A poll like this undoubtedly has been on this forum before, but I didn't spot one recently, so I made a new one.


Which person in history do you admire most?


NOTE: The reason I made no 'other' option is because too many people would vote 'other' then. 20 options is obviously far too little to cover all great persons in history. So if you don't see your hero among these, please vote the one on the list you admire most, and if you want, you can of course post the person you feel is missing in this thread.

HOW COULD YOU NOT PUT IN MAHATMA GANDHI :THE APOSTLE OF PEACE!!!!!!!!

Well I thought about putting him in, but the other persons that are in the poll are all very important too, so I had to make choices.

Robin Hood, a probably fictious character who mugged people, is more important than Ghandi? I wonder about your choices.

I voted Da Vinci. Anyone who could invent the parachute, helicopter and submarine whilst being one of the greatest painters is worthy of a vote. :)

You put a few scientists and inventors and a robber over Mahatma Gandhi!!!!!!!!!:angry:

A very biased poll...

And pls define 'greatest'. As in most influential?

Indeed, quite biased, as all such polls would be. Terrorists such as Mandela and Guevara, a French peasant girl and Errol Flynn keeping company with the Lord God. :ack:
And no mention of many greats, including those of a less "nice" character, but whose impact was still great.
But one does concur with the absence of Gandhi; a troublemaking Indian fakir (to paraphrase Winston's eminent description of him :D) is not really up there with the real important and great figures of history. Passive resistance is the last refuge of the wimp and sissy. :evil:

I voted for Jesus Christ. He did a nice thing dying for us and stuff...

Altough the person who I truly admire for his accomplisments is the Finnish general A.F.Airo. Not only was he a strategic genious who created a completely unique recruiting system in Finland, he is also a symbol of the cold war that went on in Finland, when he was imprisoned, humiliated and basically tortured by the communists.

allhailIndia: "HOW COULD YOU NOT PUT IN MAHATMA GANDHI :THE APOSTLE OF PEACE!!!!!!!!"

With this I agree strongly - just finished a great book, a compilation of his writings in different times, from South Africa to India. Gandhi is truly a unique person in the history of mankind.

@Finnmaster: I think it was also Kekkonen (with other buttkissers of the communists) who imprisoned him - why not someone else?

Harry S. Truman.

Originally posted by XIII
A very biased poll...

Of course. How could it not have been biased?
As I said, if you miss a great person (in your biased opinion) you can mention him/her in the thread.


And pls define 'greatest'. As in most influential?

See the question above the poll: Which of these people do you admire most?

Originally posted by Ukas
@Finnmaster: I think it was also Kekkonen (with other buttkissers of the communists) who imprisoned him - why not someone else? I remember reading Airo's book, and - altough I might remember incorrectly - the main people who were behind the "conspiracy" were prime minister (future president) Paasikivi, defence minister Mauno Pekkala and, most of all, home minister Leino (who was a communist. btw, I'm not sure if it's home minister in english, someone correct me if that's wrong).

EDIT: I notice that Kekkonen was the Minister of Justice during those times, so it is quite possible that he had also something to do with it.

@Finnmaster

Leino was sisäministeri (home secretary, also minister of the interior - as in sisäministeriö = ministry of the interior, ministry for internal affairs)

For example in the doctoral thesis of Lasse Lehtinen it is said, that Kekkonen was one to make the list of "war criminals" later imprisoned by the govt. Lehtinen may be biased as a member of social democratic party, but when considering his high profile it's reasonable to expect, that he would check this from several reliable sources. Kekkonen has been accused of playing a role in the "conspiracy" before and it certainly suits to his later politics. A.F. Airo and others who were convicted didn't have opportunity to accuse Kekkonen in their lifetime - Kekkonen was a president longer than most of them lived.

Originally posted by Simon Darkshade
Indeed, quite biased, as all such polls would be. Terrorists such as Mandela and Guevara, a French peasant girl and Errol Flynn keeping company with the Lord God. :ack:
And no mention of many greats, including those of a less "nice" character, but whose impact was still great.
But one does concur with the absence of Gandhi; a troublemaking Indian fakir (to paraphrase Winston's eminent description of him :D) is not really up there with the real important and great figures of history. Passive resistance is the last refuge of the wimp and sissy. :evil:

Perhaps we ought to have had a guerilla type resistance whereby we could have deprived the British of crucial men and materials during the World Wars and lived to say Seig Heil!!:mad: :mad:

or better yet, free the Japanese enough men and materials to invade Australia!!:ninja::tank:

I really like the top 3. I like Ghandi. I like Asoka. I like anyone who preaches love and tolerance.

However, most all of them are worthy of gret recognition (if not all).

I was tempted to vote Robin Hood but he should not have been on the poll.

Originally posted by allhailIndia
Perhaps we ought to have had a guerilla type resistance whereby we could have deprived the British of crucial men and materials during the World Wars and lived to say Seig Heil!!:mad: :mad:

or better yet, free the Japanese enough men and materials to invade Australia!!:ninja::tank:

Oh, you do overestimate your importance, don't you. :p
The cost of the Great War was such that Britain could not afford to keep the Empire, regardless of Mr Gandhi's acts of symbolism
And there were other options. Loyal obedience to one's dread sovereign, for example.

I also say Leonardo....the greatest polymath of all time, heh heh!

Of thos above I think Alexander the Great is the best.
But most of the above mentiond did some good/interesting things.

Originally posted by allhailIndia
HOW COULD YOU NOT PUT IN MAHATMA GANDHI :THE APOSTLE OF PEACE!!!!!!!!

I scrolled through the poll 4 times, because I could not imagine Gandhi missing.

So I voted Mandela. I think it is awesome, they we he acted after being imprisoned for so long. It would have been 100% natural to go for revenge. In stead he became a bridge between the white apartheid regime and the black majority.

How can any one better greater than Jesus Christ?
Anyway, I like Hitler, Mao, Stalin, Lincoln, and Einstein
Who's Buddha ? you have any links that I can read about this man?

Originally posted by Sayounara
Who's Buddha ? you have any links that I can read about this man? Methinks he meant Siddartha Gautama (sp?), founder of Buddhism...

you put in a major figure from 3 religions and leave others, from other religion out?-shameful :(

What the hell Robin Hood do in this list. He's a a half-fiction character who rob both poor and rich.

I vote for the Che.

Sayounara, with all due respect, if you proclaim yourself to be a follower of Christ, admiration for Hitler, Mao and Stalin is against the teachings of the Christian Saviour.

I didn't vote. Too many on there to pick just one; too many LIKE GHANDI and MOHAMMED left out. But good discussion -- never heard of that Finnish general. Great story.

I'm surprised Jesus got so many votes. I didn't know there were so many Christian Fundamentalists here...

Addiv, you don't have to be a fundamentalist, or even a Christian, to admire the teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. He was above all a man of peace, tolerance and love for your fellow man. Not bad teachings.

Plus, he liked hanging with hookers....

Sayounara, u sicko how can u like Hitler, Mao or Stalin the biggest mass murderers ever ? :hmm:

Originally posted by Remorseless
Sayounara, with all due respect, if you proclaim yourself to be a follower of Christ, admiration for Hitler, Mao and Stalin is against the teachings of the Christian Saviour.

I didn't vote. Too many on there to pick just one; too many LIKE GHANDI and MOHAMMED left out. But good discussion -- never heard of that Finnish general. Great story.
I realise the 'cruel' things they've done but they were strong and have done a lot. How is admiring these people against Christian Saviour?