Who influences (or inspires) YOU?

[bladefd]

List your top 5 inspirational/influential figures and why (does not need to be in any specific order, just list 5 from the top of your mind in whatever order):

This thread was posted in early 2011. 3 years later, I have decided to look back on this after some life-altering events in last 6 months. Something inside me has changed - perhaps my outlook on life in some ways. I have removed MLK/JFK and put in Sagan/Bruce Lee. I also moved up Gandhi to #1.




1) Mahatma Gandhi: What was he? A tiny guy with bones sticking out of every part of his body with just enough food to stand upright. Then you look at what he did: he took down the British empire through strictly peaceful means. He would starve himself for months at a time if any of his people used violence against the British (and the Muslims later on when India was violently split between Hindus/Muslims after British left). People (from both Hindu and Islam side) would beg him to eat again and stopped violence just for him. After he was shot, he had the largest funeral ever with all of India closing down for days, and it is still a major holiday today. Unbelievable. Arguably the most influential person ever. As an Indian, I look up to this man as an inspiration. Even when the odds are against you, you never give up what you believe in.



2) Carl Sagan: There was something very special about this fellow, who was an astrophysicist that made science more accessible to average people. He made you feel small by showing you humility and how Earth is simply a pale blue dot in the vastness of the universe. He also made you feel big by showing you that ‘we are made of star stuff’. Our atoms were once a part of some distant star and so the universe is around us as much as it is within us. This man showed how special and great life is, and how we should treat each other with respect & humility. He is somebody that is an inspiration to who I’m as a person, my life views, and how I wish more humans were like. He has influenced me and inspired me.



3) Bruce Lee: Bruce was truly an awesome figure. He was much more than an actor and martial artist. He was a philosopher, a warrior, a man of peace. He changed the image of martial arts globally and also changed how Asians were looked at in the West. He created his own style of fighting called Jeet Kune Do that mixed together different styles of fighting and focused on efficiency to maximize effectiveness. It is a style that continuously evolves in flexibility. As Bruce once said "Empty your mind, be formless, shapeless, like water. If you put water into a cup, it becomes the cup. You put water into a bottle and it becomes the bottle. You put it in a teapot it becomes the teapot. That water can flow, or it can crash. Be water my friend." That is Bruce as a philosopher and a poet. His movies I have seen quite a few times, and I still look up his writings/quotes. He is a legend that lives on.



4) Albert Einstein: Went from a nobody to the man of the century and perhaps the greatest scientist ever. At a young age, people looked down at him and questioned his intelligence in early age and he was pretty socially retarded somewhat. Proves everybody wrong starting in college and created some of the most advanced theories known to mankind that are still pretty widely accepted today + quantum physics field pretty much was started after his research/writings. Quite an accomplishment, eh? Crazy guy but just a genius. He is second in overall impact in science to maybe only Isaac Newton. I'm very familiar with Newton's impacts, but Einstein has moved physics a step forward - people thought physics was starting to become stagnant then Einstein comes along that shatters almost everything.



5) Humanity as a whole: It is inspiration for where we are today as a human race. We have gone through a lot... Quick list of what makes us absolutely awesome. Evolved from apes. Invented tools from stones and firepit for staying warm+cooking. Spoken language and agricultural farming. Domesticated animals. People came together to create civilizations and large cities. Underground sewers, new foods and crops. New ideas coming together from all corners of the globe. Mathematics, physics, economics, philosophy, etc. History being constantly written and retold. Created cars and airplanes. A-bomb and genetic engineering. Space travel, research. The challenge to find new better sources of energy. Hate and love. War and stability. We are where we are today and that in itself is an inspiration to all that it stands for.

People I bumped out of my top 5 (replaced by Sagan/Lee):

Martin Luther King Jr.: Much like Gandhi, he believed in getting black rights through only peaceful means (he actually said that he studied Gandhi closely, took out books on Gandhi's philosophy and his teachings and later used those teachings in his own fight). He pretty much was the most important figure in getting blacks their rights and removing the segregation. Gave his life for what he believed in. MLK also had fewer people to work with; Gandhi had all of India behind him while MLK was mostly blacks, who were a minority. I GREATLY respect people that against all odds come out victorious just so that their children could have the same opportunities as others. Of course, there is still lots of racism and the opportunities are not the same between blacks/whites, but it doesn't compare to how it was during the segregation days.

