Halx

1. Mark Twain - Modern history's best humorist.
2. Abraham Lincoln - A fair and intelligent leader. He was so careful never to make a judgement before he had seen all the facts.
3. Robert F. Kennedy - It's all speculative, but I'd like to believe he was headed for something great before he was killed.
4. Vin Scully - Absolutely the best storyteller (aka Baseball commentator) of this century. If you think baseball is boring, you've never listened to one of his telecasts.
5. Jon Stewart - While obviously one of the most popular comedians, his true awesomeness doesn't emerge until he puts on a straight face and starts speaking his mind.

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Crack

I am angry...no, no, OUTRAGED that I did not make this list. What has the world come to?

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World's King

1. Hunter S Thompson
2. Groucho Marx
3. Arthur Guinness
4. Enrico Piaggio (Invented the Vespa)
5. Me. (Of course)

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Redlemon

I'm assuming that this list is not in order.

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mixedmedia

Louis Armstrong - my most favoritest person ever!
Mark Twain - history's greatest and most irreverent humorist
Ambrose Bierce - one of history's most fantastic assholes...Devil's Dictionary people
Orson Welles - just a fucking genius at anything he set his mind to
Jane Goodall - primate advocate...one of the few

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PESSIMISM, n. A philosophy forced upon the convictions of the observer by the disheartening prevalence of the optimist with his scarecrow hope and his unsightly smile. - Ambrose Bierce

squeeeb

in no particular order:

1. steve martin - hilarious writer, actor, entertainer. genius.
2. buster keaton - comedic genius and amazing stunt/ physical comedy guy.
3. marylin manson - modern day paganini, as far as marketing/hype.
4. tom robbins - produces true literature. check out "fierce invalids home from hot climates"
5. warren ellis - greatest writer of comic books ever. hence my avatar.

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onward to mayhem!

World's King

Who said it wasn't in order?

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heavy is the head that wears the crown

Willravel

Agreed on Bobby Kennedy. I'd add Jules Verne, Dr. MLK Jr., Sean Connery (because of his work to free Scotland), and Noam Chomsky.

aberkok

1. Angela Duval - a great teacher...and my wife

2. Thelonious Monk - no introduction needed, created his own truly individual voice, somehow completely based in tradition, somehow completely different

3. John Coltrane - kept pushing and pushing himself through new barriers of music

4. Harvey Pekar - comic writer - the most down-to-earth person I can think of... completely accessible while inspiring me to look for new areas of art to explore - he's the person who truly got me to grow up in my reading - in case you don't know, he's the subject of the film American Splendor

5. Vijay Iyer - musician - he helped me to dash a fear of intellectualizing my music learning and making, and showed me a way into the tradition post 1965 - he also helped me to begin exploring a truly personal voice - his music is great and relevant

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QuasiMondo

In absolutely no particular order:

?uestlove. I want his afro

Sebastian Loeb - I want his driving skills

Jay Leno - I want his car collection

Mr. Cee - I want his music crates

Jimi Hendrix - Just imagine if he had lived another 10 years

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lurkette

Hm...favorite people like best people in the world? Or favorite like, I think they're really fascinating and I'd love to have dinner with them? (Besides my loves and my buddies, of course.)

Another vote for Jon Stewart. He's hilarious and seems like a mensch.
Molly Ivins, god rest her soul.
Makoto Nagano - Japanese Fisherman and winner of Ninja Warrior. I don't know what we'd talk about, but gosh he's purty!
Jodie Foster. I would love to find out what's going on in her head.
Clive Owen. Hell of an actor, and he chooses such interesting roles.

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EaseUp

Interesting choice. The only president to order the US Army to kill Americans. The only president to suspend habeas corpus (the Patriot Act doesn't compare to this.)

He ordered slaves freed, but only in the south, and he made sure to exclude slaves in the north, and in parts of the south under northern control. Read the Emancipation Proclamation if you doubt me.

The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln edited by Roy P. Basler, Volume III, "Fourth Debate with Stephen A. Douglas at Charleston, Illinois" (September 18, 1858), pp. 145-146.

And, of course, he suggested sending all blacks back to Africa.

It's not your fault--it's difficult to find a non-politically correct history book.

Willravel

It's always good to learn more about people you idolize. From my list:

- Bobby Kennedy was not only hired by but liked Joe McCarthy.
- Jules Verne was French.
- (mods, feel free to laugh at this) Dr. MLK Jr. probably plagiarized over a third of his doctoral dissertation to Boston U.
- Sean Connery beat his wife.
- Noam Chomsky writes some of the driest books in history, despite their importance.

