W.H. Auden, (1907 – 1973) English-American poet. He exerted a major influence on the poetry of the 20th century. Auden’s first book of poetry, "Poems", was published in 1928. Auden won the Pulitzer Prize in 1948 for "The Age of Anxiety". Much of his poetry is concerned with moral issues and evidences a strong political, social, and psychological context.

Jorge Luis Borges (1899 – 1986) Argentine short-story writer, essayist and poet. He was a key figure in Spanish language and universal literature.

Khalil Gibran (1883 - 1931) Lebanese-American poet and writer. He was the author of The Prophet, The Broken Wings , Beloved, The Three Ants and many others (His name is sometimes spelled Kahlil)

Annie Dillard -  American author. She has published works of poetry, essays, prose, and literary criticism, as well as two novels and one memoir. She won the 1975 Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction for her work "Pilgrim at Tinker Creek".

Virginia Woolf (1882 - 1941) English writer. She was a prolific writer of essays, diaries, letters and biographies.

Photo "by Unknown photographer," 1927. Courtesy of the Mortimer Rare Book Room, Neilson Library, Smith College, Northampton, Massachusetts".

Herbert Bayard Swope (1882 - 1958) American editor, journalist. He was the first and three-time recipient of the Pulitzer Prize for Reporting. He is also credited with coining the phrase "Cold War"

"Be a good steward of your gifts. Protect your time. Feed your inner life. Avoid too much noise. Read good books, have good sentences in your ears. Be by yourself as often as you can. Walk. Take the phone off the hook. Work regular hours."...................Click  to read  Maria Popova's Brain Pickings article about  Kenyon’s "A Hundred White Daffodils: Essays, Interviews, The Akhmatova Translations, Newspaper Columns, and One Poem"

Politics without principle, pleasure without commitment, Wealth without work, Wisdom without character, business without morality, Science without humanity and Prayer without charity.

Vincent Van Gogh (March 30, 1853–July 29, 1890) Dutch Post-Impressionist painter who is among the most famous and influential figures in the history of Western art. He created about 2,100 artworks, including over 800 oil paintings, most of them in the last two years of his life.

Hermann Hesse (1877-1962) German-born poet, novelist, and painter. Much of his writings explores the individual's search for authenticity, self-knowledge and spirituality. He received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1946.