Guess Who's Coming To Dinner?
(my responses)
Like many of you, I found it very difficult to narrow my guest list down to only five people. There are so many interesting people out there, but here's who I narrowed it down to... this week, anyway...
Viktor Frankl (1905-1997): Psychiatrist, author, concentration camp survivor, and founder of the "logotherapy" movement. Best known for his work Man's Search for Meaning (originally titled From Death Camp to Existentialism). Believed that the Statue of Liberty in New York harbor should be balanced with a Statue of Responsibility off the coast of Los Angeles.
Gilbert Keith Chesterton (1874-1936): British man of letters, known as the "prince of paradox", whose writings are best exemplified by The Man Who Was Thursday and Orthodoxy: The Romance of Faith. Maintained warm, active relationships with H.G. Wells and G.B. Shaw, with both of whom he violently disagreed philosophically.
Isabel Briggs Myers (1897-1980): Co-developer of the now famous Myers-Briggs Type Indicator. Along with her mother, single-handedly took on the psychological establishment and won. Also a prolific creative writer and, like me, an INFP. "I dream that long after I'm gone, my work will go on helping people," she said in her last public statement.
Peter Drucker (1909- ) Still active as a management consultant at the age of 93, Drucker launched the study of organizational management and has been tremendously influential as a social analyst for more than sixty years. A famous quote is, "If you can't replicate something because you don't understand it, then it really hasn't been invented."
Athanasius (296-373): Stood almost completely alone against the philosophic tenor of his times, hence the epithet contra mundum associated with him: "It is not the world against Athanasius, it is Athanasius against the world". Saved Western civilization by removing a single letter i from early drafts of the Nicene Creed.
Honorable mentions: Black Elk (1863-1950), Cleveland Amory (1917-1998), William Glasser (1925- ), Richard John Neuhaus (1935- ), and Harriet Tubman (1820-1913). Sorry to disappoint you, but Britney Spears (1981- ) did not even come close to getting on the list (in general, people who have been married for only 55 hours before seeking an annulment tend to get cut rather ruthlessly from the list). But I'd try to make room somewhere for conjoined twins Abby and Brittany Hensel (1990- ).
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