Oceania Favourite Historical figure

In the grand Aussie tradition of supreme thread redundancy, which in days past has led to the removal of our Hallowed polls by the Powers What Be, I present yet another quote thread, albeit with a facetious facade...

So, who's your favourite person from history?

Mine's probably Viscount Nelson, or Gaius Julius Caesar.

Maybe even Churchill or Kennedy.

Damn these threads.



E_S

 

"I have a dream..."

Arguably one of the most important moments in world history. Hence my appreciation.

 

Baldrick (When he was smart).

 

I dunno, Casual Jedi has a great point, Baldrick is a great historical figure....



But personally I'd have to go for Gandhi. Great, great man.

 

Gandhi. I'd fight Gandhi.

 

Gandhi. I'd fight Gandhi.

Good answer.

Anyhoo,. My favourite Historical Figure aye?
William Wallace cause my middle name was named after him.

 

Well, Wallace certainly was helped by Mr Gibson, ironically a monarchist (you can tell by his choices of films in Braveheart and the Patriot)...

Why Nelson? Who knows their Battle of Trafalgar history, "England expects every man to do his duty" and all that?

If you can bloody the noses and break the ribs of Imperial pretenders (France? Bah! Spain? Pfft!) without losing a ship, you're alright (even if it cost you your life).

E_S

 

I was nearly swayed by ajay's inclusion of Iulius Caesar - the man, arguably, changed the Roman Empire single-handedly. However my all-time number one favourite Roman leader has to be Gaius Marius the man who single-handedly revoultionised the Roman Army. Indeed, without Marius it would be highly unlikely that Caesar would have risen to the height he did (for many reasons), more than likely following a purely priestly career.

 

England knows Lady Hamilton's a virgin, poke my eye out and cut off my arm if I'm wrong.

 

I can trace my family lineage back to Admiral Lord Nelson, boogie... do I get to cut your arm off and poke your eye out?

 

Ah, but can you trace it back to Lady Hamilton?



Anyway, it was a BlackAdder quote!

 

Was she the same Lady Hamilton who had "literally nothing to wear", or was that Lady Gudyver?

Ah, Viscount Lord Horatio Nelson, Admiral of the Royal Navy...

Hmmm, what a man.

Which Baldrick though? The one who was a stunt codpiece in MacBeth?

Hmm, I might throw Adam Smith and JS Mill upon the heap.

ES

 

Personally, I'm a bit of a fan of Baldrick the third, at his dumbest. Baldrick the first was a little bit too intelligent for me and Baldrick the fourth made a couple too many proletarian speeches.

And: "For 'magnificent men' read 'biggest show-offs since Lady Godiva entered the enclosure at Ascot claiming she had literally nothing to wear'."


EDIT: Oh, and while we are at great thinkers, ES, I might add Thoreau if I may.

 

Hang on, Julius Caesar was gay?

 

No, he was bi.

People back then were not categorised by their sexual preferences. Alexander the Great was gay by todays standards but it was considered normal.

My favourite historical figure?
Sir Isaac Newton because of his discoveries that stemmed from alchemy.

 

I'm a bit of a Hobbes and Locke fan. Does it show?

 

Your choice of undergarment brand should remain entirely private, stinrab.

My favourite historical figure would be Alfred the Great; he's the man most responsible for building up, and then holding the lands which would essentially become England together against more or less constant warfare with the Viking and the Danelaw.

Following that, Albert Einstein--not just for his scientific achievements, but for the nous to figure out that it was a bad thing and campaigning tirelessly against it in his later years.

 

I'd say my favourites are Winston Churchill, Erwin Rommel, Howard Hughes, Niel Armstrong and Captain James Cook. And of course, Her Majesty Queen Elizibeth II.

I'm interested in Adolf Hitler but I don't consider him to be a favourite.

 

I have to agree with the inclusion of Einstien.

Churchill, however, I completely disagree with. One of the most abhorrent choices I can imagine.

 

General Sir John Monash. One of the first true masters of combined arms warfare - he did everything that Heinz Guderian, Erwin Rommel and others excelled at twenty years before they got a chance to play. Not bad for a weekend warrior, really.

 

Churchill gets a nod from me, just for having one of the best comebacks in history ...

Lady Astor: If I were your wife, I would put poison in your coffee.
Winston Churchill: If you were my wife, I would drink it.



As for my actual favourite, that will take some pondering.

 

Monash, good call...

E_S

 

Ozhaggis - yeah, that is probably the greatest comeback I can think of... and I've spent long enough looking for them on the net and in 'Insult' books! It's a pity the only things he was good at were comebacks and speeches.

 

I really do like Napoleon. A lot. I also like Nelson. Go figure.


And Karl Marx.