Derek Sivers clearly stands out with his approach to life. He has a succint website, that is well worth a visit. One observation is, that his philosophy of life is incredibly well articulated, and based on a few explicit principles. If you were to ask a random person on the street, it would be rather hard to find anything like this.
From the website:
"I've optimized my life for creating and learning."
"I’m deliberate. I don’t believe in the “I can’t help the way I am” approach to life. Only dead fish go with the flow. I change who I am to get what I want, instead of the other way around."
From the book:
At the very start, he writes:
"All misery comes from dependency. If you weren't dependent on income, people, or technology, you would be truly free. The only way to be deeply happy is to break all dependencies."