How Many Great People Are Good People?

[Queequeg]

I was thinking about this while listening to a book on religious violence. 

I think the only figure that springs immediately to mind is Cyrus the Great.  A lot of my favorite people in history-Teddy Roosevelt, Peter I-end up murdering their sons somehow. 

[Scipio]

Cyrus is pretty decent. Alexander Nevsky. Alfred the Great. Macbeth, maybe. William III of England is disqualified for the Dutch revolt; Tokugawa is disqualified because, well, you know... Emperor Meiji, maybe? Sun Yat Sen. Haile Selassie? Alexander I of Russia (unless you believe he is a regicide). St. Sava of Serbia. Cincinnatus. Themistocles. Marcus Brutus (the founder, not the murderer of Caesar). Gaius Gracchus. Tiberius Gracchus. Cicero. George Washington. John Adams. Jonathan Edwards. The Wesleys. William Wilberforce. William Pitt the Younger.

[Scipio]

And of course, Vincent Thomas Lombardi, John Carroll, and George VI of England.

[MadImmortalMan]

What makes someone good is a tough definition for me. I'm not sure.

[Ed Anger]

Sulla

[alfred russel]

Tamerlane. He was willing to make the tough decisions.

[mongers]

Hard to say as I've yet to decide if I'm great or just good. 

[Tonitrus]

I am presuming by "good" he is meaning a decent bloke, as opposed to a raging asshole. 

[alfred russel]

A lot of the guys Spellus and Scipio are mentioning (Cyrus and Alfred the Great) may benefit from the fact we don't get the full stereo perspective on their actions.

[Razgovory]

A lot of people who were declared saints were probably not so bad, though I imagine Viking would disagree.

[Grallon]

Sulla

I've often wondered about your... predilection for Sulla.  Is it because he was ruthless or because he had a thing for boys, which he denied most of his life, only to indulge in it when all he set out to do was accomplished?

EDIT: *if* we are to believe McCullough that is...



G.

[Ed Anger]

Sulla

I've often wondered about your... predilection for Sulla.  Is it because he was ruthless or because he had a thing for boys, which he denied most of his life, only to indulge in it when all he set out to do was accomplished?

EDIT: *if* we are to believe McCullough that is...



G.

Killing people. Plus it annoys certain folks on the interwebs.

[CountDeMoney]

And of course, Vincent Thomas Lombardi

[Solmyr]

Alexander Nevsky.

What makes him especially good? Assuming you ignore the mostly fictional Eisenstein version, he was pretty similar to the other Rus princes at the time.

[Grallon]

Killing people. Plus it annoys certain folks on the interwebs.

That would be an interesting survey no doubt; how many of our 'luminaries' here would secretly enjoy to indulge in a killing spree if they had the chance.



G.