0:00:00.777,0:00:04.465 [cheers] 0:00:04.465,0:00:06.813 Thank you. 0:00:06.813,0:00:14.823 [cheers] 0:00:14.823,0:00:17.055 Thank you. 0:00:17.055,0:00:21.164 [cheers] 0:00:21.164,0:00:27.736 Thank you so much. 0:00:27.736,0:00:32.398 Thank you. 0:00:32.398,0:00:39.906 [cheers] 0:00:39.906,0:00:44.410 To Graça Machel and the Mandela family; 0:00:44.410,0:00:48.177 To President Zuma and 0:00:48.177,0:00:51.451 members of the government; 0:00:51.451,0:00:57.538 to heads of state and goverment past and present, 0:00:57.538,0:01:00.840 distinguished guests. 0:01:00.840,0:01:02.893 It is a singular honor 0:01:02.893,0:01:06.901 to be with you today to celebrate a life 0:01:06.901,0:01:10.947 like no other. 0:01:10.947,0:01:13.575 To the people of South Africa 0:01:13.575,0:01:23.119 [cheers] 0:01:23.119,0:01:29.367 People of every race and every walk of life 0:01:29.367,0:01:30.592 the world thanks you 0:01:30.592,0:01:35.665 for sharing Nelson Mandela with us. 0:01:35.665,0:01:40.166 His struggle was your struggle 0:01:40.166,0:01:44.844 his triumph was your triumph, 0:01:44.844,0:01:46.204 your dignity 0:01:46.204,0:01:50.252 and your hope found expression in his life 0:01:50.252,0:01:53.581 and your freedom. Your democracy 0:01:53.581,0:01:57.953 it's his cherished legacy 0:01:57.953,0:02:04.782 It is hard to eulogize any man 0:02:04.782,0:02:07.450 to capture in words 0:02:07.450,0:02:11.033 not just the facts and the dates 0:02:11.033,0:02:14.973 that make a life, but the essential truth 0:02:14.973,0:02:19.030 of a person, the private joys, 0:02:19.030,0:02:22.342 and sorrows, the quiet moments 0:02:22.342,0:02:27.976 the unique qualities that illuminate someone's soul. 0:02:27.976,0:02:30.420 How much harder to do so for a giant 0:02:30.420,0:02:35.390 of history who moved a nation towards justice 0:02:35.390,0:02:42.038 and in the process moved billions around the world 0:02:42.038,0:02:43.114 Born 0:02:43.114,0:02:47.033 during world war one fired from court orders of power 0:02:47.033,0:02:49.899 a boy raised herding cattle and 0:02:49.899,0:02:54.365 tutored by the elders of his Mambu tribe 0:02:54.365,0:02:57.783 Madiba would emerge as the last great liberator 0:02:57.783,0:03:01.866 of the 20th century. Like Gandhi, 0:03:01.866,0:03:06.420 he would lead a resistence movement, a movement 0:03:06.420,0:03:11.568 that at the start had little prospect for success 0:03:11.568,0:03:15.838 Like Dr. King, he would give potent voice 0:03:15.838,0:03:18.092 to the claims of the oppressed 0:03:18.092,0:03:23.204 and the moral necessity of racial justice 0:03:23.204,0:03:25.364 He would endure a brutal 0:03:25.364,0:03:30.576 imprisonment that began in the time of Kennedy and Khrushchev 0:03:30.576,0:03:35.477 and reached the final days of the cold war 0:03:35.477,0:03:37.415 Emerging from prison without the force 0:03:37.415,0:03:41.373 of arms he would, like Abraham Lincoln, hold his country 0:03:41.373,0:03:45.355 together when it threaten to break apart 0:03:45.355,0:03:47.661 and like America's founding fathers he would erect 0:03:47.661,0:03:55.230 a constitutional order to preserve freedom for future generations 0:03:55.230,0:03:57.617 A commitment to democracy 0:03:57.617,0:04:01.009 and rule of law, ratified not only by 0:04:01.009,0:04:04.975 his election but by his willingness to step down 0:04:04.975,0:04:15.427 from power after only one term. 0:04:15.427,0:04:17.219 Given the sweep 0:04:17.219,0:04:21.116 of his life, the