Abraham Lincoln contemplated suicide more than once in his life, he knew suffering and yet he is perhaps histories' greatest leader through a period of time where the nation also wept, the American Civil War.

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Howard Hughes was one of the most financially successful businessmen of all time, an engineer, a record setting pilot, film producer and philanthropist, his obsessive compulsive disorder drove his ability to stunningly innovate but ultimately it caused great suffering.

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Marilyn Monroe had a traumatic upbringing, yet marketed herself into one of the worlds most famous actresses. Despite her many successes she longed to feel truly loved but never found her love adequately requited.

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Ernest Hemingway was one of the most accomplished writers of the 20th century and also one of the most colorful public figures of his lifetime, underneath that he suffered mightily from bipolar disorder and alcoholism. Unfortunately, the two were inexorably connected. 

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Lenny Bruce invented the genre of satirical comedy against a back drop of depression, substance abuse and constant legal troubles for public obscenity. Original and innovative his diseases ultimately ended his life.

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Marie Curie discovered two elements and radioactivity while enduring deep clinical depressions, even as the sexism of the time tried to deny her the 2 nobel prizes she won. 

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Matthew Henson is likely the first man to set foot on the north pole due to his deep curiosity, tenacity and unusal survival skills. The racism of the time may have robbed him of wide recognition but not the feat.

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Muhammad Ali remains one of the greatest boxers of all time, but he was also a principled pacifist, Muslim and important to the civil rights movement. What drove this colorful, larger than life man?

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