Solomon was the first one who really made me think about wisdom and discipline. His words hit different. Simple, but heavy. He made me want to live with intention, build with patience, and actually fear God in a real way.

"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom."

Whitman showed me how to write with a rhythm. His stuff felt alive, free but grounded. He made me realize that you can write like a man without losing your soul.

"Keep your face always toward the sunshine—and shadows will fall behind you."

Baldwin taught me how to write like a man who’s seen too much and still chooses truth. His words carried fire, pain, clarity, and love for the people, even when it hurt. He helped me put language to my own tension: being Black, being emotional, being spiritual, and still here.

"You think your pain and your heartbreak are unprecedented in the history of the world, but then you read.”

Fitzgerald showed me how to romanticize failure without losing the truth.He wrote about men who had everything going for them on the outside, but were falling apart behind the scenes.

“There are all kinds of love in this world but never the same love twice.”

Ellison helped me make peace with being misunderstood. He wrote like a man who’d been quiet in every room, but still caught everything.

“When I discover who I am, I’ll be free.”

Thoreau reminded me that solitude isn’t weakness, it’s power. He didn’t run from the world, he just made space to think. There’s something bold about a man who chooses silence in a noisy world. He made me want to build something that doesn’t need an audience. (My personal favorite).

“I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately.”