scope of his 0:04:21.116,0:04:26.900 accomplishments, the adoration that he so widely owned, 0:04:26.900,0:04:29.173 it's tempting, I think, to remember Nelson Mandela 0:04:29.173,0:04:33.803 as an icon, smiling and serene, 0:04:33.803,0:04:37.078 detached from the tawdry affairs of lessen men 0:04:37.078,0:04:40.811 but Madiba himself strongly resisted 0:04:40.811,0:04:43.525 such a lifeless portrait 0:04:43.525,0:04:54.204 [cheers] 0:04:54.204,0:04:57.958 Instead, Madiba 0:04:57.958,0:05:01.951 insisted on sharing with us his doubts and his fears 0:05:01.951,0:05:07.147 his miscalculations along with his victories 0:05:07.147,0:05:09.002 "I am not a saint", he said 0:05:09.002,0:05:12.530 "unless you think of a saint as a sinner who keeps 0:05:12.530,0:05:17.081 on trying". 0:05:17.081,0:05:21.871 It was precisely because he could admit to imperfection 0:05:21.871,0:05:24.951 because he could be so full of good humour 0:05:24.951,0:05:29.996 even mischief, despite the heavy burdens that he carried 0:05:29.996,0:05:32.950 that we loved him so. 0:05:32.950,0:05:37.902 He was not a bust made of marble, he was a man of flesh and blood 0:05:37.902,0:05:41.236 a son and a husband, a father 0:05:41.236,0:05:44.199 and a friend and that's why we learned 0:05:44.199,0:05:49.153 so much from him and that's why we can learn from him still 0:05:49.153,0:05:52.585 For nothing he achieved was inevitable 0:05:52.585,0:05:56.206 in the arch of his life we see a man 0:05:56.206,0:05:59.550 who earned his place in history through struggle 0:05:59.550,0:06:05.537 and shrewdness and persistance and faith 0:06:05.537,0:06:08.063 he tells us what is possible 0:06:08.063,0:06:12.406 not just in the pages of history books, but in our own lives 0:06:12.406,0:06:16.781 as well. 0:06:16.781,0:06:20.532 Mandela showed us the power of action 0:06:20.532,0:06:25.391 of taking risks on behalf of our ideas 0:06:25.391,0:06:27.917 perhaps Mandela was right when he inherited 0:06:27.917,0:06:31.896 a proud rebelliousness, a stubborn 0:06:31.896,0:06:35.891 sense of fairness from his father 0:06:35.891,0:06:39.866 and we know he shared with millions of black and coloured Southafricans 0:06:39.866,0:06:43.543 the anger born of a thousand slights 0:06:43.543,0:06:49.173 a thousand indignities, a thousand unremembered moments 0:06:49.173,0:06:52.345 a desire to fight the system that imprisoned 0:06:52.345,0:06:55.310 my people, he said 0:06:55.310,0:06:59.260 like other early giants of the ANC 0:06:59.260,0:07:02.896 the Zulus and the Tambos, 0:07:02.896,0:07:08.400 [cheers] 0:07:08.400,0:07:11.366 Madiba disciplined his anger 0:07:11.366,0:07:14.373 and channelled his desire to fight into organization 0:07:14.373,0:07:18.622 and platforms and strategies 0:07:18.622,0:07:23.186 for action, so men and women could stand up 0:07:23.186,0:07:26.709 for the God given dignity 0:07:26.709,0:07:29.872 Moreover, he accepted the consequences of his actions 0:07:29.872,0:07:35.290 knowing that standing up to powerful entrance and injustice 0:07:35.290,0:07:38.954 carries a price 0:07:38.954,0:07:41.708 "I've fought against white domination I've fought black 0:07:41.708,0:07:44.650 domination." 