Barack Obama's Tweet About Charlottesville Has Become the Most Liked Tweet of All Time

Former president Barack Obama has mostly stayed out of the spotlight since he left office in January. But he occasionally pops back into the news—whether it be for his sass or his (lack of) fashion choices or his profound statements on current events.

After the appalling and disheartening events in Charlottesville, Va. this past weekend, Obama shared a few words from Long Walk to Freedom, the autobiography of anti-apartheid and human rights advocate Nelson Mandela, according to NPR.

The full passage reads:

"I never lost hope that this great transformation would occur. Not only because of the great heroes I have already cited, but because of the courage of the ordinary men and women of my country. I always knew that deep down in every human heart, there is mercy and generosity. No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite. Even in the grimmest times in prison, when my comrades and I were pushed to our limits, I would see a glimmer of humanity in one of the guards, perhaps for just a second, but it was enough to reassure me and keep me going. Man's goodness is a flame that can be hidden but never extinguished."

As MarketWatch reports, as of Wednesday morning, it was the most liked tweet of all time with 3.2 million likes and 1.3 million retweets. Second on the list was Ariana Grande's initial response to the Manchester attack, and the third was the famous Oscar selfie. Moreover, the top 10 tweets are dominated by Obama. He has 6 tweets in the top 10, from both his personal account (@BarackObama) and his presidential one (@POTUS44).

It’s not hard to see why this tweet has gained so much popularity. It’s mature, hopeful, and brief yet powerful. And it likely gave a lot of people a boost at a really demoralizing time.

As Twitter has shown us, our words have the power to spur people to create change. As Susan Bro, the mother of Charlottesville victim Heather Heyer recently said at her daughter’s memorial service, "We are going to be angry with each other. But let's channel that anger not into hate, not into violence, not into fear," Bro said. "Let's channel anger into righteous action."