 Various notable individuals have lauded Guevara as a hero ; for example , Nelson Mandela referred to him as " an inspiration for every human being who loves freedom " , while Jean @-@ Paul Sartre described him as " not only an intellectual but also the most complete human being of our age " . Others who have expressed their admiration include authors Graham Greene , who remarked that Guevara " represented the idea of gallantry , chivalry , and adventure " , and Susan Sontag , who supposed that " [ Che 's ] goal was nothing less than the cause of humanity itself . " In the black community , philosopher Frantz Fanon professed Guevara to be " the world symbol of the possibilities of one man " , while Black Power leader Stokely Carmichael eulogized that " Che Guevara is not dead , his ideas are with us . " Praise has been reflected throughout the political spectrum , with the libertarian theorist Murray Rothbard extolling Guevara as a " heroic figure " , lamenting after his death that " more than any man of our epoch or even of our century , [ Che ] was the living embodiment of the principle of revolution " , while journalist Christopher Hitchens commented that " [ Che 's ] death meant a lot to me and countless like me at the time , he was a role model , albeit an impossible one for us bourgeois romantics insofar as he went and did what revolutionaries were meant to do — fought and died for his beliefs . " British historian Hugh Thomas opines that Guevara was a " brave , sincere and determined man who was also obstinate , narrow , and dogmatic . " At the end of his life , according to Thomas , " he seems to have become convinced of the virtues of violence for its own sake " , while " his influence over Castro for good or evil " grew after his death , as Fidel took up many of his views . In Thomas ' assessment , " As in the case of Martí , or Lawrence of Arabia , failure has brightened , not dimmed the legend . " Similarly , the Cuban @-@ American sociologist Samuel Farber lauds Che Guevara as " an honest and committed revolutionary , " but also criticizes the fact that " he never embraced socialism in its most democratic essence . " 
