Margaret Mead because she led both a personal and professional life of continuous exploration and adventure.

There is a guy called Arther who does the open mic I do. He sings acapella. no great voice but just tremendous enthusiasm. It is difficult to describe but he sings stuff like H.A.P.P.Y. or old MacDonald's farm with such infectious joy that you cannot help but be swept along. This is not an act on Arther's part, he is simply genuinely always happy. As a consiquence, he has gotten some gigs. A couple of weddings and recently a funeral.

Leanardo Dicaprio

What can I say from the outside it looks like the dude has a fun life

And as a guy who is the absolute opposite of a player his luck with women is enviable

And unless I missed something he haven’t been #meto yet

Simone De Beauvoir! A truly free woman!

Looks like you are after a good material to teach your students. A noble mission.

My childhood heroes are different. One man of 1600s stood out in my mind after I have read more about many heroes around the world. Here he is and what makes him uniquely great:

1. This name was King Shivaji who lived from 1630 to 1680. Read [en.wikipedia.org]
2. He was raised by a single mother while his father had submitted as a loyal knight of the enemy in another state
3. Since childhood, he gathered his friends and played enacting "Guerrilla Warfare" on the powerful Mughal enemy camps, the Mughals were ruthless and known for random killings, rapes and burning down towns
4. As he he grew up, his followers grew and as a teenager he had a good size army that started actual "Guerilla Warfare"
5. He was crowned king of the state only 6 years before his death
6. He protected women and children, introduced strict civil and criminal laws. Punished his own son for assaulting a woman. Today, his state is considered to be the most prosperous and safest for women. education is free for all
7. What has been most striking to me is that he never enriched himself, he lived modestly, did not build lavish castles or collected gold or accumulated wealth. That is not the common story of kings and royalties around the world
8. What came after him became amazing events in the history. He sparked a motivation among his people that created a Maratha Empire which expanded from South to North at 100 years after his death defeating the most powerful enemy and more.

Imagining living his life is very flattering but I would not be up to it.

I also admire Simon Bolivar a lot who traveled more miles on a horse than Nepolean did but we do not talk about him much. Most of our heroes are from Europe and some our own.

Muhammad. I would not usurp the Hebrew scriptures with my own delusional ideas. I would not become a war-lord, imposing my political ideology onto the Arabian peninsula. Islam would be a peaceful, life-affirming doctrine.

I'll put a little time twist on your question. I would like to live the life of the first immortal human, whoever that turns out to be. The opportunity for experiences and influence would be infinite. I can't think of an answer better than that.

John Lennon

Mae West or Phyllis Diller

It is an interesting question. Unfortunately there are too many choices for me to give a single answer.

I would like to have led a life like Linus Torvalds who has contributed a great deal to the world and lived a fairly modest and admirable life...... but in that case, what improvement would I have actually made that Linus didn't already?

So how about someone who is privileged and wasted his opportunities like August Bush IV?? I can only hope I would not be lead down the same self destructive pathway.

It leaves me thinking with the time I have left, what more am I inspired to do?

Cassanova. For obvious reasons! Well, that only covers the heart and the little head." Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, polymath and bon vivant with estimated I.Q. of 210 for the heart and the big head...

Several names comes to my mind; Robert Oppenheimer , David Rockefeller , George Bush Sr. , Carl Sagan, and Machiavelli....

At this time as I think of it, I will choose David Rockefeller. Because the way he was raised and the values that were instilled in him... The way he grew into seeing the world and the nature of the masses, the long range plans he envisioned and the practical plans of action he implemented by the various organizations he created to bring a shared vision to fruition...

Interesting angle. What we would have wanted the most? Looks, brain, drive, ambition, power? Who could be the closest fit to whatever we would have wanted to have?. It's not that easy to find one that would cover it all. Now, willing to compromise, what would have been more important? Dunno man, good one.

There are ever so many people from past times whose lives I would so love to have lived and as/with and learned from the choice IS which one would I want most.
Who could I choose between such great people as Leonardo da Vinci, Galileo, Socrates, Aristotle, Pythagoras, etc, etc?

This is an interesting question - my answer would be Neil Armstrong. To leave this world and to be the first to explore the unknown would be amazing to me.

Helen Keller...she overcame so many obstacles. I am born on her birthday so she holds a special place in my heart.

That's an interesting question. There was a time when I felt like I didn't want to go on living because my life was so painful but I can't say that I really want anyone else's life either. Ask me if I want more money or something else in my own life, and I'll say yes but to actually change with someone else and give up all the things I've learned and become, not sure I would really want to do that.

Kublai Khan?

No one really. I would kind of abandon my life's meaning if I lived someone else's life. All that work of vetting, planning, etc. would go right down the drain, and then I'd end up a tool, or just as bad, a husk.

I don't want to be like that. I want to learn, grow, etc.

The things I want are from the life that was hidden from me, for the sheer error of already looking somewhere else for about 22 years.

Kiss my physiogical ass!

Define “change lives”