JFK: I don't even know where to start. Space race was won during his presidency, first moon landing ever. Closest we have ever came to world annihilation (or at least destruction of much of USA and most of USSR) after Cuban missile crisis but was thwarted by JFK (he went against what most of his Generals were asking for - a preemptive strike on USSR). Youngest president ever, normal family that people can connect with. Drilled Marilyn Monroe and other beautiful women of that time. War hero. Assassinated. Damn, what he could have been if he wasn't assassinated. All we can do is speculate, but he sure was somebody you want to admire.

Who is your top 5?

[v-unit]

When you grow a backbone I'll be interested in hearing who your top 5 are. Until then, get this generic list...OUUUTTTAA HERE

[Legend of Josh]

When you grow a backbone I'll be interested in hearing who your top 5 are. Until then, get this generic list...OUUUTTTAA HERE

I'm was almost sure your post would mention Jay Z when I seen you as the last reply in the thread.

[LilKateMoss]

When you grow a backbone I'll be interested in hearing who your top 5 are. Until then, get this generic list...OUUUTTTAA HERE

Ironic coming from an idiot whose musical likes are modeled after MTV's top 10.

[Walduś]

did you put in #3 just because you don't want to come of racist?

[Stuckey]

jesus

my parents - hard working immigrants that made rags into moderate riches

buddha

mother theresa

[lakers_forever]

Jesus and the people who got inspired by him:

Tolstoy
Gandhy
MLK

[Jailblazers7]

Not really a specific person but a great book is what inspires me. For me, it all about self exploration more so than a role model type individual inspiring me by example.

[pete's montreux]

loj

[RidonKs]

5) Humanity as a whole: It is inspiration for where we are today as a human race. We have gone through a lot... Quick list of what makes us absolutely awesome. Evolved from apes. Invented tools from stones and firepit for staying warm+cooking. Spoken language and agricultural farming. Domesticated animals. People came together to create civilizations and large cities. Underground sewers, new foods and crops. New ideas coming together from all corners of the globe. Mathematics, physics, economics, philosophy, etc. History being constantly written and retold. Created cars and airplanes. A-bomb and genetic engineering. Space travel, research. The challenge to find new better sources of energy. Hate and love. War and stability. We are where we are today and that in itself is an inspiration to all that it stands for.

I like this. Humanity is underrated. We're better than everything else we've ever met and we deserve to brag about it, Goddamnit!

But seriously, nothing inspires quite like good ol' fashioned competition. And when it's coupled with deep respect, it's even better.

[Penny_Hardaway]

Tupac Shakur = best story-teller in the history of the game. Made you think, and not everybody has the hability to do this. Not much more needs to be said.

Bruce Lee = I could name a list of 100 things that inspire me of Bruce, but that would be writing too much.

Arturo Perez-Reverte = its very posible nobody will know who im talking about. Ex war-zone reporter now reconverted into a novelist/writer. Honest, lucid and not afraid to speak what he thinks.


Genghis Khan = this may sound stupid and retarded, but his will, strong character and achievements are inspiring. The original gangster.

[v-unit]

Ironic coming from an idiot whose musical likes are modeled after MTV's top 10.

Haha I almost forgot about you. What up baby?

[Stuckey]

Not really a specific person but a great book is what inspires me. For me, it all about self exploration more so than a role model type individual inspiring me by example.

any recommendations?

[bladefd]

When you grow a backbone I'll be interested in hearing who your top 5 are. Until then, get this generic list...OUUUTTTAA HERE

Like I said, it has to be 5 people/things off the top of your head without sitting there for 30 mins thinking about who to put. It doesn't matter if that person is popular or not already. As long as the person is inspirational/influential to you directly off the top of your mind, that's all that matters.

The only person that I would take off the list right now is JFK after reading through my list again. I don't think he is very influential to me personally; I respect him a lot and I know a lot about him but that's it. I would probably replace him with Bruce Lee. I completely forgot about Bruce. Wow.. Saw all of his movies multiple times and watched his interviews/some writings, and I wouldn't be completely honest if I said that he doesn't influence me a lot.

And for the guy that thinks I put MLK on the list to not sound racist: you are a fool, my friend.

[Lebron23]

1. Alexander the Great
2. Jesus Christ
3. Confucius
4. Michael Jordan
5. Larry Bird
6. Achilles
7. Napoleon Bonaparte
8. Isaac Newton
9. Michael Jackson
10. Tupac Shakurs
11. King Arthur
12. LeBron James