Which book/article influenced history most? Which writer?
(P.S.: No constitutions, please. Writers only as writers not a politicians)
Which book/article influenced history most? Which writer?
(P.S.: No constitutions, please. Writers only as writers not a politicians)
I'm very boring now, but the Bible has influenced history most.
We are all aware that the senses can be deceived, the eyes fooled. But how can we be sure our senses are not being deceived at any particular time, or even all the time? Might I just be a brain in a tank somewhere, tricked all my life into believing in the events of this world by some insane computer? And does my life gain or lose meaning based on my reaction to such solipsism?
Project PYRRHO, Specimen 46, Vat 7
Activity Recorded M.Y. 2302.22467
TERMINATION OF SPECIMEN ADVISED
I'd agree the Bible. Surely the most inspirational book along with the Torah, The Qu'ran, The Guru Gran Sahib (sp surely!), the Karma Sutra (he he) and so on.
The Bible was the first mass produced book.
Other significant works would include the poems of Homer which inspire Greeks to acts of heroism even to this day. The Aeniad and others as well.
The Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica, the Art of War.
Cowardice is to run from the fear;
Bravery is not to never feel the fear.
Bravery is to be terrified as hell;
But to hold the line anyway.
I think Aristoteles influenced the hole Middle Age as well as the renaissance. Both moslems and christians. Plato was important too.
What about Karl Marx?
Yep, as well as many other idealogy-orintated books.Originally Posted by Franconicus
Caesar's treatise on the Gallic wars have influenced many generals I believe.
www.thechap.net
"We were not born into this world to be happy, but to do our duty." Bismarck
"You can't be a successful Dictator and design women's underclothing. One or the other. Not both." The Right Hon. Bertram Wilberforce Wooster
"Man, being reasonable, must get drunk; the best of life is but intoxication" - Lord Byron
"Where men are forbidden to honour a king they honour millionaires, athletes, or film-stars instead: even famous prostitutes or gangsters. For spiritual nature, like bodily nature, will be served; deny it food and it will gobble poison." - C. S. Lewis
i too must concur with the Bible along with adding my regrets that most Christians nowadays are pansies who have let Christianity turn into a joke instead of the almighty force of God that it is meant to be
which is to say, it's a darn shame that the Bible is not continuing to effect history with the same magnitude that it used to
hopefully in the future, it shall reclaim it's rightful glory yet again
Id saythe bible... unfortunatly...
other then that, Karl Marx and Engels.
and as I think JAG would agree on; Jean Paul Satre... i think thats the one JAG likes hehe.
It's because the Church has stopped being allowed to make its own rules and is being forced to change to reflect society and the desires of non-faithful which is ridiculous. Surely it should work the other way round, if you want to be a Christian, you should play by our rules, otherwise don't be a Christian.i too must concur with the Bible along with adding my regrets that most Christians nowadays are pansies who have let Christianity turn into a joke instead of the almighty force of God that it is meant to be
Cowardice is to run from the fear;
Bravery is not to never feel the fear.
Bravery is to be terrified as hell;
But to hold the line anyway.
Unfortunately much of the Parishes nowadays have been taken over by what I call "Hippy Christians".
www.thechap.net
"We were not born into this world to be happy, but to do our duty." Bismarck
"You can't be a successful Dictator and design women's underclothing. One or the other. Not both." The Right Hon. Bertram Wilberforce Wooster
"Man, being reasonable, must get drunk; the best of life is but intoxication" - Lord Byron
"Where men are forbidden to honour a king they honour millionaires, athletes, or film-stars instead: even famous prostitutes or gangsters. For spiritual nature, like bodily nature, will be served; deny it food and it will gobble poison." - C. S. Lewis
The Bible... Definitely
And the Osprey books, history books, magazines about basketball....
Ja mata, TosaInu. You will forever be remembered.
Proud
Been to:
Swords Made of Letters - 1938. The war is looming in France - and Alexandre Reythier does not have much time left to protect his country. A novel set before the war.
A Painted Shield of Honour - 1313. Templar Knights in France are in grave danger. Can they be saved?
The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money - Hugely influenced economics - while I have issues with pure Keynesian economics, they do nothing to detract from how much of an impact he had.
