Spinoza

Many of you may know the favorite philosopher of mine is Baruch Spinoza.

And my reason is simple. Spinoza made his living as a simple lens grinder. (In fact, he died at the age of 44 from a lung disease, which was most likely silicosis exacerbated by fine glass dust inhaled while grinding optical lenses.) Nonetheless, he spent most of his time writing and studying as a private scholar. In 1673, University of Heidelberg offered Spinoza the title Professor of Philosophy on the condition that can not mention god or religion. He declined.

If one cannot talk about what he thinks is right, what good is there to hold an important position?

PS. Spinoza was expelled from the Jewish religious community at the age of 23. As a head-to-toe Unitarian, ironically, he never became a Christian. Yes, he moved to a town near the Christians' headquarters, and was buried in a Christian graveyard, but he never accepted baptism or participated in a Christian mass - another reason to take my hat off.