Recently I re-read The Greatest Minds and Ideas of All Time by Will Durant. The book is a collection of articles like "Ten Greatest Thinkers," "Ten Greatest Poets," "The 100 best books for an education."
While sharing his lists of the greatest, he also encouraged readers to form their own list in "The Country of the Mind," a realm where the heroes of our species dwell.
His list of 10 greatest thinkers includes Confucius, Plato, Aristotle, Aquinas, Copernicus, Bacon, Newton, Voltaire, Kant and Darwin. One criterion for his choice of greatest thinkers is its influence on the minds of men and women.
Number one: Confucius, who was a moral philosopher, not a preacher in religious faith. His pursuit of noble act is based on secular motive rather than supernatural considerations. He far more resembled Socrates than Jesus.
Will Durant expressed great admiration for Chinese civilization. He envisioned, prior to China's implementation of reform and an open-door policy, a future where China's huge productive capabilities once liberated, equipped with its rich spiritual and cultural heritage, would create remarkable wealth. Durant foresaw the potential for China to surpass the United States in economic prowess.
As a historian, Durant provided a perspective that appreciates the vast historical and cultural richness of Chinese civilization. Perhaps he also foresaw a historical pattern in a large time frame.
There are so much for us to learn in the long river of history 历史长河(Lì shǐ cháng hé).