Lives of great men..

Was going through what can be called an collection of obituaries written for a great man. Never knew the person directly but reading through the articles gave a wonderful view of this person. Well in the end I was left with a strange feeling.. dont have a proper word for it...some inspiring words stuck on...some anecedotes left me amused...some situations i empathized and at times, was baffled trying to figure out how people react to situations. What drives a person to do selfless deeds? What goes on in his mind? What does it mean to immediate near and dear ones..