“No one is actually dead until the ripples they cause in the world die away”

It may not sound like or be an earth-shattering statement but it really does seem to capture something at the heart of our culture if not civilization. How often have you encountered to notion that someone will love someone else always? How often have you heard someone say "they will be remembered always" or "they will be forever in our hearts" after someone has passed away? That we honour someone by committing to remembering them forever feels like only getting part of the way there (wherever "there" is) whereas saying that someone will be forever in our hearts, thoughts, prayers or whatever would seem to capture something that is really quite important to a lot of us.

All of this and more is captured in the notion that “No one is actually dead until the ripples they cause in the world die away”. To think that Terry Pratchett, already a cultural icon for many of us, seems to have said this first adds yet another layer of coolness to him and his legacy.

http://www.littleatoms.com/words/terry-pratchett-no-one-actually-dead-until-ripples-they-cause-world-die-away