JonathanDiCamillo BlockE 12/20/2013 WhatDefinesaGreatPerson Greatpeoplethroughoutthehistoryofhumancivilizationhavesuperiorinfluenceintodays society.Usuallyagreatpersoncanbedefinedasarolemodelorevenahero.However,thereal questionis,whatactuallydefinesagreatperson?Althoughtherearemanygeneralanswerstothis question,agreatpersoncanbedefinedbytheircourage,intelligence,andcaringforothers. Courageisanimportantaspectofagreatperson.Courageisthequalityofmindorspiritthat enablesapersontofacedifficulty,danger,pain,etc.Withoutcourage,itwouldbeimpossiblefor someonetohandledangerousandstressfulsituations.Historyhasshownthatgreatpeoplehave performedcourageousevents.Forexample,JohnF.Kennedywasunderatremendousamountof pressureduringthecoldwar.JFKhadtodecidehowtostopRussiafromtransportingmissilesinto Cuba.Ittakesalotofcouragetobeabletomakeadecisionlikethat.Itwasbecauseofthisactof victorythatmadeKennedyagreatPresident.

Still,itisnotjustcouragethatcanmakesomeoneagreat person. Thedefinitionofintelligenceexpressestheabilitytolearnorunderstandortodealwithnewor tryingsituations.Withoutit,apersonwillnotbeabletogetoutofatroublingsituationorbeunableto tocomeupwithasolutiontosolveaproblem.ManypeoplewouldagreetoviewIsaacNewtonasa greatindividual.NewtonwasanEnglishphysicist,mathematician,astronomer,naturalphilosopher, alchemist,andtheologian.Hediscoveredthebasicslawsofphysics,whichtodayareknownas NewtonsLaws.Newtondedicatedhiswholelifetryingtounderstandandmakesenseonhowthe worldworked.Itwasbecauseofhisintelligence,thatoursocietywasabletoadvanceanddevelopinto ourmodernsocietywhichisstillgrowing.Evenintodaysworld,scienceisabletofillinthemissing

holesanddiscovernewthings. Althoughintelligenceisanimportantaspectofbeingagreatperson,thereisstillonemoreto talkabout,whichiscating.Peoplelookuptootherswheneverthedosomethingrespectfulor consideringofthem.Forexample,MahatmaGandhi,whowasawelleducatedIndianwhohadagreat lifeasalawyer,decidedtogobacktoIndiaandhelpouttheIndianpeopletobreakawayfromBritish rulesbyusingactsofnonviolentprotestsandallowedthemtoestablishtheirownindependence. AlthoughGandhididnothavetohelpthepeopleofIndia,hedidanywaysbecauseheknewthatpeople shouldnotbetreatedthewaytheBritishtreatedthem.GandhiisknownasMahatmabecausein translationitmeansgreatsoulandheisconsideredahero. Courage,intelligence,andcaringareallthecharacteristicsneededtobecomeagreatperson.It isbecauseofcouragethatapersoncanstickuptosomeonebiggerthanthem.Anditisbecauseof intelligencethatweareabletoproblemsolveandfindsolutions.Theprincipleofcaringwhichallows peopletohelpothersgetthroughtheirstruggles.Withoutallofthesecharacteristics,agreatperson wouldnotbepossible.

Bibliography 1dictionary.reference.com/browse/couragefindotthedefinitionofcourage. 2http://www.merriamwebster.com/dictionary.intelligencefindoutthedefintionofintelligence. 3http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahatma_GandhiinformationaboutGandhi.