Obviously I realize the underlying silliness of top ten lists such as these, but like most people I love them anyway and the debate they inspire. So here is my own list of the top ten greatest people. I'd like to leave the definition of 'greatest' completely open, but just to give you some idea, the kind of things I'm taking into account are: achievements, influence, renown, exceptional talent, excellence in a particular field/across fields and lasting legacy.

So, in no particular order, my list is:

- William Shakespeare
- Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
- Albert Einstein
- Isaac Newton
- René Descartes
- Plato son of Ariston
- Aristotle
- Shigeru Miyamoto
- Leonardo Da Vinci
- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

I'm not sure I'd stand by all of them if presented with a compelling argument for other people, but I think it's a good list. What do you think and what would your list look like?

Just some other suggestions.

Jesus - He kind of caused some big things
Muhammed - Yeah, see above
Hitler - Nobody likes this guy but he certainly meets all of your criteria
Marx - Communism has been somewhat big
Caesar - Expanded the Roman Republic and basically caused the Roman Empire
Alexander the Great - Created a huge empire, kind of marked down for it falling apart when he died though
Genghis Khan - See above
Confucius - Pretty important all up I'd say
Buddha - See Jesus/Muhammed

Martin Luther King
Batman
ioi
Chuck Norris
Sam Walton (Wal-mart founder)
Bruce Wayne
Thomas Edison
Lassie
Ron Jeremy
That guy who plays keyboard for Morris Day and the Time.


sorry. no girls allowed.

Beethoven>Stravinsky>Bach>>>>>Mozart

Mozart (and music from the Classical period in general) is really overrated.

Post 20th Century Classical>Romantic>Baroque>Classical

Feynman and Darwin. Darwin especially turned biology from a guessing game into a science much like Newton did for physics.

Miyamoto deserves his spot though.

1-10. Norman Borlaug

I like this list

In my own little world, the greatest people of all time are

-Lessie Lewis
-Mrs. Lane, my twelfth grade English teacher
-Staff Sgt Laurie Pozorski of the USAF
-James T. Lewis
-Julia D. Williams
-Cpl Brett Dickerson
-Ollie Williams
-Nya Lewis

That's all I can think of. You shouldn't know any of these people, but they've played a large role in making me who I am.

No offence, but many parts of your list seem quite controversial! I can see where your coming from though. I considered putting Jesus in but then I thought that Christians would consider Him an unfair inclusion on grounds of divinity, and non-christians would be much less likely to rate him. But you certainly can't deny the influence.

@d21lewis Bruce Wayne would undoubtedly top my list if we were talking fiction.

When it comes to Miyamoto, I must admit that was a bit tongue in cheek, but part of me does honestly believe that a few generations down the line he has a good shot of being esteemed as highly in the field of gaming as Shakespeare is in the field of literature and theatre. Time will tell. (Plus I was a little self conscious of the fact that my entire list was white, western and male!)

Science would be Newton, Darwin and Einstein. Of course there are huge numbers of others worthy of a mention, too.

Music I'd probably put Beethoven, Mozart and Bach.

Literature and Art I guess Michelangelo, Shakespeare, Dickens and DaVinci.

Then you've got your Descartes, Socrates, Galileo, Plato, etc.

Ah, it's too hard!

But I figure any Top 10 has to have Einstein, Darwin and Newton. Those 3 delivered really big.