[cheers]
Thank you.
[cheers]
Thank you.
[cheers]
Thank you so much.
[cheers]
Thank you.
[cheers]
To Graça Machel and the Mandela family;
To President Zuma and members of the government;
to heads of states and goverments
-- past and present --
distinguished guests.
It is a singular honor to be with you today
to celebrate a life like no other
To the people of South Africa
[cheers]
People of every race and every walk of life
the world thanks you for sharing Nelson Mandela with us
His struggle was your struggle
his triumph was your triumph,
your dignity and your hope
found expression in his life and your freedom
Your democracy
it's his cherished legacy
It is hard to eulogize any man
to capture in words
not just the facts and the dates that make a life
but the essential truth of a person
the private joys and sorrows
the quiet moments and uniue qualities
that illuminate someone's soul
How much harder to do so for a giant of history
who moved a nation towards justice
and in the process moved billions around the world
Born during the World War I
fired from court orders of power
a boy raised herding cattle
and tutored by the elders of his Mambu tribe
Madiba would emerge as the last great liberator of the 20th century.
Like Gandhi, he would lead a resistence movement
a movement that at the start had little prospect for success
Like Dr. King, he would give potent voice
to the claims of the oppressed
and the moral necessity of racial justice
He would endure a brutal imprisonment
that began in the time of Kennedy and Khrushchev
and reached the final days of the Cold War
Emerging from prison without the force of arms
he would -- like Abraham Lincoln --
hold his country together
when it threaten to break apart
and like America's founding fathers he would erect
a constitutional order to preserve freedom for future generations
A commitment to democracy and rule of law
ratified not only by his election
but by his willingness to step down from power after only one term
Given the sweep of his life
the scope of his accomplishments
the adoration that he so rightly earned
it's tempting -- I think -- to remember Nelson Mandela as an icon
smilling and serene
detached from the tawdry affairs of lesser men
but Madiba himself strongly resisted
such a lifeless portrait
[cheers]
Instead,
Madiba insisted on sharing with us his doubts and his fears
his miscalculations along with his victories
"I am not a saint", he said
"unless you think of a saint as a sinner who keeps on trying."
It was precisely because he could admit to imperfection
because he could be so full of good humour
even mischief, despite the heavy burdens that he carried
that we loved him so.
He was not a bust made of marble, he was a man of flesh and blood
a son and a husband
a father and a friend
and that's why we learned so much from him
and that's why we can learn from him still
For nothing he achieved was inevitable
in the arch of his life we see a man
who earned his place in history through struggle
and shrewdness and persistance and faith
he tells us what is possible
not just in the pages of history books
but in our own lives as well.
Mandela showed us the power of action
of taking risks on behalf of our ideas
Perhaps Mandela was right that he "inherited a proud rebelliousness
a stubborn sense of fairness" from his father
and we know he shared with millions of black and coloured Southafricans
"the anger born of a thousand slights
a thousand indignities
a thousand unremembered moments
a desire to fight the system that imprisoned
my people", he said
But like other early giants of the ANC
the Zulus and the Tambos,
[cheers]
Madiba disciplined his anger
and channelled his desire to fight into organization
and platforms and strategies for action
so men and women could stand up
for the God given dignity
Moreover, he accepted the consequences of his actions
knowing that standing up to powerful interests and injustice carries a price
"I've fought against white domination I've fought against black domination."
[cheers]
"I've cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society
in which all persons live together in harmony and equal opportunities
it is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve
but if needs be it's an ideal for which I am prepared to die."
[cheers]
Mandela taught us the power of action
but he also taught us the power of ideas
the importance of reason and arguments
the need to study not only those who you agree with
but also those you don't agree with.
He understood that ideas cannot be contained by prison walls
or extinguished by a sniper's bullet
He turned his trial into an indictment of apartheid
because of his eloquence and his passion
but also because of his training as an advocate
He used decades of prison to sharpen his arguments
but also to spread his thirst for knowledge to others in the movement
and he learned the language and the customs of his oppresors
so that one day he might better convey to them
how their own freedom depend upon his.
[cheers]
Mandela has demonstrated that action and ideas are not enough
no matter how right
they must also be ciselled in the laws and institutions
He was practical, testing his beliefs
against the hard surface of circumstance and history
On core principles he was unyielding
which is why he could rebuff offers of unconditional release
reminding the aparthaid regime
that "prisoners cannot enter into contracts."
