Who do you think was the greatest person in history?

Yes, it is. I pick up nuances of life that way and find it enriching. What do you do in Canada and what part of Canada? A relaxed tempo in communications, that's nice, respond when you can. Is that your eye? Which thread is best to be on?

 

Abraham Lincoln. He ultimately got my country on the right track.

 

Very good choice, but in his diary in 1861 he wrote: "I care not whether the slaves are freed or not, but if in freeing them I will gain the support I need to win this war, I would do it". Then after Gettysburg in 1863 when the north was tired of the war and he needed a big push, he then came out with the Proclamation of Emancipation so that northeners would want to continue the fight. He actually freed the slaves for political and strategic reasons.

P.S. @DaVincisMuse yes, of course that is my eye.

 

Dang, I learn something new every day. I have never been to France so I did not know the French had BLUE skin!!! Do they also have BlueBeards?

 

Now you finally understand what we French mean when we say "sacre bleu!".

 

I would proudly say - Jesus

 

Over the course of Jewish history, no less than 135 prophets laid claim to be the messiah including Jesus. (Yoshua Bar Yousef) The fact that Jesus was willing to lay down his life for us in order to fulfill the prophecy of Isaiah written 500 years before his time, is testament to his goodness, courage and morality.

Having written all of that, what do I know? Perhaps Jesus really is the messiah.

 

I did not see this thread when you originally posted it, so jumping in now, ten years later.

It is a very interesting question. Right now, I am leaning towards naming the person that invented the wheel or perhaps fire. On the other hand, it was the first person who tried to grow his own food that invented agriculture which then allowed for larger groups of people to live together in villages or cities which caused the birth of "civilization." Note that they are all nameless.

 

They are all note worthy, but what about the person who invented tinfoil hats? *someone is being too modest

 

You're right. That's not a great thing, but if another person was in charge and didn't want to make that choice, even for political reasons, then who knows how much longer it would have taken to free the slaves.

I don't typical get inspired by famous people in history, as the world was so different back then and people were held to lower (very flawed) standards. I thought the thread here was interesting though, so I mentioned Abe because his biography kind of inspired me at one point in my childhood. But, now that I think about it, Sam Walton's book inspired the hell out of me more recently. That guy was dedicated and appeared to be very humble, even in his more successful later days.

 

Good point, what really matters is that he did end up freeing the slaves and also preserved the union.

 

'Martin Luther King' for sure and the world knows him.

 

The inventor of tinfoil hats stood on the shoulders of all of the other scientists and deep thinkers who came before him. E.g., tinfoil hats would not stay on people's heads if not for Newton discovering gravity.

 

Very good choice indeed, he along with Nelson Mandela not only recognized that change needed to happen, but change along with action. Mandela lost 27 years of his life while imprisoned for his beliefs and King ended up losing his life. Both men were willing to sacrifice for the greater good of others.

 

This is IT forum and you pick persons who actually done nothing for the technology today. The Polish scientist Marie Curie, the Brits Michael Faraday Issac Newton, the French Louise Pasteur, the Croatian scientist Nikola Tesla, the American scientist Samuel Morse...

 

Actually we have, check out posts #48...#65...#70...#72...#153.

 

4 examples , too less dear for IT forum . I would say that many of them are great persons not due to their work but personality. I appreciate work over personality if we talk about mankind level.

 

First, this is an IM forum, not an IT forum. And, to be honest, I think that my post #168 was, in fact, about enabling technology that allowed the scientists you cite to develop and flourish. Without the inventors I mentioned, we would still be hunter/gatherers and science or technology would not exist.

 

That is a good description of a typical politician. All charm and personality with no work ethic or real work experience. You must enjoy movies, all scripted acting, great personalities but nothing real.

 

Jesus Christ of NAZARETH.