# Influences.... who are yours? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 19, 1999, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/influences-who-are-yours/11410 "1999-11-19T20:09:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Poto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ab992/32.png) [@Poto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Poto)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 1999, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/influences-who-are-yours/11410/21 "1999-11-21T01:32:00Z")
The (historical) Voltaire, Dave Barry, Howard Whitlock, Clayton Heathcock and Brian Metcalf. You asked. ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 1999, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/influences-who-are-yours/11410/22 "1999-11-21T03:34:00Z")
Ohhh, Dave Barry. Good one. I forgot …Walter Mitty. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 1999, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/influences-who-are-yours/11410/23 "1999-11-21T03:50:00Z")
Hey! If we get to use fictional characters: Dad (nonfiction) Mom (nonfiction - for the most part) Beowulf (Fiction - yeah, the guy from early high school English with the arm-wrestling fetish) * * * Tom~ ---
**Author:** ![PurpleCrackwhore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9fc348/32.png) [@PurpleCrackwhore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PurpleCrackwhore)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 1999, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/influences-who-are-yours/11410/24 "1999-11-21T04:17:00Z")
my Mother…who taught me beauty comes from within Confucius…who taught me wisdom comes from within ## Robert Sexton… who taught me the words to express from within “Only when he no longer knows what he is doing, does the painter do good things.” --Edgar Degas ---
**Author:** ![Glitch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/0ea827/32.png) [@Glitch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Glitch)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 1999, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/influences-who-are-yours/11410/25 "1999-11-22T13:52:00Z")
I think the biggest influence on my life has been Sosai Masutatsu Oyama. Karate has made all the difference to me and without him I would not be in karate. Pure and simple. * * * “Glitch … BFG.” - Bob the Guardian ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 1999, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/influences-who-are-yours/11410/26 "1999-11-22T14:21:00Z")
I forgot:John Waters and The NYDolls. ---
**Author:** ![SqrlCub](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea5d25/32.png) [@SqrlCub](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SqrlCub)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 1999, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/influences-who-are-yours/11410/27 "1999-11-22T15:40:00Z")
Hehehehe I could marry you orangecakes. 😉 Well, I suppose that we could just be friends afterall. 🙂 That was too funny. I actually liked everyone that you have mentioned so far. _Steal This Book_ by Abbie Hoffman was a training manual for theivery that rarely sold a copy. It was too funny. HUGS! Sqrl * * * Gasoline: As an accompaniement to cereal it made a refreshing change. Glen Baxter ---
**Author:** ![Narile](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/71c47a/32.png) [@Narile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Narile)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 1999, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/influences-who-are-yours/11410/28 "1999-11-22T22:03:00Z")
I don’t want to be like my father, but I damn well want to look right in his eyes. My influences growing up? Real life: Einstein, Gen Marshall, Patton, Coustue(sp), John Glenn. Fantasy: Gandalf (I mean it, when I was a kid in first grade, bunch of kids would be playing ‘Dukes of Hazzard’ or somesuch, and I’d want to be Gandalf. 🙂 ), Aragorn, Beowulf. As an Adult: Feynmann, Gen Marshall, Tolkien, Heinlein. * * * \>\>Being Chaotic Evil means never having to say your sorry…unless the other guy is bigger than you.\<\< —The dragon observes ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 1999, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/influences-who-are-yours/11410/29 "1999-11-23T01:10:00Z")
I am influenced by the Moon’s gravitational field. Just like any other Celestial Body. (And I do have one. Ladies may inspect it privately; by appointment only, please.) 😃 * * * Is an appreciation of beauty a function of the human soul? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/influences-who-are-yours/11410.md?page=1)