What historical figures are your heroes?
That word, "hero" can mean a lot of things. Here's what I think of when I think of it, at least for the purposes of historical figures worthy of remembering and venerating. I think of people that I would tell the next generation, "You should try to be like this person." That doesn't have to, and really shouldn't, mean "You should be like that person in every way." It just means that there is some aspect of them that I would want the next generation to emulate, especially whatever it is that they are famous for.
When answering, I am including "historical" and posting this in "history", so I want to limit it to historical figures, and for the purposes of this thread I want to suggest that they should be people whose great accomplishments were achieved before you were born. That cuts out a couple of people from my list, but there's plenty left.
I'll start.
My heroes begin with explorers. Yes, Columbus is on the list. As is Magellan. Marco Polo. Captain Cook. They weren't good people or a good cause, but people who set out to find something or do something that no one had ever done.
Even more so, the people who explore the limits of knowledge. The scientists. Einstein. Curie. Newton. Darwin. Kepler.
I look at my reading material, and there are a lot of generals in that material, but I don't think I would put any of them in my hero list. They're famous, and impressive, but I can't think of any that I really look at and say that they were the greatest example of a human being, worthy of emulation. Maybe I'm leaving someone out, but just being very good at killing people and winning battles isn't enough to me for hero status. You're interesting, but not heroic. I might include some ordinary soldiers in a hero list, but I can't think of any generals who clearly deserve the position. Of course, that's on my list. Yours might be different.
The final category would be people who I think made significant, important contributions to freedom or democracy. So, the "founding fathers" are all on there, with the most famous of them at the top. Abraham Lincoln is there. I'll throw in John Locke as a definite contender for hero status. Without him, or at least without his ideas, there may never have been a James Madison or Thomas Jefferson.
So that's the start of my list. What's yours? There are a bunch of empty pedestals where statues used to be. We have to have someone to fill their spots. (The thought of putting a statue of Charles Darwin in place of Robert E. Lee would be so awesome.)
That word, "hero" can mean a lot of things. Here's what I think of when I think of it, at least for the purposes of historical figures worthy of remembering and venerating. I think of people that I would tell the next generation, "You should try to be like this person." That doesn't have to, and really shouldn't, mean "You should be like that person in every way." It just means that there is some aspect of them that I would want the next generation to emulate, especially whatever it is that they are famous for.
When answering, I am including "historical" and posting this in "history", so I want to limit it to historical figures, and for the purposes of this thread I want to suggest that they should be people whose great accomplishments were achieved before you were born. That cuts out a couple of people from my list, but there's plenty left.
I'll start.
My heroes begin with explorers. Yes, Columbus is on the list. As is Magellan. Marco Polo. Captain Cook. They weren't good people or a good cause, but people who set out to find something or do something that no one had ever done.
Even more so, the people who explore the limits of knowledge. The scientists. Einstein. Curie. Newton. Darwin. Kepler.
I look at my reading material, and there are a lot of generals in that material, but I don't think I would put any of them in my hero list. They're famous, and impressive, but I can't think of any that I really look at and say that they were the greatest example of a human being, worthy of emulation. Maybe I'm leaving someone out, but just being very good at killing people and winning battles isn't enough to me for hero status. You're interesting, but not heroic. I might include some ordinary soldiers in a hero list, but I can't think of any generals who clearly deserve the position. Of course, that's on my list. Yours might be different.
The final category would be people who I think made significant, important contributions to freedom or democracy. So, the "founding fathers" are all on there, with the most famous of them at the top. Abraham Lincoln is there. I'll throw in John Locke as a definite contender for hero status. Without him, or at least without his ideas, there may never have been a James Madison or Thomas Jefferson.
So that's the start of my list. What's yours? There are a bunch of empty pedestals where statues used to be. We have to have someone to fill their spots. (The thought of putting a statue of Charles Darwin in place of Robert E. Lee would be so awesome.)
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