Page:The Message and Ministrations of Dewan Bahadur R. Venkata Ratnam, volume 2.djvu/435

 smiling land and to read his history in a nation's eyes. But he could whisper hope unto this drooping land, and he could read his history in the nation's heart. Therefore, unto him we owe the everlasting tribute of lifelong imitation. Admiration is only a prelude to imitation. And a great man, it has been said, is great in that he quickens the throb of greatness in those that come in vital touch with him. To us, his humble followers and reverent mourners, it may be given to be great, not of course in the sense in which he was great, but in the sense of looking up to the great, following after the great and thus immortalising the elements of greatness in a nation's life.