President Obama Speaks at a Memorial Service for Nelson Mandela

President Obama delivers remarks at a national memorial service for former South African President Nelson Mandela. December 10, 2013.

[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]