# A day to spend with anyone from history..Who would it be? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 27, 2001, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-day-to-spend-with-anyone-from-history-who-would-it-be/66695 "2001-05-27T17:38:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Dragwyr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dragwyr/32/2855_2.png) [@Dragwyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dragwyr)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2001, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-day-to-spend-with-anyone-from-history-who-would-it-be/66695/21 "2001-05-29T17:52:42Z")
Harry Blackstone Sr. To spend time with one of the all time Magical Greats would be totaly awesome. ---
**Author:** ![Suo\_Na](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/898d66/32.png) [@Suo\_Na](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suo_Na)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2001, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-day-to-spend-with-anyone-from-history-who-would-it-be/66695/22 "2001-05-30T06:06:01Z")
Make that three for Richard Feynman. He can teach me to crack a safe. Damn that guy was interesting. I can’t think of anyone else at the moment. I’d like to knock Noam Chomsky upside the head a time or two. ---
**Author:** ![Homer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/df788c/32.png) [@Homer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Homer)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2001, 6:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-day-to-spend-with-anyone-from-history-who-would-it-be/66695/23 "2001-05-30T06:19:33Z")
No, I think I’d like to talk to Einstein. I have some ideas I’d like to discuss with him. 🙂 –Tim ---
**Author:** ![ColonelMoose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f6c823/32.png) [@ColonelMoose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ColonelMoose)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2001, 8:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-day-to-spend-with-anyone-from-history-who-would-it-be/66695/24 "2001-05-30T08:02:27Z")
Hmm… I have very different choices, depending on the context. If I was feeling intellectual, I’d have to choose either Machiavelli, Einstein, or (preferably) Thomas Hobbes. Good ol’ Tommy H. is the person who I’d claim is responsible for all modern political thought (mmm, liberalism), and was insanely brilliant, to boot. Plus, he might be able to explain _Leviathan_ to me well enough to pass the Political Philosophy class I’m scheduled to take next semester. However, if I was just looking for a good time, I’d have to split a vial of Sandoz acid with Neal Cassady, and see what happens. That kid was crazy as a whole bag of loons, and saw more in his short life than ten regular men. Plus, I’d like to know his excuse for cackin’ it South of the Border. M. ---
**Author:** ![Badtz\_Maru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e36b37/32.png) [@Badtz\_Maru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Badtz_Maru)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2001, 8:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-day-to-spend-with-anyone-from-history-who-would-it-be/66695/25 "2001-05-30T08:23:44Z")
As a kid I always fantasized about hanging out with H.G. Wells (after seeing Time after Time). It would be interesting to see what he thought of modern times. ---
**Author:** ![Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e36b37/32.png) [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2001, 11:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-day-to-spend-with-anyone-from-history-who-would-it-be/66695/26 "2001-05-30T11:32:34Z")
Jim Morrison, of course. We’d go out drinking for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and if I was lucky I’d be able to sing with him. Or even just hear some poetry. That would be incredible. ---
**Author:** ![Olentzero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/90ced4/32.png) [@Olentzero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Olentzero)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2001, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-day-to-spend-with-anyone-from-history-who-would-it-be/66695/27 "2001-05-30T14:00:38Z")
This will come as a surprise to no one, I’m sure, but it’s a toss-up between Lenin and Trotsky. With Spike Jones coming in a close third. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Maeglin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8baadc/32.png) [@Maeglin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maeglin)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2001, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-day-to-spend-with-anyone-from-history-who-would-it-be/66695/28 "2001-05-30T14:22:01Z")
I’d love to toss a few back with Peter Abelard. There’s a guy who could teach me a thing or three. I’d rather hang out with him before he was castrated, though. It seems like he lost his sense of humor when he lost his nads. ---
**Author:** ![partly\_warmer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bc8723/32.png) [@partly\_warmer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/partly_warmer)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2001, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-day-to-spend-with-anyone-from-history-who-would-it-be/66695/29 "2001-05-31T05:49:57Z")
Okay, it’s Jesus, hands down. Even for the non-religious. Assume that you get to talk with him for a couple days, after preparation. 1. You would instantaneously become the second most famous, and possibly the second most influential person in history. 2. You’d be incredibly rich for the rest of your life from publications and interviews. 3. You’d get to put your own spin on all the Christian (and other) religious issues you felt needed clarification. 4. You’d probably learn something \. ---
