Great Quotes from Famous People Quiz

Answer: Napoleon Bonaparte

Napoleon Bonaparte was born in Corsica in 1769. He is known worldwide for his impressive military accomplishments. After the French Revolution, he gradually became an influential figure in France and managed to get crowned as an Emperor in 1804. He achieved great victories against his enemies, the other European empires, at Austerlitz, Jena, Friedland and Wagram, but his plans for creating French rule over Europe were foiled after invasions in Spain and Russia and, in 1814, he was removed from the throne and exiled to Elba, only to return in France one year later and defeated for good in Waterloo.

He died on the island of St. Helena in 1821.

Answer: Winston Churchill

Winston Churchill was born in 1874. He is one of the best known British statesmen and was an influential figure who was active in British politics during both World Wars. At the start of World War One, he was First Lord of the Admiralty, but in late 1915, after the Allied failure in Gallipoli, he resigned and went to fight in France for several months before returning to the United Kingdom. During World War Two, he was the Prime Minister who coordinated Britain's war efforts in both political and military scale and became known as "The Father of Victory".

He died in 1965.

Answer: Elizabeth I

Elizabeth I of England was born in 1533. She was the daughter of Henry VIII and his second wife, Anne Boleyn. She ascended on the throne in 1558. During her reign, England became a world power and an effective antagonist of Spain, against which England scored a major victory in 1588, when the Spanish armada was destroyed by the English fleet.

Moreover, during her reign, the English drama flourished with playwrights such as William Shakespeare and Christopher Marlowe. Elizabeth took no husband thus, when she died in 1603, the Tudor dynasty of England came to an end.

Answer: Socrates

Socrates was born between in 470 or 469 BC. He was one of the greatest philosophers ever and his philosophical methods laid, to a great extent, the foundations of western philosophy. Most of what we know about him comes from the writings of his students, Plato and Xenophon.

However, the fact that Socrates used his philosophy to criticize the bad elements of Athenian society and government led to his trial and subsequent execution by the means of drinking hemlock in 399 BC.

Answer: Julius Caesar

Julius Caesar was born in 100 BC. He was one of the most famous Roman generals and leaders. Caesar was a member of the First Triumvirate, a coalition of the three most powerful men in Rome, which was formed in 59 BC and included Caesar, Marcus Crassus and Pompey the Great. Caesar later embarked on the conquest of Gaul, an undertaking in which he was successful, making the Roman borders reach the English channel and the Rhine River.

This conquest resulted also in Caesar amassing power. Terrified, his opponents in Rome - Pompey in particular - ordered him to disband his legions before returning in the city. Caesar did not oblige them and a civil war ensued, in which he was victorious and was proclaimed dictator for life.

However, he was assassinated in 44 BC by a group of his political enemies, including his adoptive son, Brutus.

Answer: Thomas Hobbes

Thomas Hobbes was born in 1588, on the very day that the Spanish Armada was defeated by the English. He is mostly known as the man who laid the foundations of the social contract thought. In contrast to the also famous John Locke, Hobbes defined the life of man in the natural state as "solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short". Hobbes was a staunch believer in a strong state, controlled by an absolute sovereign.

He died in 1679.

Answer: Fyodor Dostoyevsky

Fyodor Dostoyevsky was born in 1821. He is one of the most famous Russian authors. He belongs in the literary school of realism. Prominent among his works are: "The Idiot", "Brothers Karamazov" and "Crime and Punishment". In politics, Dostoyevsky was inclined, at least in the late stages of his life, towards conservatism and he believed that his contemporary western Europe was erroneous in moving to liberalism.

He died in 1881.

Answer: Aristotle

Aristotle was born in 384 BC. He was an Ancient Greek philosopher and scientist. His works compirse the first comprehensive system of Western Philosophy. He wrote about many subjects, such as philosophy, politics, ethics, physics, zoology and biology.

His works also helped shape Christian theology, mainly the scholastic tradition of the Catholic Church. In epistemology, he belonged to the school of empiricism, believing that all knowledge comes from experience and is based on perception. He died in 322 BC.

Answer: J.R.R. Tolkien

John Ronald Reuel Tolkien was born in 1892. He was a British author, best known for creating the fictional world of Middle Earth and authoring masterpieces such as "The Hobbit", "The Lord of the Rings" and "The Silmarillion". Although Tolkien was not the first fantasy author, his works led in the rebirth of the genre, and especially epic fantasy.

In popular culture, he has been identified as the "father" of modern fantasy literature. Tolkien was also an ardent Catholic and he helped his friend C.S. Lewis convert from atheism to Christianity.

He died in 1973.

Answer: Robert E. Lee

Robert E. Lee was born in 1807. He was an American military leader, mostly remembered for leading the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia in the War Between the States, aka the American Civil War. He won a great string of battles, against superior Union numbers, earning the respect of friends and foes alike.

Some of his victories are Second Manassas (Bull Run), Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville and Cold Harbor. Georgia politician Benjamin Hill wrote about General Lee: "When the future historian shall come to survey the character of Lee he will find it rising like a huge mountain above the undulating plane of humanity, and he must lift his eyes high toward heaven to catch its summit.

He possessed every virtue of other great commanders without their vices.

He was a foe without hate; a friend without treachery; a soldier without cruelty; a victor without oppression; and a victim without murmuring. He was a public officer without vices; a private citizen without wrong; a neighbor without reproach; a Christian without hypocrisy and a man without guile.

He was a Caesar without his ambition; Frederick without his tyranny; Napoleon without his selfishness; and Washington without his reward. He was obedient to authority as a servant, and royal in authority as a true king. He was gentle as a woman in life; modest and pure as a virgin in thought; watchful as a Roman vestal in duty; submissive to law as Socrates; and grand in battle as Achilles." General Robert E. Lee died in 1870.