The Greatest Minds and Ideas of All Time

BY WILL DURANT

The Greatest Minds and Ideas of All Time

Heroes of History

The Story of Philosophy

Transition

The Pleasures of Philosophy

Adventures in Genius

BY WILL AND ARIEL DURANT

The Story of Civilization

I. OUR ORIENTAL HERITAGE

II. THE LIFE OF GREECE

III. CAESAR AND CHRIST

IV. THE AGE OF FAITH

V. THE RENAISSANCE

VI. THE REFORMATION

VII. THE AGE OF REASON BEGINS

VIII. THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV

IX. THE AGE OF VOLTAIRE

X. ROUSSEAU AND REVOLUTION

XI. THE AGE OF NAPOLEON

Interpretations of Life

The Lessons of History

The Greatest Minds and Ideas of All Time

WILL DURANT

Compiled and edited by John Little

Simon & Schuster

NEW YORK LONDON TORONTO SYDNEY

SIMON & SCHUSTER

Rockefeller Center

1230 Avenue of the Americas

New York, NY 10020

Copyright © 2002 by John Little, Monica Ariel Mihell, and William James Durant Easton

All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form.

Simon & Schuster and colophon are registered trademarks of Simon & Schuster, Inc.

For information regarding special discounts for bulk purchases, please contact Simon & Schuster Special Sales at 1-800-456-6798 or business@simonandschuster.com

DESIGNED BY PAUL DIPPOLITO

Manufactured in the United States of America

7  9  10  8

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Durant,Will, date.

The greatest minds and ideas of all time/Will Durant; compiled and edited by John Little.

p. cm.

Includes index.

1. Civilization—History.  2. Intellectual life—History.  I. Little, John R., date.  II. Title.

CB69.D86 2002

909—DC21   2002075852

ISBN: 978-0-743-23553-2

eISBN-13: 978-1-439-10714-0

www.SimonandSchuster.com

If a man is fortunate he will, before he dies, gather up as much as he can of his civilized heritage and transmit it to his children.And to his final breath he will be grateful for this inexhaustible legacy, knowing that it is our nourishing mother and our lasting life.

—WILL DURANT

Keeping the above observation of Will Durant’s in mind, I should dedicate this compendium of the peaks of our human heritage to all children, and more prejudicially, to my children: Riley,Taylor, Brandon, and Benjamin; that they may learn and experience the noble strain in humanity and learn that man is capable of such great things that even the gods might be envious.

—JOHN LITTLE

And to Edward and Benny Easton,whose grandparents worked so hard through so many decades to deliver this gift to them.

Contents

Introduction ·

CHAPTER ONE

A Shameless Worship of Heroes ·

CHAPTER TWO

The Ten “Greatest” Thinkers ·

CHAPTER THREE

The Ten “Greatest” Poets ·

CHAPTER FOUR

The One Hundred “Best” Books for an Education ·

CHAPTER FIVE

The Ten “Peaks” of Human Progress ·

CHAPTER SIX

Twelve Vital Dates in World History ·

Index ·

The Greatest Minds and Ideas of All Time

Introduction

In 1968, shortly after winning the Pulitzer Prize for literature, Will Durant and his wife, Ariel, consented to a television interview to be conducted in their home in Los Angeles, California. The interviewer, who fancied himself something of an intellectual, posed to Durant the following question:

If I were to ask you to name the person who has most influenced our century (the 20th century) would it be Karl Marx?

Durant paused for a moment and then replied: