It's a tough call, but...

I'd have to say that I always held the polymaths in the highest esteem, growing up and even as an adult.

I think it is something I have gotten from my family, too. My mother's father worked his entire life on the railroad for the Great Northern Line in all its incarnations (currently, the BNSF), yet at his funeral, while the parish priest was giving the eulogy, he voiced his amazement that the man could debate theology, politics or history with the best... and that his understanding of such intellectual giants as Moore, Locke and Gibbon (all of whom he had read several times) was far above the norm for even teachers and professors of the priest's acquaintance. My father and mother are both huge readers, and growing up we had a vast and varied library in the house and were routinely encouraged to read anything we wanted.

My grandfather worked hard, and enjoyed his life and family... yet still worked daily to improve himself, too. George Linus Keeney (his real name) was also an alcoholic who was incapable of controlling his drinking, and because of this he did make mistakes in his life... but he is remembered fondly and lovingly by all his surviving family and friends as someone who knew a thing or two besides just how to earn a paycheck. My father worked his whole life to provide for his family as best he could, but gave us the example of a man who could discuss the value of the works of Mozart, Bach or Handel while demonstrating the best way to rewire a kitchen or re plumb a bathroom. My dad has a real appreciation for music, art and literature, and taught me how to do everything that might need to be done around a house or job site. With no actual training or experience, I built a rather large and (if I do say so myself) very nice deck on nothing but the experience he gave as I was growing up.

Today's world seems to lack the "Renaissance man" that we had even two hundred years ago in the persons of Franklin and Jefferson. Leon Battista Alberti, Da Vinci, Michaelangelo, Lomonosov, Ben Franklin, George Washington, Robert Hooke... real "Renaissance men" who contributed to society (and the world) in multiple fields of expertise over the course of their lives... are all examples of the kind of personal growth and ability that I think I most admired and most tried to emulate as a youth. It didn't always make men rich or famous (but it certainly helped those that did become rich and famous), but it made the lives of all who sought it richer and more meaningful, and I think that is reward in itself, isn't it?

One more point... my grandmother (my Dad's mom), hated to hear us kids bitch about being bored. She ALWAYS had the same comeback: "Only ignorant people are bored." I really don't think any single phrase I have ever heard used has had a more impacting effect on my life than that one. No matter what I am doing (or not doing), I can always challenge myself to do it better or faster or more efficiently, or I can always challenge myself to do something else. I hope I am able to pass that on to my kids as well as she did to me.