Last year, during one of my walks, I became captivated by the idea of the perfect human, the Übermensch. Though the notion is inherently flawed, I gathered all the traits I deemed, within reason, to be the highest expressions of human excellence and wove them into a single list. A year of biographies, reflection, and relentless curiosity later, I now offer one of those notes, long collected dust, to the light once more.
“A prudent man should always follow in the path trodden by great men and imitate those who are most excellent, so that if he does not attain to their greatness, at any rate he will get some tinge of it.” ~ Machiavelli
Be:
As Hard-Working, Believing, & Ambitious as Napoleon, Caesar, & Alexander
As Inquisitive as Socrates
As Stoic as Aurelius
As Frugal as Cato the Elder
As Unyielding & Heroic as Cato the Younger
As Just as Solon & Pericles
As Knowing as Fouché
As Patient & Augustan in Excellence as Augustus
As Far-Sighted & Devoted as Diocletian
As Loyal in Friendship as Agrippa & Belisarius
As Cunning, Elegant, & Poker-Faced as Talleyrand
As Patiently Calculating as Machiavelli & Metternich
As Shrewd as Crassus
As Revolutionary as the Gracchi & Danton
As Eloquent as Sieyès & Cicero
As Charismatic as Pericles & Alcibiades
As Persuasive as Demosthenes
As Visionary in Statecraft as Hamilton
As Bold as Charlemagne
As Resolute as Washington
As Determined as Genghis Khan
As Unifying & Political as Muhammad
As Just & Order-Minded as Hammurabi
As Vision-Building as Peter the Great
As Strategic as Sun Tzu
As Tactical as Scipio Africanus
As Disciplined as Hannibal
As Audacious as Cortés
As Fearless as Leonidas
As Brave as Khalid & Umar
As Courageous as Napoleon’s Marshals
As Heroic as Nelson
As Uncompromising as Spartacus
As Courageously Defiant in Self-Belief as Jeanne d’Arc
As Unflinching as Marius
As Decisive as Sulla
As Unconquerable in Spirit as Scipio Aemilianus
As Ruthless & Idealistic as Robespierre
As Pious as Saladin
As Spiritual & Forgiving as Christ
As Devoted in Spirit as Cleopatra & Antony, Justinian & Theodora
As Loving as Hadrian & Justinian
As Poetic as Virgil
As Timeless as Homer
As Honorable as Hector
As Dutiful as Aeneas
As Loyal to Duty as Cincinnatus
As Traditional as Brutus
As Immortal in Spirit as Achilles & Alexander
As Systematic as Adam Smith
As Curious as Feynman, Jefferson, Einstein, Bohr, Tesla, & Newton
As Inventive as Archimedes & Daedalus
As Visionary as Da Vinci
As Artistically Restless as Michelangelo & Raphael
As Forward-Thinking as Galileo
As Analytical as Turing
As Innovative as Jobs
As Observantly Patient as Darwin
As Explorative in Mind as Al-Khwarizmi & Avicenna
As Knowledgeable as Seneca
As Intellectual as Descartes
As Rational as Spinoza
As Paradoxically Deep as Heraclitus
As Wise as Aristotle, Plato & Solomon
As Free-Spirited as Diogenes
As Introspective as Nietzsche
As Melancholically Profound as Goethe
As Enlightened as Voltaire & Rousseau
As Resourceful as Odysseus
As Defensive & Protective as Hadrian
As Beloved & Excellent as Trajan
As Enduring as Epictetus
As Nobly Magnanimous as Cyrus
As Silent as Coolidge
As Light-Hearted as Cambacérès
As Energetically Fearless as Roosevelt
As Alluring as Franklin
As Tragically Romantic as Clisson & Frome
As Napoleon Bonaparte.
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