Humans are driven by the thoughts and actions of other humans. They inspire us to climb for higher heights, seek for deeper truths, and stand for causes much larger than ourselves no matter the difficulty the road ahead promises.
Unsurprisingly, people are always trying to find a way to make sense of all these different influencers and provide a peek at who had/has the biggest impact on our shared history. As you might expect, the answers tend to be a bit hard to definitively quantify. LinkedIn maintains its list of influencers based on how many followers each has within its system, as does Twitter. Similarly, not a year passes without countless countdowns of influential figures from sources including Time and Forbes. Ultimately, all of these different sources use different tools to try to answer the same question: who are the most influential people in history?
A team of MIT researchers have developed an incredibly in-depth tool to statistically determine just that. The Pantheon Project they created is an evolving database of influential people all throughout history which cut through trends and biases to try and simply provide truth.
It’s vitally important to note that both The Pantheon Project, and this article, draw a distinction between “influential” and “inspirational”. As a result these people, determined to be the most influential of all time, are not all heroes in the eyes of history. What they are, however, are people who steered the course of history and helped make the world what it is today.
10. Pythagoras of Samos
”Be silent or let thy words be worth more than silence.”
Far from simply being the creator of a geometry mainstay, Pythagoras was an ancient Greek philosopher, scientist, and mathematician. His theories led to a new school of thought known as Pythagoreanism which impacted all later philosophical debate.
9. Homer
”Let me not then die ingloriously and without a struggle, but let me first do some great thing that shall be told among men hereafter.”
Homer is the master craftsman behind the timeless epics The Iliad and The Odyssey. When he lived and where in Greece he came from are lost to the historic record but his impact on everything from writing and speaking to Western culture cannot be denied.
8. Julius Caesar
”I have lived long enough both in years and in accomplishments.”
Caesar is perhaps the most noteworthy and enduring representation of ancient Rome. Under his rule the grandeur and influence of Roman culture and teachings began to come to an end, bringing an end to an era which inspired countless generations since.
7. Confucius
”What you do not want done to yourself, do not do to others.”
Born a mere 19 years after Pythagoras, Confucius established a uniquely eastern school of thought known today as Confucianism. Confucius highlighted the virtues of morality, justice, and respect which would go on to be cornerstones Chinese culture for thousands of years to come.
6. Leonardo Da Vinci
”People of accomplishment rarely sat back and let things happen to them. They went out and happened to things.”
Leonardo Da Vinci is the definition of a Renaissance Man, quite literally. He was a highly accomplished artist, inventor, scientist, mathematician, writer, astronomer, musician, and more. From the Mona Lisa to The Da Vinci Code, his influence is felt by countless people all over the world to this very day.
5. Alexander the Great
”There is nothing impossible to him who will try.”
Alexander III of Macedon earned his greatness as the King of Macedon through his unprecedented military might and conquest. Under his rule, the empire expanded to cover most of the known world and his legacy went on to reach mythic status both as a military tactician and as a leader of men and governments alike.
4. Socrates
”To find yourself, think for yourself”
Though none of Socrates’ original writings survived through history for modern examination, he remains one of the most influential and interesting figures ever born. He was a key craftsman of what would eventually become western philosophy and ethics and his teachings would challenge and inform thinking to this very day.
3. Jesus Christ
”A new command I give you: Love one another”
Whether or not he was divine, there’s a well-established collection of evidence which suggests that Jesus of Nazareth did exist and that his words and actions proved enormously influential throughout the world. The tenets, morals, and doctrine of Christ’s church continue to change the course of human history.
2. Plato
”Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.”
The most famous student of Socrates, Plato went on to surpass the philosophical work of his teacher and prove himself to be an incredibly adaptive and innovative figure within the young world of western thought and even the foundations of science. Before his death he wrote a substantial library of texts and founded The Academy, the first school of higher education in the world.
1. Aristotle
”Happiness is the meaning and the purpose of life, the whole aim and end of human existence.”
Aristotle, along with his teacher, Plato, are indisputably the foundation of western philosophy and all the ethics, moral codes, and deeper understanding which comes from it. Aristotle in particular cast aside the metaphysical focus of his teacher to forge the early links of what would ultimately be known as empiricism, the theory that knowledge is available first and foremost through the senses. This theory, along with Aristotle’s other work set the standard for nearly all of modern western thought and understanding.
