Chapter I
1. A very famous someone once said, "most people go through their lives thinking only once or twice a year; I have made an international reputation for myself by thinking once or twice a week".
2. What he was referring to was not the passing thoughts we all have and which are required of all of us when we are engaged in whatever endeavour it is that feeds us.
3. He was referring to that which is considerably deeper that leads our minds in directions other than what it is used to,
4. And endeavours to give us answers about ourselves, about other humans, and about existence itself.
5. But it is not enough to just entreat these thoughts.
6. We must write them down, pound them into submission, rip them to shreds, and knead them back together in a sensical form.
7. The very famous someone from the first stanza was exaggerating to make a point.
8. The majority of people do think in these terms several times a week, but the distinction comes by the fact that they do not pursue these lines of thought.
9. More people have these flashes of brilliance than we give credit for, but because they do not pursue them, the insight gained in those brief moments is absorbed into the character and experience of the individual;
10. The thoughts and insights themselves are quickly forgotten.
11. The Books of Thinkers are the writings of some of the most famous thinkers throughout history.
12. Those who were famous for treating us with a completely new direction in thought or existence;
13. And those who were famous for dissecting existence in a way that gave food for thought for all subsequent generations.
14. For the most part, the most famous thinkers in specific schools of thought can be found in the Books of this Testament that represent those schools, such as Existentialism, Transcendentalism, or Utilitarianism.
15. The writings of those in the Books of Thinkers savour of all of these schools, and of none of them.
16. Just like the writings of those categorized into specific schools of thought will sometimes savour of their school and sometimes not.
17. Such is the nature of thought, and of thinkers who tear down barriers and are merciless to established doctrine.
18. "We go now, and know not where it takes us, but we go nonetheless, and to a place far greater than where we began."
19. The First Book of Thinkers is devoted to three of the most influential thinkers in history; Plato, Friedrich Nietzsche and Francois-Marie Arouet, more commonly known as Voltaire.