Nelson Mandela, 1918-2013

“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” -Nelson Mandela

We all kind of knew it was coming- Mandela was, after all, 95, and bedridden for much of the year- but it doesn't make his loss any easier to take. Heads of state the world over, when they take office, in the back of their minds all dream of leaving this Earth in as exalted a state as Mandela, a state where the world simply... stops. A state where the world remembers their struggles, their rise, the profound ways in which they changed their nation and the world. A state in which respect for the dead is truly honored to its core-- there is always someone willing to remind the world of whatever failings a head of state may have had, but in their case few dare try and those that do are instantly pilloried. A state where one of the first reactions of mourners is not to cry, but to exchange bits and pieces of the wisdom they had imparted throughout their life. Rarely, very rarely, do any of the thousands of these world leaders reach such a state. Nelson Mandela did, and deservedly so.

We're all gonna miss you.