An examination of the pathways to liberation set out by a number of thinkers, both East and West. Specifically, the ideas of Buddha, Socrates, Stoics, Spinoza, the sages who composed the Upanishads and Bhagavad Gita, Nietzsche, and Camus, are examined in detail with attention to their ideas about human suffering, its causes, and the way to move beyond suffering. The ideas of each thinker will be looked at individually and then will be compared to the ideas set out by the other thinkers. In the conclusion of the study, a general set of common ideas will be delineated and examined.