[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. I've cherished the idea 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 but his 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 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 believes and are still persecuted for what they look like 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 We will never see the likes of Nelson Mandela again well I may 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 we've 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.