0:07:47.592,0:07:50.536 I cherished the idea of a democratic and free society 0:07:50.536,0:07:53.540 in which all persons live together in harmony and 0:07:53.540,0:07:59.982 equal opportunities, it is an ideal which I hope to live 0:07:59.982,0:08:02.083 for and to achieve but if needs be it's an ideal 0:08:02.083,0:08:04.374 for which I am prepared to die. 0:08:04.374,0:08:15.401 [cheers] 0:08:15.401,0:08:17.793 Mandela taught us the power of action 0:08:17.793,0:08:21.873 but he also taught us the power of ideas 0:08:21.873,0:08:25.791 the importance of reason and arguments 0:08:25.791,0:08:30.757 the need to study not only those who you 0:08:30.757,0:08:33.653 agree with but also those you don't agree with 0:08:33.653,0:08:37.374 he understood that ideas cannot be contained by prison walls 0:08:37.374,0:08:41.214 extinguished by a sniper's bullet 0:08:41.214,0:08:44.375 he turned his trial into an endowment of aparthaid 0:08:44.375,0:08:46.731 because of his eloquence and his passion 0:08:46.731,0:08:51.396 but also because of his training as an advocate 0:08:51.396,0:08:55.125 he used decades of prison to sharpen his arguments 0:08:55.125,0:08:58.582 but also to spread his thirst for knowledge to others 0:08:58.582,0:09:03.630 in the movement and he learned the language and the customs 0:09:03.630,0:09:06.455 of his oppressors so that one day he might better convey 0:09:06.455,0:09:10.708 to them how their own freedom depend upon his. 0:09:10.708,0:09:18.157 [cheers] 0:09:18.157,0:09:24.666 Mandela has demonstrated that action and ideas are not enough 0:09:24.666,0:09:26.539 no matter high they must also 0:09:26.539,0:09:31.568 be ciselled in the laws and institutions 0:09:31.568,0:09:34.538 he was practical, testing his beliefs 0:09:34.538,0:09:37.533 against the hard surfice of circumstance 0:09:37.533,0:09:40.922 and history, on core 0:09:40.922,0:09:43.917 principles he was unyielding which is why he could rebuff 0:09:43.917,0:09:48.258 offers of unconditional release reminding the aparthaid regime his 0:09:48.258,0:09:53.836 that prisoners cannot enter into contracts 0:09:53.836,0:09:57.072 but as he showed in painstaking negotiations 0:09:57.072,0:10:00.438 to transfer power and draft new laws he was 0:10:00.438,0:10:06.378 not afraid to compromise for the sake of a larger goal. 0:10:06.378,0:10:11.210 And because he was not only a leader of a movement but a skilful politician 0:10:11.210,0:10:15.204 the constitution that emerged was worthy of this multi-racial 0:10:15.204,0:10:18.584 democracy, true to his vision of laws that 0:10:18.584,0:10:22.420 protect minority as well as majority rights and the 0:10:22.420,0:10:29.291 precious freedoms of every Southafrican. 0:10:29.291,0:10:32.273 And finally Mandela uderstood 0:10:32.273,0:10:37.179 the ties that bind the human spirit. 0:10:37.179,0:10:40.873 There is a word in Southafrican 0:10:40.873,0:10:43.135 ubuntu 0:10:43.135,0:10:48.988 [cheers] 0:10:48.988,0:10:50.876 a word that captures 0:10:50.876,0:10:54.992 Mandela's greatest gift: his recognition 0:10:54.992,0:10:58.536 that we are all bound together in ways that are invisible 0:10:58.536,0:11:03.774 to the eye, that there is a ones to humanity 0:11:03.774,0:11:06.676 that we achieve ourselves by sharing 0:11:06.676,0:11:12.293 ourselves with others and caring those around us 0:11:12.293,0:11:15.293 we can't never know how much of this 0:11:15.293,0:11:18.454 sense was innate in him or how much was shaped 0:11:18.454,0:11:23.256 in a dark and solitary cell. 0:11:23.256,0:11:28.037 But we remember the gestures large and small 0:11:28.037,0:11:30.374 introducing his jailers as 0:11:30.374,0:11:32.900 honored guests at an inaguration, taking a pitch 0:11:32.900,0:11:37.960 in a spring by uniform 0:11:37.960,0:11:41.337 turning his family's heartbreak into a call that can run 0:11:41.337,0:11:45.646 HIV-AIDS that reveal the depths 0:11:45.646,0:11:49.983 of his empathy and his understanding. 