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B19
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05 Feb 2015, 3:07 pm

Whether they are people you know personally or not, figures from history or people alive now whom you will probably never meet - who inspires you and what is it that inspires you about them?

My list would be very very long if it was entire so I am going to restrict my list here to a few old favourites:

Helen Keller Courage, determination, overcoming enormous odds to make a difference
Stephen Hawking All the above plus his ability to think outside the square scientifically
Sir Nicholas Winton All the above plus saved thousands of lives while risking his own
Mathatma (Mohandas) Ghandi Courage, vision, determination, refusal to believe in the hopelessness doctrine, non-violence, liberator of millions from exploitation
Some people I have met by chance in life - visionaries, changemakers, philanthropists (David Bussau in particular, founder of the Opportunity Network and many other international programmes that liberated people from dire poverty - and he was personally very kind and generous to me)
My teacher when I was 8 years old - kind, encouraging, supportive and life-changing
A drunk in the street with whom a chance encounter led to me getting the money I needed that day to escape from a terrible situation (total time of encounter, 5 seconds, with life changing flow on effects)
A best friend who looked out for me even when I was unkind to her and also saved my life
Animals of all kinds for their unconditional love. Especially my beloved cat now deceased who walked into my life and started by stroking my tears away. :heart:

Will stop here or will thread hog all day.. your turn!



LokiofSassgard
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05 Feb 2015, 5:49 pm

My senpai is my biggest inspiration of all. He is an excellent artist, and I always show him my own art. I'm not very good, but he tells me that I am. He's the only reason why I keep drawing. I absolutely adore him. <3

Image

^ That's my senpai. He's so adorable. ;w;

Another inspiration of mine is my hero PelleK. He inspires me to be myself and not care what others think.

Those are the only two people I can think of right now. XD


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progaspie
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05 Feb 2015, 5:52 pm

I'm inspired by people who have the ability to reduce the complexities of human life and existence to simple statements and analogies that a man in the street can understand. Examples:
Professor Julius Sumner Miller - simple statement "Why is it So?" using everyday examples to explain the fundamentals of Physics
Fifth form Science teacher - got me into a career in science
Work colleague and fellow scientist - whose PHD thesis put mine to shame, but gave me the inspiration to try harder
Einstein - "The Theory of Relativity" is simplicity itself in describing the fundamental laws of physics
Richard Dawkins - "The Selfish Gene" for putting a totally different slant on the theory of evolution
John Flauss (film historian, teacher and reviewer) - for being fired on your first day as a film reviewer at a newspaper for describing "On The Waterfront" as right wing propaganda.
Orson Welles - Odd man out here, but full marks for bucking the crap of the Hollywood film industry
Nikita Khrushchev - Simple man who rose to the top serving a homicidal maniac and who then tried to reform the soviet system and went down fighting
Ronald Reagan - Simple man who rose to the top to become president, who brought down communism, restored the American economy and initiated a missile defence that will one day make nuclear war obsolete



VIDEODROME
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05 Feb 2015, 6:01 pm

progaspie wrote:
I'm inspired by people who have the ability to reduce the complexities of human life and existence to simple statements and analogies that a man in the street can understand. Examples:


I feel this way about Mashall Mcluhan observing the effects of emerging technology on people, especially any kind of Electronic Media.



corroonb
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05 Feb 2015, 6:17 pm

David Attenborough. Inspired my love of animals of all sorts. I adore his books and documentaries. He has made a huge contribution to popular appreciation of natural history in Britain, Ireland and probably elsewhere in the English-speaking world

Bertrand Russell. I admire his energy and confidence. He was a true public intellectual and truly believed in education as a transformative force. He was also a terrific writer.

Noam Chomsky. A courageous intellectual who has never been afraid to speak up against the actions of his own country. His level-headed, objective style has always resonated with me. I also met him once at a book signing but I was too shy to say anything.

Miyamoto Shigeru. The creator of Mario, Donkey Kong and Zelda. My childhood would not have been the same without Nintendo and Miyamoto. His games brought and still bring me joy.

My counsellor at college who more than any other professional helped me through difficult times.



jbw
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05 Feb 2015, 7:06 pm

- Primarily I am inspired by the way nature works, and by some of the amazing feats that various kinds of animals and plants are capable of.
- In terms of humans, at the top of the list would have to be the five people and friends that I have worked with very closely over the course of the last decade, who are amongst the most trustworthy and reliable humans beings I have ever met.
- The millions of people who actively contribute to free and open source software, open source hardware, and works of art and science in the public domain. As a result we have the Internet, which enabled me to meet the five people above, with whom I collaborate across the globe on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis.
- All the mathematicians who have spent their lives developing, refining, and redeveloping the formal foundations that facilitate rigorous science and modern technology. This would be quite a list, mostly of people that are not widely known.
- A few well-known scientists, philosophers, and activists, some of which have already been mentioned, including Noam Chomsky, David Attenborough, Robert Sapolsky, Frans de Waal, Peter Kropotkin, and Ludwig Wittgenstein.



goldfish21
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05 Feb 2015, 9:56 pm

Too many to list.. business people, athletes, friends of mine, authors, musicians, actors, both real life & fictional characters who've overcome extreme challenges against all odds - the hero's of underdog stories who persevere & eventually come from behind to achieve something big. People who have lived a life's story worth telling inspire me to live a life's story worth telling - to keep working hard, to keep challenging myself, to take acceptable risks & have fun along the way.


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kraftiekortie
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05 Feb 2015, 10:40 pm

I tend to be inspired by people who exist on a day-to-day basis. Especially those whom I see, talk to, or "talk to" (online) every day.