Ease, while it is very important not to think an idol flawless, I would hope that their flaws would be measured against their successes with careful consideration. In my opinion, Abraham Lincoln was one of the greatest people in our country's history, despite his possible political reasoning (which we're still not sure of...it's entirely possible he was waiting for the right time to free as many slaves as possible and this was it).

Caco

1) John Paul II
2) Adrian Smith(Iron Maiden - guitar)
3) Bruce Dickinson(Iron Maiden - voc)
4) My mother
5) My grandfather

shesus

1. Dickie Greenleaf
2. Elwood P. Dowd
3. Corky St. Clair
4. Dawn Campbell
5. Mary Richards

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biznatch

Stevie Ray Vaughn
I second ?uest
Stan Lee
Jon Stewart
and other people that i can't think of right now.

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spindles

this sounds like a fun dinner party

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tenniels

In no order whatsoever:
Robin Williams (I think he could make me laugh til I throw up)
Pierre Trudeau and family
Spiderman *Don Cherry shall replace my pick of Spiderman.
Kurt Cobain (judge all ye want hehe)
Stephen Colbert and John Stewart (in my world they're a package deal)

Other than that, my real favourite people are in my family and friends I'm close with. I see from my list I'm not near as interesting as some of you all. Shoot I forgot to include Don Cherry. Okay well, take off Spiderman I guess because he's not "real", and put Don Cherry in his place.

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ngdawg

Well, if fame was a factor, I'd go with Groucho Marx, Robin Williams, George Carlin, Ayn Rand and.....*shrug*.
Truly, my five favorite people are not famous, but nevertheless very influential. To me.

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Don't blame me. I didn't vote for either of'em.

jorgelito

Interesting that people's 5 favorite people are those they have never met.

ngdawg

Perhaps they are, but the path of the thread is toward the famous, which the majority of us will never meet.
My '5 favorites' are friends, so I've met them all. The ones I've named, besides being comedians, mostly, are, to me, among the most intelligent people to ever gain fame. There's an highly intellectual key to being so wondrously funny and irreverent, and a depth of thought most of us can only hope to match, but probably never will.

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Don't blame me. I didn't vote for either of'em.

Willravel

Maybe meeting people in person is a disappointment.

tenniels

Yeah, that is why I said my real favourite people are friends and family, but since this thread seemed to be more towards those in the public eye, I listed "famous" people. I get what you're saying , but I suppose we could all say my friend Bob and cousin Bill and it wouldn't mean much to anyone else because the rest of the forum wouldn't get it. I mean I suppose a description would help, but you know what I'm saying.

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warrrreagl

Noam Chomsky
Stonewall Jackson
Jimmy Johnson
George Wallace
Jimmy Wales

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Halx

I could just as well say my wife, my dad, my mom, my sister, and my best friend... but that wouldn't be very interesting... as good as those people are.

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lurkette

Okay, if we're listing our five favorite non-famous people we really know, in alphabetical order:

- Ratbastid (for his stability, intelligence, sense of humor, kindness, and love)
- Grandma (for teaching me to put other people first and being a good person)
- Melanie (my sister, for her acerbic wit and because she agrees with me on just about everything)
- Mom (because she's my mom)
- StellaLuna (for her bravery, diligence, know-how, can-do-ness, and er...physical attributes )

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warrrreagl

You fucking idiot! How can you have a hateful moron like that on your list? This is supposed to be a list of favorite people, and only a complete and total southern boob like yourself would put someone like that on your list. I personally hate that person, and you are not allowed to admire someone that I hate (since it is my solemn TFP obligation to beat you over the head with my opinion instead of discussing this rationally).

Clearly, you have no standards.

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Living is easy with eyes closed.

Willravel

??

tenniels

Awww, are you talking to yourself? I do that too... But I guess you're having a typed conversation with yourself which would be different than talking with ones self I suppose...

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ngdawg

Maybe he meant the comedian.....not the governor?
Jimmie Johnson, the racecar driver?

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Don't blame me. I didn't vote for either of'em.

Judy Taber

Says a lot about people on many levels. We bitch and complain that celebrities get so much attention, and lament the 100,000:1 salary disparity between them and the average joe, but in reality we wish we were them, or knew them. It says a lot (or, a little) about our lives if the most interesting thing in them is our adulation of strangers. Perhaps warrrreagl had the same thought and popped a vein.

Halx

It says nothing.

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shesus

As has already been mentioned. Obviously our favorite people are the people in our lives, at least I would hope so...maybe not, but that's a choice people make.

However, stating the obvious is not interesting. Yea, my favorite people are my husband, my mom, and various friends. No interesting conversation comes from the obvious and people that nobody knows.

