They are as lights set upon a hill, illumining the moral atmosphere around them; and the light of their spirit continues to shine upon all succeeding generations.
It is natural to admire and revere really great men.

They hallow the nation to which they belong, and lift up not only all who live in their time, but those who live after them.

Their great example becomes the common heritage of their race; and their great deeds and great thoughts are the most glorious of legacies to mankind.

They connect the present with the past, and help on the increasing purpose of the future; holding aloft the standard of principle, maintaining the dignity of human character, and filling the mind with traditions and instincts of all that is most worthy and noble in life.
Character, embodied in thought and deed, is of the nature of immortality.

The solitary thought of a great thinker will dwell in the minds of men for centuries until at length it works itself into their daily life and practice.