From Heraclitus to Julia Kristeva and Arthur Danto, Welsch depicts inspiring ideas and thoughts that shed new light on the world and whose radiant power is still unbroken today. Both the brisance and the actuality are illustrated with 22 examples. The spectrum ranges from the Presocratics to the present. Some of the authors discussed here, such as the Zen master Dōgen or the multitalented Samuel Butler, are not generally considered to be philosophers. But it is not a matter of academic categories, but of inspired ideas. Wherever they emerge and grasp us, philosophy happens.