This post is like the 'If you could choose anyone, who would you like to have dinner with?" Seriously, it's a thread for entertainment...stop analyzing it and pick your favorite people. I'm not a huge celeb fan, but they are entertaining. Without them, I'd be staring at a box with a black piece of glass and my movie and book shelves would be empty. That would be a shame.

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jorgelito

People, it was just another perspective or lens to view the original question posed. No need to get defensive or snippy. I enjoy reading all the different opinions in addition to the simple lists.

I would disagree that it is obvious as not all people like their family or maybe they are dissatisfied with their friendships. For example, my father is most definitely not one of my favorite people. Oddly enough, I find the question to be challenging because it is hard for me to say who is my favorite if I have not met them or know them (if it's famous people or celebrities).

Shesus, maybe you have a student you are particularly fond of and have an interesting story to explain why? I would find that very interesting.

The "Who would you like to have dinner question" is always a fun one but I think it's rather different than the question in this thread.

Hmm...my favorite celebrities would be:

1. Jesus
2. Socrates
3. Bruce Lee
4. Malcom X
5. Mel Blanc

I chose these five because I enjoyed reading their writings and admire their perseverance, dedication, and contributions to humanity. I suppose one could say they are my "role models".

Some attributes I admire:

Jesus' professions of love for all mankind (never mind what his followers do), his humanity despite his divinity.

Socrates' honesty, integrity, humility, modesty.

Bruce Lee's philosophical evolution - acceptance of all peoples, his tao. His discipline.

Malcom X - I am in awe of his transformation, his salvation and his redemption.

Mel Blanc - What can I say? This guy was a genius of epic proportions and very talented. He made me laugh.

Other honorable mentions:

Albert Einstein, Mozart ( I bet this guy could party!), Walt Disney, Anne Frank (the powerful, honest diary of a little girl who rekindled my own humanity).

Baraka_Guru

Of those I haven't met, and in no particular order:

• Siddhārtha Gautama (Gautama Buddha): Not only did he discover nirvana through the experience of universal truth, he also stuck around to teach it to others.
  
• Belur Krishnamachar Sundararaja Iyengar (Yogacharya B.K.S. Iyengar): His work includes bringing the most ancient and authentic teachings of Yoga to the West, after having established its teaching in public and in schools throughout India.
  
• "The Master" Henry James: It seems he cared more for the art of the novel than he did his own life.
  
• David Suzuki: For his repeated attempts at giving everyone a well-deserved wake-up call.
  
• William Strunk, Jr. (author of the first edition of The Elements of Style): For teaching me many things, including the fact that this is actually a list of my 5 favourite persons.

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Giant Hamburger

Snorri Sturluson
Robert E. Howard
Tom Waits
Earl Campbell
Hakeem Abdul Olajuwon

mixedmedia

I'll be absolutely frank here and say that although I love my friends and family very much, there is not a one of them who are as interesting as Louis Armstrong , Mark Twain, Ambrose Bierce, Orson Welles and Jane Goodall. They're just not. In our rush to bash people for liking "celebrities," let's not forget that very often people are celebrities for a GOOD reason. I really don't see what is so wrong about saying that. Now, of course, if the question were, "Name the five people you love the most," my answers would all be friends and family.

And Giant Hamburger and Baraka Guru, your lists are very interesting...makes me wish I could choose 10.

BKS Iyengar rocks!

__________________
Most people go through life dreading they'll have a traumatic experience. Freaks were born with their trauma. They've already passed their test in life. They're aristocrats. - Diane Arbus
PESSIMISM, n. A philosophy forced upon the convictions of the observer by the disheartening prevalence of the optimist with his scarecrow hope and his unsightly smile. - Ambrose Bierce

abaya

Giant Hamburger... it's simply awesome that you even know who Snorri Sturluson is, let alone consider him one of your favorite people. Rock on.

As for me... well, I have plenty of favorite friends/family I could list, but I'll go with the more well-known people for now:

1) David James Duncan
2) JRR Tolkien
3) Thomas Merton
4) Che Guevara (and no, I don't own anything with his image plastered on it)
5) Any immigrant

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nikita

1. David Beckam
2. Tom Cruise
3. Alicia Keys
4. My mother
5. Me

dlish

BUMMPPP!!!

in no particular order...

1) Malcolm X
2) Kinte Kunte
3) Baby-lish
4) My Best Friend Z
5) My Parents


i could have rattled off a long line of political figures, but they'd probably not be as high on the list as some real life personal favourites of mine.

this thread made me realise that theres no that many people i actually like!

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