0:11:49.983,0:11:54.302 He not only embodied truth he taught millions 0:11:54.302,0:11:57.991 to find that truth within themselves. 0:11:57.991,0:12:00.208 It took a man like Madiba to free 0:12:00.208,0:12:06.493 not just the prisoner but the jailer as well 0:12:06.493,0:12:08.623 to show that you must trust 0:12:08.623,0:12:12.094 others so that they may trust you 0:12:12.094,0:12:16.265 teach that reconciliation is not a matter of ignoring 0:12:16.265,0:12:19.542 a cruel past but a means of confronting it 0:12:19.542,0:12:25.957 with an inclusion and generosity and truth 0:12:25.957,0:12:28.711 He changed laws 0:12:28.711,0:12:33.873 but he also changed hearts 0:12:33.873,0:12:37.209 for the people of South Africa 0:12:37.209,0:12:39.425 for those he inspired 0:12:39.425,0:12:43.227 around the globe but he was passing .... 0:12:43.227,0:12:51.411 a time of morning a time to celebrate a heroic life 0:12:51.411,0:12:54.789 but I believe it should also prompt in each of us a time 0:12:54.789,0:12:58.305 for self-reflection with honesty 0:12:58.305,0:13:02.704 regardless of our station or circumstance 0:13:02.704,0:13:05.682 we must ask: "How well have I applied 0:13:05.682,0:13:12.456 his lessons in my own life. 0:13:12.456,0:13:15.294 It's a question I ask myself 0:13:15.294,0:13:20.296 as a man and as a president 0:13:20.296,0:13:22.398 we know that white South Africa 0:13:22.398,0:13:25.375 and the United States have overcome centuries of racial 0:13:25.375,0:13:29.881 subjugation as was 0:13:29.881,0:13:33.422 it was true here it took sacrifice, the sacrifices of countless people 0:13:33.422,0:13:39.262 known and unknown to see the dawn of a new day 0:13:39.262,0:13:41.373 Michelle and I are beneficiaries 0:13:41.373,0:13:46.923 of that struggle 0:13:46.923,0:13:49.458 but in America 0:13:49.458,0:13:53.879 and in South Africa and in countries all over 0:13:53.879,0:13:55.958 the globe we cannot allow our progress to cloud the fact 0:13:55.958,0:14:02.205 that our work is not yet done 0:14:02.205,0:14:04.794 The struggles that follow the victory 0:14:04.794,0:14:08.537 formal equality or universal franchise 0:14:08.537,0:14:12.212 may not be as filled with drama and moral clarity as those 0:14:12.212,0:14:17.548 .... that came before but they are not less important 0:14:17.548,0:14:20.504 for around the world today we still see 0:14:20.504,0:14:24.291 children suffering from hunger and disease, we still 0:14:24.291,0:14:28.412 see run down schools, we still see young people 0:14:28.412,0:14:32.631 without prospects for the future, around the world 0:14:32.631,0:14:36.802 today men and women are still imprisoned for their political 0:14:36.802,0:14:37.743 believes and are still persecuted for what they look like 0:14:37.743,0:14:51.214 how they worship and who they love and it is still happening today 0:14:51.214,0:14:52.210 And so we 0:14:52.210,0:14:57.061 too must act on behalf of justice 0:14:57.061,0:15:01.293 we too must act on behalf of peace 0:15:01.293,0:15:04.104 There are too many people that too happily embrace 0:15:04.104,0:15:07.626 Madiba's legacy of racial reconciliation but 0:15:07.626,0:15:12.131 passionately resist even modest reforms, they would challange 0:15:12.131,0:15:17.475 ... of property and bringing