Who do you RESPECT most?

[Cousin Hepcat]

Was talking about this with some friends tonight over dinner:

What well-known persons, from any time in history, do you RESPECT the most as Good People?

Any people who you read about them and, despite any flaws, said "What an incredibly decent human being", & wanted to find out more.

List as many or few as you want. Can be actors/actresses, humanitarians, political figures (RULE: No condemning anyone else's posts), anyone - just well-known enough that biographical information is easy to find.



I'll start with an obvious pair, FDR & wife Eleanor.
And entertainer Louis Armstrong.
[edit:] Writer Maya Angelou.

- C H

 

[Midnight Palace]

Honestly, I really respect Howard Hughes. I think he was incredibly brilliant, especially after reading "Howard Hughes: The Untold Story". Granted, he had issues and was unfair to a lot of women, but, for his intellect, I respect him and would've loved to have met him.

 

[Tomasso]

despite any flaws............. an obvious pair, FDR & wife Eleanor.

lol

 

[imoldfashioned]

Miep Gies--she's been my gold standard for a good person for quite sometime. I only hope I would act with her courage if (God forbid) I found myself in a situation similar to hers.

I'm sure there are others, but I'll have to post further after some shut eye.

 

[BegintheBeguine]

Not nice

(RULE: No condemning anyone else's posts),
- C H

No laughing smiley at the choice of FDR either.

 

[Cousin Hepcat]

lol

And your contribution, Mr. Tomasso? Or was the smileyface it?

 

[Tomasso]

My apologies.

RULE: No condemning anyone else's posts

I overlooked this provision.

 

[Tomasso]

And your contribution, Mr. Tomasso?

 

[Samsa]

I realize that some of these will be considered grossly cliched. In no particular order:

Gandhi
Paramahansa Yogananda
Pope John Paul II
Bobby Sands

 

[Vladimir Berkov]

I would say Lincoln.

He had many flaws, and I don't even agree with much of his politics. However, the more I read about him the more I respect him for the choices he had to make in his position, as well as the way he made them. Most importantly, he is one of the men from history I would most want to meet and speak to in person.

 

[gluegungeisha]

Albert Einstein

 

[Cousin Hepcat]

Miep Gies--she's been my gold standard for a good person for quite sometime.

Didn't know the name; looked her up on Wikipedia, admirable choice, will have to read more.
--> And her article led to this absorbing discovery: Some more unassuming than others, but plenty of good reading for later!:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Humanitarians

 

[Miss Brill]

I'll start with an obvious pair, FDR & wife Eleanor.

I agree. My grandmother adored them both & JFK. I mentioned the "talk" about FDR & Eleanor and she just looked at me & said "well, they were still good people." I believe her.

I can't think of anyone except presidents.

 

[Mojito]

Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain
Abraham Lincoln
Ben Chiffley
Michael Collins (the Irish patriot, not the astronaught)
Mary McKillop
Tom Crean

I also have profound respect and admiration for Anne Boleyn - but among her many remarkable qualities, I don't know if I'd be emphasising kindness and decency.

 

[Brooksie]

Susan B. Anthony

LB

 

[Phil]

Mark Twain
'Nuff said.

 

[happyfilmluvguy]

My friends are at the top of the list. They have a history of their own.

 

[Dixon Cannon]

This one's easy for me....

I have a great deal of respect to offer -

-Mr. Adam Smith, who inspired early American colonists with his epic book, "The Wealth of Nations".

-Mr. Thomas Jefferson who wrote the Declaration of Independence, and each of those who stepped forward to sign it.

-Each of the Founding Fathers of this Constitutional Republic, especially those who participated in the Constitutional Convention of 1787.

-Mr. Benjamin Franklin who typifies what is now called the American Spirit.

-Mr. George Washington, who led American troops in the War of Independence and who could have been King of America, but refused such a role or title (or any of the trappings of royalty!) and became our first humble civil servant, the President of the United States of America.

-Mr. Leonard E. Read, founder of the Foundation for Economic Education http://www.fee.org/ who taught me that all of the above mentioned giants really, really matter.

(I could name dozens more, both historical and contempory, but I won't, so as to not diminish the esteem of those above.)

-dixon cannon

 

[LizzieMaine]

Fred Rogers -- perhaps the most genuinely virtuous American of the 20th century.

 

[Tommy Fedora]

I had a few hero's when I was a young boy, and most of them let me down as I grew older. In the end they were revealed to be, well, just human.
But there were two that were true to the end and never let me down and both just happen to be old time cowboys. Roy Rogers was one. He was always the good guy, the family man. The other was William Boyd, the actor who played Hopaling Cassidy. When he took the role and saw that the kids were looking up to him he cleaned up his life so he could be a proper role model. At an appearance at a large retail department store he found out that the manager only let the kids who bought something in line for his autograph...so he promply punched him out ! My kind of guy. True to the end.