The Impact of One Man

October 3, 2017

One man can change a country. History is replete with personalities who shaped the course of their nations; some are venerated, others are not. But its citizens must allow it – the will of one individual is insufficient to move an unwilling populace. Our leaders often reflect the best in us, yet when they do not, the prices are steep and stain the pages of history. There have been those who sought to divide, and there have been those, who when presented with abject division, sought to heal.

“And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same”, once penned a famous South African. Our light, when shining from above, both illuminates our way and beckons to others; what happens when that luminosity is gone? When we submit to our darker instincts? The shadows cast insidiously spread, odious and infectious, and without our path alight, we stumble, blind, increasingly fearful. Who willingly walks such a way? What forces convince us to close our eyes in submission, instead of opening them in cognizance of what lies ahead?

While we may not recall the specific words our elders and our teachers employed, we all remember the lessons they taught: be kind to others, especially lesser of us. Choose your words carefully – they matter, and cannot be easily undone. And if you speak, know what you’re talking about. Never lie, cheat, or steal; for some of us in school, such offence could change the very course of our lives. Leadership is service, an honor to be accepted with magnanimity and humility. Finally, at the end, all you have is your character. Everything else is fleeting and falls away. This is what will be remembered, that will be who you were.

Our inspiration for this essay left us with this, too, of course: “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” Weapons we do not lack; but while battles are won with guns, wars are won with ideas. If all of the qualities of character are manifest in anything, it is the erudition and circumspection we practice and project. Knowledge and comprehension are truth, and truth is light. Without the capacity to understand the history of man, the natural forces that shape our planet, the boundaries of thought and what may stir beyond them, we cannot tell leaf from tree; we are vapid and brutish, our existence serving little purpose but the spilling of blood and the churning of soil. 

We all know what constitutes character. We have all been taught from a young age that true strength and courage comes from a deep commitment to service and to fellow man. And we all understand that the pillars of history were honorable souls, practiced in intellect, charitable in spirit, equitable in governance. Gallant in war, and benevolent in peace. How will history remember us, as a nation? How will it remember you? Our better angels are watching.