The Communist Manifesto by Marx and Engles and both Existentialism and Humanism, and Being and Nothingness by Jean Paul Sartre.
GARCIN: I "dreamt," you say. It was no dream. When I chose the hardest path, I made my choice deliberately. A man is what he wills himself to be.
INEZ: Prove it. Prove it was no dream. It's what one does, and nothing else, that shows the stuff one's made of.
GARCIN: I died too soon. I wasn't allowed time to - to do my deeds.
INEZ: One always dies too soon - or too late. And yet one's whole life is complete at that moment, with a line drawn neatly under it, ready for the summing up. You are - your life, and nothing else.
Jean Paul Sartre - No Exit 1944
Just to add to what have already been suggested
Sun Tsu: The Art of War
Kant and his moral
Shakespeare
Common Unreflected Drinking Only Smartens
How did Sartre effect history?Originally Posted by JAG
He affected the post-modern attitude to existentialism, renewed it.
Common Unreflected Drinking Only Smartens
Existentialism has greatly effected modern day thought, especially post WW2 thought and Sartre was the main modern proponent of that - as well as the most well known.
GARCIN: I "dreamt," you say. It was no dream. When I chose the hardest path, I made my choice deliberately. A man is what he wills himself to be.
INEZ: Prove it. Prove it was no dream. It's what one does, and nothing else, that shows the stuff one's made of.
GARCIN: I died too soon. I wasn't allowed time to - to do my deeds.
INEZ: One always dies too soon - or too late. And yet one's whole life is complete at that moment, with a line drawn neatly under it, ready for the summing up. You are - your life, and nothing else.
Jean Paul Sartre - No Exit 1944
For Most Inappropriately Referenced, I'd go with The Prince.
Achtung Panzer! by Guderian greatly contributed to the Second World War, which was the biggest in history.
The bible the best book ever
Formerly ceasar010
My personal favorite piece of work on the Bible lies in Wikipedia. The Book of Genesis is given a plot summary. It begins:
Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.
Comic genius...
Wikipedia: The Book of Genesis
Cowardice is to run from the fear;
Bravery is not to never feel the fear.
Bravery is to be terrified as hell;
But to hold the line anyway.
1) The Bible. The very word of Almighty God (though written down by humans).
2) The Wealth of Nations, by Adam Smith. Has helped people avoid the evils of socialism.
Crazed Rabbit
Ja Mata, Tosa.
The poorest man may in his cottage bid defiance to all the forces of the Crown. It may be frail; its roof may shake; the wind may blow through it; the storm may enter; the rain may enter; but the King of England cannot enter – all his force dares not cross the threshold of the ruined tenement! - William Pitt the Elder
I wouldn't say it is a single book, as that would be to say there is a single drop in the ocean that influences it the most.
The biggest influence was mass production of information and literate masses.
The Bibles influence changed as more of its audience had the capacity to read, review and think about it for themselves.
This living meta-book of the internet is the most influential set of information.
Wow another lame incoherant thread about "the best". So boring.
Ok let me explain before you all call me immature. This thread should retitled or at least redirected in a way that makes it have meaning. For example the Bible didn't have any significance in, oh I don't know, India or China. Are their histories not important? There's no such thing as unified human history unless we are talking about the stage between homo erectus and homo sapiens. There's no way of connecting cultures and histories together and say "this book has changed the history of every culture".
Meh, on the other hand what do I care, do whatever.
The thread is concerning our opinion of which book has influenced history the most. It's pretty simple, dude. There's no need to consider the unification o cultures, nor to choose a book which has influenced all cultures.
You've raised one good point (to consider China and India), and I would therefore add the following to a broader list:
- Lao Tzu's "Book of Changes" (I Ching)
- The Bhagavad Gita
Books on mathematics like Algebra are pretty much cross cultural....
Last edited by Papewaio; 08-05-2005 at 03:09.
Carl Hiaasen.
I would think Aristotles "Ethics" and "the Republic" would have to be up there too...
That's a good point.Originally Posted by Papewaio
I'm largely ignorant of the sciences, but are there any particular works which are considered "foundational"?
Let us never forget his memoirs, Memoirs den Soldat I beleive.Originally Posted by PanzerJager
Why do you hate Freedom?
The US is marching backward to the values of Michael Stivic.
Bookmarks