Of those I haven't met, and in no particular order:
- Siddhārtha Gautama (Gautama Buddha): Not only did he discover nirvana through the experience of universal truth, he also stuck around to teach it to others.
- Belur Krishnamachar Sundararaja Iyengar (Yogacharya B.K.S. Iyengar): His work includes bringing the most ancient and authentic teachings of Yoga to the West, after having established its teaching in public and in schools throughout India.
- "The Master" Henry James: It seems he cared more for the art of the novel than he did his own life.
- David Suzuki: For his repeated attempts at giving everyone a well-deserved wake-up call.
- William Strunk, Jr. (author of the first edition of The Elements of Style): For teaching me many things, including the fact that this is actually a list of my 5 favourite persons.
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Knowing that death is certain and that the time of death is uncertain, what's the most important thing?
—Bhikkhuni Pema Chödrön
Humankind cannot bear very much reality.
—From "Burnt Norton," Four Quartets (1936), T. S. Eliot
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