in equality 0:15:17.475,0:15:20.456 there are too many leaders who claim solidarity 0:15:20.456,0:15:23.795 with Madiba's struggle for freedom but do not tollerate 0:15:23.795,0:15:33.462 the same for their own people 0:15:33.462,0:15:35.885 and there are too many of us 0:15:35.885,0:15:38.627 too many of us on the side lines, confortable 0:15:38.627,0:15:42.742 in complacency or cynicism 0:15:42.742,0:15:47.047 when our voices must be heard, the question 0:15:47.047,0:15:50.249 we face today 0:15:50.249,0:15:55.131 had a promotive quality and justice, how to uphold 0:15:55.131,0:15:59.001 freedom and human rights, how to end conflict and 0:15:59.001,0:16:02.773 sectarian war, these things do not have 0:16:02.773,0:16:06.628 easy answers, but there were no easy answers 0:16:06.628,0:16:10.961 in front of that child born in 0:16:10.961,0:16:14.713 in World War I, Nelson Mandela reminds us that 0:16:14.713,0:16:19.646 it always seems impossible until it is done 0:16:19.646,0:16:23.256 South Africa shows that it is true 0:16:23.256,0:16:26.481 South Africa shows we can change, that we can 0:16:26.481,0:16:30.538 choose a world defined not by our differences but by our common 0:16:30.538,0:16:34.716 hopes, we can choose a world defined not by conflict 0:16:34.716,0:16:45.880 but by peace and justice and opportunity 0:16:45.880,0:16:48.118 We will never see 0:16:48.118,0:16:51.958 the likes of Nelson Mandela again 0:16:51.958,0:16:56.321 well I may say that the young people of Africa 0:16:56.321,0:17:00.540 that the young people around the world 0:17:00.540,0:17:03.462 you too can make his life's work 0:17:03.462,0:17:06.261 your own. 0:17:06.261,0:17:10.880 Over thirty years ago, whilst still a student 0:17:10.880,0:17:14.298 I learned of Nelson Mandela 0:17:14.298,0:17:18.614 and the struggles taking place in this beautiful land 0:17:18.614,0:17:22.820 and it stured something in me 0:17:22.820,0:17:25.844 it woke me up to my responsibilities to other 0:17:25.844,0:17:30.555 and to myself and send me into an improbable journey 0:17:30.555,0:17:35.049 that finds me here today 0:17:35.049,0:17:38.043 and while I will always fall short of Madiba's 0:17:38.043,0:17:42.403 example he makes me want to be a better man 0:17:42.403,0:17:45.594 he speaks 0:17:45.594,0:17:51.545 to what is best inside us 0:17:51.545,0:17:55.841 after this great liberator is let to rest 0:17:55.841,0:17:58.240 and we return to our cities and 0:17:58.240,0:18:03.760 and villages and rejoined our daily routine 0:18:03.760,0:18:05.251 let us search for his 0:18:05.251,0:18:08.662 strength, let us search for his 0:18:08.662,0:18:15.883 largeness of spirit somewhere inside of ourselves 0:18:15.883,0:18:18.664 and when the night grows dark 0:18:18.664,0:18:22.409 when injustice weights heavy on our hearts 0:18:22.409,0:18:27.072 when our best laid plans seem out of reach 0:18:27.072,0:18:29.419 let us think of Madiba 0:18:29.419,0:18:32.797 and the words that brought him comfort within the 4 walls 0:18:32.797,0:18:36.445 of his cell: "It matters not 0:18:36.445,0:18:40.042 how streight the gate, how charged 0:18:40.042,0:18:45.256 the punishment, the scroll 0:18:45.256,0:18:48.535 I am the master of my fate, 0:18:48.535,0:18:52.458 I am the captain of my soul, 0:18:52.458,0:18:58.078 what magnificent soul it was. We will miss him deeply 0:18:58.078,0:19:01.580 May God bless the memory of Nelson Mandela. 0:19:01.580,0:19:07.800 May God bless the people of South Africa.