Ask HN: Thinkers that have greatly influenced your way of thinking?

What are some of the thinkers that greatly inspire or influence your work or your way of thinking in general? Or maybe the people you look up to, or aspire to be, etc.

And I mean "thinkers" in the broadest sense (eg writers, artists, bloggers, people in your field, etc.).

I think the HN crowd is super smart and would really love to learn about your influences!!

A list of multiple people (with explanations if you'd like) would be even better :)

PS. This is a repost of https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31092008

There were a few really lovely comments which makes me even more curious to see what others have to say!