**Author:** ![kang](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/d6d6ee/32.png) [@kang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kang)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2001, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-day-to-spend-with-anyone-from-history-who-would-it-be/66695/30 "2001-05-31T06:06:51Z")
Reading down the list, thinking about all these folks. Got confused when I saw Ben Jonson cited, of course. I mean, he was damn fine in THE WILD BUNCH and outstanding in the original THE GETAWAY…but… Then…whammo… enlightenment. That’s Johnson, not Jonson, if you get my meaning. Anyway… I’ll go out on a limb here and pick the person that would probably give me the longest lasting, most fulfilling pleasure. I’ll take my day with Marilyn Monroe. Don’t care if she’s sober. Don’t care what she talks about. Just want to soak in the reality of her deliciousness for a day, then spend the rest of my life contemplating it. Yep… I’m a pagan. I’ll take form over substance any day. Especially that form. ---
**Author:** ![Creaky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e68b1a/32.png) [@Creaky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Creaky)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2001, 6:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-day-to-spend-with-anyone-from-history-who-would-it-be/66695/31 "2001-05-31T06:43:56Z")
Shopping and lunch with Edie Sedgwick. Oh yeah. ---
**Author:** ![Mercutio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/51bf81/32.png) [@Mercutio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mercutio)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2001, 6:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-day-to-spend-with-anyone-from-history-who-would-it-be/66695/32 "2001-05-31T06:52:45Z")
Andy Warhol, think of the orgies and the photographs and the pantings and the booze and the fun. ---
**Author:** ![Weirddave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/919ad9/32.png) [@Weirddave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weirddave)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2001, 6:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-day-to-spend-with-anyone-from-history-who-would-it-be/66695/33 "2001-05-31T06:59:25Z")
Easy question. Jesus, Winston Churchill or Dr. Martin Luthor King. It’s not so much spending time with them, I just wanna hear them speak. God! What orators! ---
**Author:** ![Sterra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8c91f0/32.png) [@Sterra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sterra)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2001, 7:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-day-to-spend-with-anyone-from-history-who-would-it-be/66695/34 "2001-05-31T07:30:13Z")
I would want to speak with myself. In 100 years I will be one of the most famous people ever so I would really like to meet myself in the early years, before I got all bitter and jaded. ---
**Author:** ![plnnr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@plnnr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/plnnr)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2001, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-day-to-spend-with-anyone-from-history-who-would-it-be/66695/35 "2001-05-31T12:14:50Z")
I’d like to be able to spend some time, hell, even just five minutes, with my late brother, Mark. I miss him terribly. ---
**Author:** ![RicoLaser](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/898d66/32.png) [@RicoLaser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RicoLaser)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2001, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-day-to-spend-with-anyone-from-history-who-would-it-be/66695/36 "2001-05-31T14:21:37Z")
Wow. Lots of really good suggestions. Jesus, Hitler, Andy Warhol, and Marilyn Monroe were all very interesting choices. I almost picked Will Shakespeare, but then it occurred to me that he probably didn’t write all those plays, so we wouldn’t have a whole lot to talk about. So I chose Marlon Brando. That’s right … of all the kings, prophets, military leaders, artists, writers, and philosophers in the history of the world, I chose the fat guy from “The Godfather”. Why? Because he is, simply put, and all hyperbole aside, the greatest actor I have ever seen. And as an actor, it would be an absolute thrill to sit down with him and pick his brain. He also happens to be one of the great humanists of the past fifty years, and that interests me too. I’d love to watch one of his movies with him and listen to him commenting on each scene - y’know, kind of like on a DVD, only live. In short, he fascinates me. Incidentally, Kang, kudos again on your choice of Marilyn Monroe. She’d definitely be my second or third choice. ---
**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2001, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-day-to-spend-with-anyone-from-history-who-would-it-be/66695/37 "2001-05-31T18:09:29Z")
Put me, an Atheist, down for a day with Jesus Christ. I’d have to think about the exact day though. Second choice would be to spend that fateful day with Lee Harvey Oswald. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2001, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-day-to-spend-with-anyone-from-history-who-would-it-be/66695/38 "2001-05-31T18:18:39Z")
**Shipwreck Kelly,** the greatest flagpole-sitter of the 1920s! The man earned A HUNDRED DOLLARS A DAY! Think of the stories he’d have to tell! Wait. Uhhhhh…kin I have another pick? ---
**Author:** ![Jake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f475e1/32.png) [@Jake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jake)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2001, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-day-to-spend-with-anyone-from-history-who-would-it-be/66695/39 "2001-05-31T19:01:26Z")
With me it’d be a choice between Ben Franklin or Dorothy Parker. Think of the stories they’d have to tell! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Tommy\_the\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/74df32/32.png) [@Tommy\_the\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tommy_the_Cat)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2001, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-day-to-spend-with-anyone-from-history-who-would-it-be/66695/40 "2001-05-31T19:03:38Z")
David Lee Roth, although all the partying, boozing, and women would probably kill little ol’ mortal me. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-day-to-spend-with-anyone-from-history-who-would-it-be/66695.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-day-to-spend-with-anyone-from-history-who-would-it-be/66695.md?page=3)