But as he showed in painstaking negotiations
to transfer power and draft new laws
He was not afraid to compromise for the sake of a larger goal
And because he was not only a leader of a movement but a skilful politician
the constitution that emerged was worthy of this multi-racial democracy
true to his vision of laws to protect minority
as well as majority rights and the precious freedom of every Southafrican
And finally Mandela uderstood
the ties that bind the human spirit.
There is a word in Southafrican
Ubuntu
[cheers]
A word that captures Mandela's greatest gift:
his recognition that we are all bound together in ways
that are invisible to the eye
that there is a oneness to humanity
that we achieve ourselves by sharing ourselves with others
and caring for those around us
We can never know how much of this sense was innate in him
or how much was shaped in a dark and solitary cell.
But we remember the gestures -- large and small --
introducing his jailers as honored guests at an inauguration;
taking a pitch in a springbok uniform;
turning his family's heartbreak into a call to confront HIV-AIDS
that reveal the depths of his empathy and his understanding
He not only embodied ubuntu he taught millions
to find that truth within themselves.
It took a man like Madiba to free
not just the prisoner but the jailer as well
[cheers]
to show that you must trust
others so that they may trust you
to teach that reconciliation is not a matter of ignoring a cruel past
but a means of confronting it with inclusion and generosity and truth
He changed laws
but he also changed hearts
For the people of South Africa
for those he inspired around the globe
Madiba's passing is rightly a time of mourning
and a time to celebrate a heroic life
But I believe it should also prompt in each of us
a time for self-reflection with honesty
regardless of our station or circumstance
we must ask: "How well have I applied
his lessons in my own life?"
It's a question I ask myself
as a man and as a president
We know that white South Africa
the United States had overcome centuries of racial subjugation
As was true here, it took sacrifice
the sacrifices of countless people
-- known and unknown --
to see the dawn of a new day
Michelle and I are beneficiaries of that struggle
[cheers]
But in America and in South Africa and in countries all around the globe
we cannot allow our progress to cloud the fact
that our work is not yet done
The struggles that follow the victory of formal equality
or universal franchise may not be as filled with drama and moral clarity
as those that came before
but they are not less important
For around the world today
we still see children suffering from hunger and disease
we still see run down schools
we still see young people without prospects for the future.
Around the world today
men and women are still imprisoned for their political beliefs
and are still persecuted for what they look like
and how they worship, and who they love
and that is happening today
[cheers]
And so we, too, must act on behalf of justice
We, too, must act on behalf of peace
There are too many people who happily embrace
Madiba's legacy of racial reconciliation
but passionately resist even modest reforms.
that would challange chronic property and growing inequality
There are too many leaders who claim solidarity
with Madiba's struggle for freedom
but do not tolerate the same for their own people
[cheers]
And there are too many of us
too many of us on the side lines
comfortable in complacency or cynicism
when our voices must be heard
The questions we face today
how to promote equality and justice;
how to uphold freedom and human rights;
how to end a conflict and sectarian war
these things do not have easy answers
But there were no easy answers
in front of that child born in World War I
Nelson Mandela reminds us that
it always seems impossible until it is done
South Africa shows that it is true
South Africa shows we can change
that we can choose a world defined not by our differences
but by our common hopes
we can choose a world defined not by conflict
but by peace and justice and opportunity
[cheers]
We will never see
the likes of Nelson Mandela again
But let me say that the young people of Africa
and the young people around the world
you, too, can make his life's work your own
Over thirty years ago, while still a student
I learned of Nelson Mandela
and the struggles taking place in this beautiful land
and it stirred something in me
it woke me up to my responsibilities
-- to others and to myself --
and set me on an improbable journey
that finds me here today
and while I will always fall short of Madiba's example
he makes me want to be a better man
[cheers]
He speaks
to what is best inside us
After this great liberator is laid to rest
and when we return to our cities and villages
and rejoined our daily routines
let us search for his strength
let us search for his largeness of spirit
somewhere inside of ourselves
and when the night grows dark
when injustice weights heavy on our hearts
when our best laid plans seem beyond our reach
let us think of Madiba
and the words that brought him comfort
within the 4 walls of his cell:
"It matters not how streight the gate,
how charged the punishment the scroll
I am the master of my fate,
I am the captain of my soul."
What a magnificent soul it was
We will miss him deeply
May God bless the memory of Nelson Mandela.
May God bless the people of South Africa
[cheers]