When I see people endure hardships, yet endure and survive, it provides perspective for me. It renders my self-pity a truly superfluous thing.



ToughDiamond
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05 Feb 2015, 11:07 pm

Loads of people have inspired me, but very few have given me much more than one inspiring idea, unless you count my early years.

Examples:
1. "I think we can afford to proceed with more confidence" - a co-worker.
2. "Please help us resolve this conflict" - one co-worker to another.
3. "The value of a commodity is the labour time required to produce it" - Karl Marx
4. "Branding....now there's a word straight from Satan's dictionary." - Sandi Toksvig
5. "The teacher roars, 'Pay attention!' and everybody fixes their gaze on him, which has nothing to do with attention, in fact it gets in the way of attention, you have to relax your eyes to see." - Alan Watts
6. "You never really understand an idea, you just get used to it." - Einstein



SpaceAgeBushRanger
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06 Feb 2015, 12:01 am

The first person that comes to mind is Julia Gillard, former prime minister of Australia. She conducted herself with dignity when she was verbally attacked on a daily basis, and pushed through a record amount of legislation through a hung parliament. I didn't agree with it all, but it's still impressive. She did the best press conferences I've ever seen. If I had to give a press conference she'd by my role model.

I'd second that anyone who contributes to open-source development is inspirational. I'd elaborate on that and say that anyone who distributes their artwork for free online deserves admiration. There are a few extremely good fanfiction writers that come to mind.

Rosie Batty is another inspirational person. After her son was killed by her ex-husband, she became the most prominent anti-domestic violence advocate in the country. She's the 2015 Australian of the year.

I've decided that Alan Moore is the best writer, based on the variety of voices he can write in and the ingenuity of his plots. So he's inspired me to write a little like that.

At uni I heard a story of this awesome blind human rights lawyer in China. He was placed under house arrest but he escaped anyway. It was awesome, but the details are fuzzy. Basically any citizen who stands against a government that is willing to kill them, like the guy in the Tienenman Square photo.



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06 Feb 2015, 4:34 pm

Louise Nicholas - New Zealand woman who was serially raped by a gang of New Zealand policemen as a young girl for years and went on to fight a huge cover-up to expose a much wider problem of rape culture in New Zealand, refused to be shamed by the terrible things these liars did to her, and eventually showed the general public how far the cover-ups went, at tremendous personal cost.

Steve Biko - freedom fighter, murdered by the white apartheid system, for stating his beliefs that oppression is unjust.

David Bussau - New Zealand boy, dumped as a child in an orphanage by his parents, went on to do world changing things out of the belief that all people deserve a fair go, dignity and respect.
Now in his late 70s, still fighting the good fight, all round wonderful human being who always walked the talk.

Maggie Smith - English actress, beautiful diction, astonishing talent, brings joy to millions by her wonderful performances.



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06 Feb 2015, 4:40 pm

Candice, my youth group leader. She is caring, wise, funny, and personable. I admire her faith in God, and she helps me with my problems.

Also, Caleb, another youth group leader. He has Asperger's too, and I find it very inspiring how he learned to cope with difficulties in his life.



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06 Feb 2015, 5:14 pm

Isaac Newton is my inspiration as he reject society to follow his own interest.



Melangey
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06 Feb 2015, 5:24 pm

My parents.
I'd list them separately, but they work as a unit to become parents. Alone, they're not as powerful. My dad kept me alive by becoming one of the best doctors I know and catching several mis- and missed diagnoses and my mom brought me life.

My flight instructor.
I'll not put his name here, but he once taught me if I begin focusing too hard on one instrument (in the plane), just to sing (in my head or out loud) the Addams Family theme song, because each 3 second beat was as long as each instrument deserved. I took that lesson and applied it to every aspect of my life. Now, when I start to zone out or close up, I sing that song and I feel relief. I also think of him.

Myself.
This one will sound selfish, but that's OK, it can. I hope that everyone can learn, eventually, to be inspired by themselves. EVERYTHING YOU DO, especially as an autistic, is amazing. Even if you didn't have AS, HOORAY YOU. I graduated high school. I graduated college. I worked in a news room. I got my pilots license. I worked for an airline for years as a flight attendant. I'm going back to college. I fell in love. I fell out of love. I lived! And no one could have inspired me to do all of that, except me. Because I'm one stubborn :skull: :skull: :skull: !



B19
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06 Feb 2015, 5:26 pm

Melangey wrote:
My parents.
I'd list them separately, but they work as a unit to become parents. Alone, they're not as powerful. My dad kept me alive by becoming one of the best doctors I know and catching several mis- and missed diagnoses and my mom brought me life.

My flight instructor.
I'll not put his name here, but he once taught me if I begin focusing too hard on one instrument (in the plane), just to sing (in my head or out loud) the Addams Family theme song, because each 3 second beat was as long as each instrument deserved. I took that lesson and applied it to every aspect of my life. Now, when I start to zone out or close up, I sing that song and I feel relief. I also think of him.

Myself.
This one will sound selfish, but that's OK, it can. I hope that everyone can learn, eventually, to be inspired by themselves. EVERYTHING YOU DO, especially as an autistic, is amazing. Even if you didn't have AS, HOORAY YOU. I graduated high school. I worked in a news room. I got my pilots license. I worked for an airline for years as a flight attendant. I fell in love. I fell out of love. I lived! And no one could have inspired me to do all of that, except me. Because I'm one stubborn :skull: :skull: :skull: !


You inspire me.



B19
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06 Feb 2015, 5:36 pm

Harvey Milk, openly gay man at a time of immense prejudice, courageous advocate against the systematic oppression of gay people, murdered 1978.