Like President Obama said I too am one of the countless millions who drew inspiration from Nelson Mandela’s life. His book “Long Walk to Freedom” is one of the best books I’ve ever read. To me Nelson Mandela is one of the greatest souls who ever graced this planet.
“For now let us pause and give thanks for the fact that nelson Mandela lived. A man who took history in his hands, and bent the arc of the moral universe toward justice.
“We, too, must act on behalf of justice. We, too, must act on behalf of peace. There are too many of us who happily embrace Madiba’s legacy of racial reconciliation, but passionately resist even modest reforms that would challenge chronic poverty and growing inequality. There are too many leaders who claim solidarity with Madiba’s struggle for freedom, but do not tolerate dissent from their own people. And there are too many of us who stand on the sidelines, comfortable in complacency or cynicism when our voices must be heard.” – Obama.
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 jailor as well; 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, generosity and truth. He changed laws, but also hearts. – Obama.
Botlahle winner of South Africa’s got Talent performs the poem Madiba!
“I hate race discrimination most intensely and in all its manifestations. I have fought it all during my life; I fight it now, and will do so until the end of my days.”
– Nelson Mandela
Difficulties break some men but make others. No axe is sharp enough to cut the soul of a sinner who keeps on trying, one armed with the hope that he will rise even in the end.”
– Nelson Mandela
“Death is something inevitable. When a man has done what he considers to be his duty to his people and his country, he can rest in peace. I believe I have made that effort and that is, therefore, why I will sleep for the eternity.”
– Nelson Mandela
“Those who conduct themselves with morality, integrity and consistency need not fear the forces of inhumanity and cruelty.”
– Nelson Mandela
“I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it….The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.”
– Nelson Mandela
President Obama on Nelson Mandela:
The day he was released from prison gave me an idea of what people can do when they are guided by their hopes and not by their fears.
“I am one of the countless millions who drew inspiration from Nelson Mandela’s life,” Obama continued, citing his own protests against apartheid as one of his first political actions. “I cannot fully imagine my own life without the example set by Nelson Mandela.”
“We will not likely see the likes of Nelson Mandela again,” the President said. “So it falls to us as best we can to forward the example that he set: to make decisions guided not by hate, but by love; to never discount the difference that one person can make; to strive for a future that is worthy of his sacrifice.”