The most influential people who NEVER lived

Congrats, Finn. You're starting to sound just like Setanta.

Pout much?

Can you participate in a thread without being an ass?

I dunno. Can you?

Well I know...you can't.

You just can't resist your nature.

Read the posts.

Not only that, when his rider was bound and gagged, ol' Trigger could untie knots - or was that Bullet?

Trigger

Bullet was but a marginal character, Nelly Belle was smarter.

Forgive me if that should have been Nelli Bell

I treats peoples how they treats me.

ditto

I don't know what prompted that snide fling, but if you're going to squabble with Finn, leave me out of it.

Sorry 'bout that. Really. My reasoning was this: I know damn well that if I said to you that you sound like Finny, your blood pressure would rise significantly. I figgered the reverse was also true -- if I said to Finn that he sounded like you, it would put him out considerably. That's all there's to it. Again, apologies.

That's OK, then. For the record, if you compared me to Finn, i'd just assume that it was evidence of incipient senility, and ignore it.

You're gettin' awfully close to the edge yourself these days to be accusing anybody else of senility.

Quentin Compson- William Faulkner's, The Sound and the Fury.

This is a good thread. One thing is apparent: fictional characters have a shelf life.

For people of both sexes who are my age, I would say Gandalf, Mr. Spock, King Arthur . . .

For women of my generation, I would say Elizabeth Bennett; Jane Eyre; Scarlet O'Hara, although to a lesser degree;Jo March; Anne Shirley; Betsy of the Betsy, Tacy and Tib books by Maud Hart Lovelace, and Esther Greenwood, to a lesser degree.

Several years ago, I met a few men who were influenced by Studs Lonigan. We might almost include Sal Paradise and Dean Moriarity who are not fully fictional.

I also think that people of my generation were influenced by the authors of some of the most popular books. They're real but because we know them through the characters we create, we admire them through their fictions.

Of course, some of those listed above also belong on a more universal list, a list which extends back in time for several generations. I would definitely put Sherlock Holmes and Robin Hood on that list. Hamlet, Rosalind, Beatrice, Benedict, Romeo, Juliet also influence people. I think Jean Valjean's influence waxes and wanes. I agree with Deb that Uncle Tom is an influence and would add Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn.

This sorta works with this thread. It's a list of 10 children's books which "made us who we are."

I think Santa Claus might be winning the honor because this character is known by various generations in lots of countries.

Other characters are very familiar between one or two generations and the rest won't give to them much interest because new characters are invented each time.

To the one saying the following



The ignorance in your claims is laughable.

The Tractate Sanhedrin presents to itself as designating "the higher courts of law which in the latter part of the period of the Second Temple administered justice in Palestine according to the Mosaic law in the more serious criminal, and specially capital cases..."

With this presentation of what these records are about, you check 43a and you read the sentence given to Yeshu (Jesus) on the eve of Passover.

The whole court procedure is presented in this part.

Here is where your ignorance is exposed, when Jewish records confirm the former existence of Jesus.

All your argument against the physical existence of Jesus is just product of ignorance.

Hope not to see you writing again more incoherent arguments about the life of Jesus.

I found this: http://www.hebrew-streams.org/works/judaism/sanhedrin43a-eng.pdf

Stephenson's The Curious Case Of Dr Jekyll And Mr. Hyde has passed into the vernacular. So much so that the term "Jekyll and Hyde personality" is used by people who are unaware of the novel.

I believe that's Stevenson, izzy.