Choose Your Mentors
Browse 24 mentors from history and literature. Build your personal board of advisors.
24 mentors found
Leonardo da Vinci
Renaissance Italy, 15th-16th Century
Known for
Embodying the Renaissance ideal through art, science, engineering, and insatiable curiosity
Learning never exhausts the mind.
From: The Renaissance: Studies in Art and Poetry
64 mentor adoptions
Marie Curie
Known for
Scientific discovery and persistence against all odds
From: Pierre Curie
33 mentor adoptions
Charles Dickens
Victorian Era
Known for
Novelist who championed the poor and transformed English literature
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.
From: The Life of Charles Dickens, Vol. I-III, Complete
65 mentor adoptions
Thomas Edison
19th-20th Century America
Known for
The light bulb, phonograph, and relentless experimentation
"Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration."
From: Historical Figures Collection
64 mentor adoptions
Jane Austen
Victorian Era
Known for
Author and letter writer
From: The Letters of Jane Austen: Selected from the compilation of her great nephew, Edward, Lord Bradbourne
63 mentor adoptions
James Watt
Known for
The central figure, an inventor and mechanical genius.
From: James Watt
61 mentor adoptions
George Eliot
Victorian Era
Known for
Novelist and philosopher who challenged Victorian conventions
It is never too late to be what you might have been.
From: George Eliot; a Critical Study of Her Life, Writings and Philosophy
59 mentor adoptions
Alexander Graham Bell
19th century America/Canada
Known for
Inventor of the telephone and tireless advocate for deaf education
When one door closes, another opens—but we often look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one which has been opened
From: The Story of My Life: With her letters (1887-1901) and a supplementary account of her education, including passages from the reports and letters of her teacher, Anne Mansfield Sullivan, by John Albert Macy
56 mentor adoptions
Jules Verne
19th century France
Known for
Father of science fiction who envisioned submarines, space travel, and technologies decades before their invention
Anything one man can imagine, other men can make real
From: Nellie Bly's Book: Around the World in Seventy-Two Days
53 mentor adoptions
H.G. Wells
Late 19th-Early 20th century England
Known for
Visionary author of The Time Machine, War of the Worlds, and pioneer of social science fiction
History is a race between education and catastrophe
From: Books and Persons; Being Comments on a Past Epoch, 1908-1911
52 mentor adoptions
James Clerk Maxwell
19th Century Scotland
Known for
Physicist who unified electricity, magnetism, and light into electromagnetic theory
In science, there are no authorities; only evidence and reason
From: James Clerk Maxwell and Modern Physics
51 mentor adoptions
George Bernard Shaw
Victorian/Edwardian Era
Known for
Playwright, critic, and socialist wit
Life is not about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself.
From: George Bernard Shaw, his life and works : $b a critical biography (authorized)
50 mentor adoptions
Albert Einstein
20th Century Germany/USA
Known for
Relativity, imagination, and seeing the universe differently
"Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world."
From: Einstein, the searcher : $b his work explained from dialogues with Einstein
45 mentor adoptions
G. K. Chesterton
Early 20th century England
Known for
Prolific writer and master of paradox who illuminated truth through wit and wonder
The world will never starve for want of wonders, only for want of wonder
From: Gilbert Keith Chesterton
37 mentor adoptions
Audubon
19th century America
Known for
Naturalist and artist who documented American birds with unprecedented beauty and scientific accuracy
A true conservationist knows that the world is not given by his fathers, but borrowed from his children
From: Audubon the Naturalist: A History of His Life and Time. Vol. 2 (of 2)
35 mentor adoptions
Denis Diderot
Known for
Question everything, especially what you think you know.
From: Voltaire: A Sketch of His Life and Works
34 mentor adoptions
Mozart
18th century Austria
Known for
Musical prodigy and composer of transcendent works including operas, symphonies, and concertos
Neither a lofty degree of intelligence nor imagination—the capacity to feel and create beauty is the mark of genius
From: Life of Mozart, Vol. 1 (of 3)
33 mentor adoptions
Otto H. Kahn
Early 20th Century America
Known for
Investment banker and arts patron who helped finance American industry and supported the Metropolitan Opera
The financier who merely knows how to make money is a poor financier indeed
From: High Finance
32 mentor adoptions
J. S. Bach
18th Century Germany
Known for
Composer and musician whose works represent the pinnacle of Baroque music and contrapuntal technique
The aim and final end of all music should be none other than the glory of God and the refreshment of the soul
From: Johann Sebastian Bach: His Life, Art, and Work
32 mentor adoptions
Nikola Tesla
19th-20th Century Serbia/America
Known for
Alternating current, wireless power, and visionary genius
"The present is theirs; the future, for which I really worked, is mine."
From: The inventions, researches and writings of Nikola Tesla: With special reference to his work in polyphase currents and high potential lighting
29 mentor adoptions
Johann Goethe
18th-19th century Germany
Known for
Towering literary genius who wrote Faust, shaped Romanticism, and contributed to science and philosophy
Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it—boldness has genius, power, and magic in it
From: The Autobiography of Goethe: Truth and Poetry: From My Own Life
28 mentor adoptions
Richard Wagner
19th century Germany
Known for
Revolutionary opera composer who transformed music into total art
The artwork of the future must unite all the arts
From: My Life — Volume 1
25 mentor adoptions
Gertrude Stein
Early 20th Century
Known for
Avant-garde writer and Paris salon hostess who shaped modernism
A rose is a rose is a rose.
From: The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas
24 mentor adoptions
Leopold Bloom
Known for
An advertisement canvasser and the main protagonist, navigating a day in Dublin.
From: Ulysses
19 mentor adoptions