If United States President Barack Obama had to make a choice of who he would dine with, he would choose Mahatma Gandhi.
Mr Obama made the revelation when he was questioned by a student during a visit to Wakefield High School in Arlington, Virginia, yesterday.
One student asked the President who he would choose to dine with if he could make only one such selection.
"Gandhi," Mr Obama replied. "He's somebody I find a lot of inspiration in. He inspired Dr (Martin Luther) King" with his message of non-violence.
"He ended up doing so much and changed the world just by the power of his ethics," Mr Obama said of Mahatma Gandhi.
In his speech at the school, Mr Obama challenged the nation's students to take pride and ownership in their education and stick with it even if they did not like every class or had to overcome tough circumstances at home.
"Every single one of you has something that you're good at. Every single one of you has something to offer," Mr Obama told the students at the school.
“You have a responsibility to yourself to discover what that is".
Mr Obama and Education Secretary Arne Duncan met with around 40 students gathered in a school library before the speech carried on ESPN and on the White House website.
"When I was your age," Obama said, "I was a little bit of a goof-off. My main goal was to get on the varsity basketball team and have fun."
In his conversation with Wakefield students, Mr Obama said that not having a father at home forced him "to grow up faster”.
Wakefield High School is the most economically and racially diverse school in Arlington County, according to the Department of Education.
At another point, Obama told the students that "a lot of people are counting on me”.
Mr Obama steered clear of politics as the pep talk to students sparked controversy among conservatives, who accused him of trying to indoctrinate America's children.
Presidents often visit schools and Mr Obama was not the first to offer a back-to-school address aimed at millions of students in every grade.
Several conservative organisations and many concerned parents warned Mr Obama was trying to sell his political agenda.
Concern was caused in part by an accompanying administration lesson plan encouraging students to "help the President”, which the White House later revised.
The original speech suggested that students could help the President by writing letters.
Ronald Reagan got away with saying students could write letters to the President in his speech to students when he was President but not so for Mr Obama.
Mr Duncan also acknowledged that some of the prepared guidance for school officials included a suggestion that students could compose essays stating how they could help support Mr Obama, an idea the Duncan acknowledged was wrong-headed.