sheila Heti

Simone de Beauvoir

French philosopher and writer (1908-1986)

Sophocles

Sri Chinmoy

Indian spiritual leader (1931-2007)

Stephen Colbert

Steve Jobs

Entrepreneur and Apple co-founder (1955-2011)

Susan Sontag

Writer and cultural critic (1933-2004)

Terry Pratchett

Fantasy author (1948-2015)

Thích Nhất Hạnh

Vietnamese Buddhist monk (1926-2022)

Toni Morrison

Nobel and Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist (1931-2019)

Vicki Baum

Austrian writer (1888-1960)

Victor Hugo

Viola Davis

EGOT-winning actress and producer (1965-present)

Walt Whitman

Poet and essayist (1819-1892)

Wanda Landowska

Polish harpsichordist (1879-1959)

Washington Irving

Writer and historian (1783-1859)

Willa Cather

Novelist (1873-1947)

William Blake

English poet and painter (1757-1827)

William Carlos Williams

William Shakespeare

English playwright and poet (c. 1564-1616)

Yohji Yamamoto

Yoko Ono

Artist and peace activist (1933-present)