A growing collection

Inspirations

The people who inspire me, and the words and stories they left us. The ones I keep coming back to, collected here one at a time.

Photo credits

Mark Twain: photo by A.F. Bradley, New York, Public domain; Leonardo da Vinci: photo by Attributed to Francesco Melzi, Public domain; Stephen Covey: photo by Neshan H. Naltchayan, Public domain; Greg McKeown: photo by Bibbines77, CC BY 3.0; Peter Diamandis: photo by Brassfield, CC BY-SA 4.0; Austin Kleon: photo by Larry D. Moore, CC BY 4.0; Dale Carnegie: photo by unknown photographer, Public domain; Chris Guillebeau: photo by Original: Jen Lemen from Silver Spring, USA Cropping: Mr. Granger, CC BY-SA 2.0; Gary Vaynerchuk: photo by Vaynermedia, CC0; Marcus Aurelius: photo by Daniel Martin, CC BY-SA 4.0; Jostein Gaarder: photo by Heike Huslage-Koch, CC BY-SA 4.0; Michael Pollan: photo by Cmichel67, CC BY-SA 4.0; Theodore Roosevelt: photo by Adam Cuerden, Public domain; John Bogle: photo by BillCramer, CC BY-SA 4.0; George Saunders: photo by Library of Congress Life, CC0; William McRaven: photo by United States Navy, Public domain; John Gardner: photo by U.S. Social Security Administration, Public domain; Jeff Bezos: photo by SECWAR, Public domain; Charlie Munger: photo by Nick, CC BY 2.0; Bill Gurley: photo by TechCrunch, CC BY 2.0; Elizabeth Gilbert: photo by Erik Charlton from Menlo Park, USA, CC BY 2.0; Ken Robinson: photo by Sebastiaan ter Burg, CC BY-SA 2.0; Simon Sinek: photo by Lance Cpl. Brendan Mullin, Public domain; Barry Schwartz: photo by Bill Holsinger-Robinson, CC BY 2.0; Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie: photo by librairie mollat, CC BY 3.0; Seneca: photo by Calidius, CC BY-SA 3.0; Abigail Adams: portrait by Benjamin Blyth, Public domain; Grace Bedell: photo by unknown photographer, Public domain; John Keats: portrait by William Hilton, Public domain; Ralph Waldo Emerson: photo by unknown photographer, Public domain; Vincent van Gogh: self-portrait, Public domain; Ernest Hemingway: photo by Lloyd Arnold, Public domain; E.B. White: photo, Cornell University senior photograph, Public domain; Kurt Vonnegut: photo by WNET-TV/PBS, Public domain; Amy Purdy: photo by Thatcher Cook for PopTech, CC BY-SA 2.0. Via Wikimedia Commons; cropped. Daniel Quinn: photo from Ishmael.org; Cal Newport: press photo by Penny Gray Photography; Stephen Shapiro: photo from stephenshapiro.com; Brian Johnson: photo from Heroic; Robert Waldinger: photo from Aspen Ideas; Paul Millerd: press photo, courtesy of Paul Millerd. Press and publisher photos are used with credit to celebrate each person’s work. Colorized hover versions of the black-and-white photos were made with an automatic colorization model; the originals are unchanged.

Every day I start with this Focus page to keep me grounded and often I reflect on inspiring people who I admire. These people aren’t perfect, they have their flaws, but there’s something about each of them that inspires me to be better. I hope they can be helpful to you too. If you click on their photos above it might take you somewhere surprising: some I’ve interviewed or written books about, some I’ve admired from afar, and some are fictional characters who I find in books I love. Wherever they may be, maybe they can inspire you the way they have me.

Their stories

“When I’m feeling stuck, my instinct is to do less.”

Paul Millerd

Author of The Pathless Path

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“If my life were a book, and I was the author, how would I want my story to go?”

Amy Purdy

Paralympic snowboarder, dancer, author

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“The only way I was going to start a non-profit is if we built a non-profit that I personally would feel comfortable giving to.”

Chase Adam

Peace Corps Volunteer, founder of Watsi

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“I measure my success by how happy I am, not how big the business is or how much money I’ve made.”

Gary Vaynerchuk

Author of Crush It!

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“Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?”

Mary Oliver

Poet of attention and amazement

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“…the bedrock of our very being is good stuff.”

Mister Rogers

Television neighbor to generations of kids

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“Find the best in everybody.”

Randy Pausch

Professor, dad, and giver of the Last Lecture

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“Well done is better than well said.”

Ben Franklin

Printer, scientist, statesman, humorist

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“I would love to support you and your work.”

Brian Johnson

Philosopher and founder of PhilosophersNotes

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More inspirations are on their way

New profiles join this shelf as they’re ready. In the meantime, their words live all over the site:

Coming 2027 The Daily Optimist

366 meditations on gratitude, kindness, and the people who inspire us — one true story or quote for every day of the year, from Hatherleigh Press.

Read a sample & get notified →

Follow along

One essay a week, every Saturday morning.