This man defines cool. He may not be real, but that is likely his only shortcoming. For those of you not in the know, Spike is one of the best cowboys around, and he is based out of the fishing ship, Bebop.
A powerful orator and a man of both passion and compassion. He was willing to sacrifice everything to push the United States in the direction of good, sadly he had to sacrifice everything, but thankfully he was rather successful.
Regardless of the sanity of this fellow, or his potential metaphysical origins, if he was just a dude, he sounds like he was probably a pretty good one. He sacrificed his life for our eternal lives, I'm not certain that it works that way, but hey, still mighty cool of him. Apparently, the middle initial, 'H,' stands for nothing, and is offensive. Only guy on the list with an official religion behind him.
Here I go again. I am touched by a man who has convictions this strong. A man who can stand up against the greatest empire ever. A man who will stand in its way, but never raise a fist. A gentle soul who changed the world.
One of my favorite philosophers, he was an elitist. He hung around Wagner, to have a father figure, and wound up thinking Wagner was an asshole, which of course he was and an anti-semite, too. This man said 'God is dead, and we killed him' and he said 'truth shouldn't be the most important virtue in judging things to believe in, the idea's ability to entertain and make you happy is much more important.' He contracted a disease from a woman in a brothel.
This smart ass little bugger found holes all throughout the Bible, and was a believer at the time. He presented the holes to the local rabbis, in hopes they would explain them away for him, they couldn't but they offered him shut up money. They paid him 60% of living wage, just for not talking. He couldn't help himself, and was kicked out of town. He was also to inherit his dad's money when the dad died, and his sister challenged him in court for it, Spinoza acted as his own counsel, and thwarted his sister's efforts. He promptly gave her the money aftewards.
This man ran around showing people how stupid they were, and died for it. He didn't whine.
This man's writing makes me feel better about everything, and makes the world a brighter place. His voice is fresh. A novelist of the variety I dream to one day be compared with.