@abaris Remember, this isn't about great people, it's about extraordinary people. Whether or not Churchill was great is certainly debatable, but are you arguing he was not extraordinary? This quote about Churchill and success is rather illuminating: "Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm."
As for the merits of trying to identify a common variable in extraordinary people, I feel that the whole exercise or might be in vain. You may in fact be able to identify such traits, but I suspect there will be no predictive value in the findings. For instance, you might find that 'hard work' is a common trait in extraordinary people, but I doubt that you will be able to predict whether someone will end up being extraordinary just because they exhibit that trait. But, then again, I could be entirely wrong. So don't let me put you off.
As for the merits of trying to identify a common variable in extraordinary people, I feel that the whole exercise or might be in vain. You may in fact be able to identify such traits, but I suspect there will be no predictive value in the findings. For instance, you might find that 'hard work' is a common trait in extraordinary people, but I doubt that you will be able to predict whether someone will end up being extraordinary just because they exhibit that trait. But, then again, I could be entirely wrong. So don't let me put you off.
