Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756 – 1791) An influential and prolific music composer. (From a Letter as published in The Letters of Mozart & His Family (1938) translated and edited by Emily Anderson, p. 1114)

Ruth Bader Ginsburg (1933-2020) - Wrote an essay when she was 13 years old which was published in her synagogue bulletin urging congregants to rid themselves of hate and prejudice. The essay, dated June 2, 1946 and titled "One People" was published in Ginsburg’s 2017 book “My Own Words”, which contains a collection of her speeches and writings as well as her thoughts on growing up in Brooklyn’s Midwood neighborhood.

One People

The war has left a bloody trail and many deep wounds not too easily healed. Many people have been left with scars that take a long time to pass away. We must never forget the horrors which our brethren were subjected to in Bergen-Belsen and other Nazi concentration camps. Then, too, we must try hard to understand that for righteous people hate and prejudice are neither good occupations nor fit companions. "Rabbi Alfred Bettleheim once said: 'Prejudice saves us a painful trouble, the trouble of thinking'.” In our beloved land families were not scattered, communities not erased nor our nation destroyed by the ravages of the World War.

Yet, dare we be at ease? We are part of a world whose unity has been almost completely shattered. No one can feel free from danger and destruction until the many torn threads of civilization are bound together again. We cannot feel safer until every nation, regardless of weapons or power, will meet together in good faith, the people worthy of mutual association. 

There can be a happy world and there will be once again, when men create a strong bond towards one another, a bond unbreakable by a studied prejudice or a passing circumstance. Then and only then shall we have a world built on the foundation of the Fatherhood of God and whose structure is the Brotherhood of Man.

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

Debbie Millman - is an American writer, educator, artist, curator, designer and  brand strategist who is best known as the host of the podcast Design Matters. https://www.debbiemillman.com/

Albert Einstein (March 14, 1879, - April 18, 1955)

Mark Twain (1835 - 1910) American writer, humorist, publisher, and lecturer.

Walt Whitman ( 1819 - 1892) American poet, essayist, and journalist.

Charles Pierre Baudelaire (1821 - 1867) French poet, considered one of the most compelling poets of the19th century. He also produced notable work as an essayist, art critic, and one of the first translators of Edgar Allan Poe.

Judy Garland (1922 - 1969) American actress, singer, and dancer

James Bryce (1839 -1922) Irish-born academic, historian, jurist, Liberal politician and British Ambassador to the United States.

Source: From a 1909 speech before the Fifteenth Annual Conference on International Arbitration on the subject of "Allegiance to Humanity" held at Lake Mohonk, NY

John Robert Lewis - (February 21, 1940 - July 17, 2020) American civil rights leader and politician. He was the U.S. Representative for Georgia's 5th congressional district from 1987 until his death in 2020.

Will Durant  (1885 - 1981) was an American writer, philosopher and historian. He became best known  for the work "The Story of Civilization", 11 volumes written in collaboration with his wife, Ariel Durant.

Martin Luther King Jr. - (1929 - 1968) American Christian minister, activist and leader in the Civil Rights Movement from 1955 until his assassination in 1968.

James Bryce (1839 -1922) Irish-born academic, historian, jurist, Liberal politician and British Ambassador to the United States.

Source: From a 1909 speech before the Fifteenth Annual Conference on International Arbitration on the subject of "Allegiance to Humanity" held at Lake Mohonk, NY   

Maya Angelou (1928-2014) American writer, poet, singer, and civil rights activist.

Photo Credit: York College ISLGP / CC by https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/

Martin Luther King Jr. (1929 - 1968) American Christian minister, activist and leader in the Civil Rights Movement from 1955 until his assassination in 1968.

Martin Luther King Jr. (1929 - 1968) American Christian minister, activist and leader in the Civil Rights Movement from 1955 until his assassination in 1968.

Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809 - April 15, 1865) The 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in April 1865