WEBVTT 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 [cheers] 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Thank you. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 [cheers] 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Thank you. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 [cheers] 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Thank you so much. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 [cheers] 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Thank you. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 [cheers] 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 To Graça Machel and the Mandela family; 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 To President Zuma and members of the government; 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 to heads of states and goverments -- past and present -- 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 distinguished guests. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 It is a singular honor to be with you today 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 to celebrate a life like no other 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 To the people of South Africa 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 [cheers] 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 People of every race and every walk of life 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 the world thanks you for sharing Nelson Mandela with us 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 His struggle was your struggle 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 his triumph was your triumph, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 your dignity and your hope found expression in his life and your freedom 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Your democracy 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 it's his cherished legacy 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 It is hard to eulogize any man 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 to capture in words 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 not just the facts and the dates that make a life 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 but the essential truth of a person 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 the private joys and sorrows 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 the quiet moments and uniue qualities that illuminate someone's soul 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 How much harder to do so for a giant of history 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 who moved a nation towards justice 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and in the process moved billions around the world 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Born during the World War I 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 fired from court orders of power 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 a boy raised herding cattle and tutored by the elders of his Mambu tribe 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Madiba would emerge as the last great liberator of the 20th century. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Like Gandhi, he would lead a resistence movement 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 a movement that at the start had little prospect for success 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Like Dr. King, he would give potent voice 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 to the claims of the oppressed 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and the moral necessity of racial justice 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 He would endure a brutal 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 imprisonment that began in the time of Kennedy and Khrushchev 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and reached the final days of the cold war 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Emerging from prison without the force of arms 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 he would, like Abraham Lincoln, hold his country together 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 when it threaten to break apart 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and like America's founding fathers he would erect 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 a constitutional order to preserve freedom for future generations 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 A commitment to democracy and rule of law 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 ratified not only by his election 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 but by his willingness to step down from power after only one term 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Given the sweep of his life 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 the scope of his accomplishments 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 the adoration that he so rightly earned 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 it's tempting, I think, to remember Nelson Mandela as an icon, smilling and serene 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 detached from the tawdry affairs of lesser men 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 but Madiba himself strongly resisted 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 such a lifeless portrait 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 [cheers] 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Instead, Madiba insisted on sharing with us his doubts and his fears 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 his miscalculations along with his victories 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 "I am not a saint", he said 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 "unless you think of a saint as a sinner who keeps on trying." 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 It was precisely because he could admit to imperfection 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 because he could be so full of good humour 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 even mischief, despite the heavy burdens that he carried 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 that we loved him so. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 He was not a bust made of marble, he was a man of flesh and blood 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 a son and a husband 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 a father and a friend 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and that's why we learned so much from him 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and that's why we can learn from him still 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 For nothing he achieved was inevitable 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 in the arch of his life we see a man 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 who earned his place in history through struggle 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and shrewdness and persistance and faith 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 he tells us what is possible 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 not just in the pages of history books 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 but in our own lives as well. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Mandela showed us the power of action 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 of taking risks on behalf of our ideas 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Perhaps Mandela was right that he "inherited a proud rebelliousness 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 a stubborn sense of fairness" from his father 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and we know he shared with millions of black and coloured Southafricans 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 "the anger born of a thousand slights 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 a thousand indignities, a thousand unremembered moments 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 a desire to fight the system that imprisoned 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 my people", he said 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 But like other early giants of the ANC 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 the Zulus and the Tambos, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 [cheers] 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Madiba disciplined his anger 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and channelled his desire to fight into organization 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and platforms and strategies for action 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 so men and women could stand up 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 for the God given dignity 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Moreover, he accepted the consequences of his actions 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 knowing that standing up to powerful interests and injustice carries a price 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 "I've fought against white domination I've fought against black domination. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 I've cherished the idea of a democratic and free society 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 in which all persons live together in harmony and equal opportunities 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 it is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 but if needs be it's an ideal for which I am prepared to die." 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 [cheers] 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Mandela taught us the power of action 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 but he also taught us the power of ideas 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 the importance of reason and arguments 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 the need to study not only those who you agree with 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 but also those you don't agree with. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 He understood that ideas cannot be contained by prison walls 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 or extinguished by a sniper's bullet 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 He turned his trial into an indictment of apartheid 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 because of his eloquence and his passion 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 but also because of his training as an advocate 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 He used decades of prison to sharpen his arguments 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 but also to spread his thirst for knowledge to others in the movement 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and he learned the language and the customs of his oppresors 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 so that one day he might better convey to them 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 how their own freedom depend upon his. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 [cheers] 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Mandela has demonstrated that action and ideas are not enough 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 no matter how right 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 they must also be ciselled in the laws and institutions 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 He was practical, testing his beliefs 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 against the hard surface of circumstance and history 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 On core principles he was unyielding 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 which is why he could rebuff offers of unconditional release 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 reminding the aparthaid regime 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 that "prisoners cannot enter into contracts." 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 But as he showed in painstaking negotiations 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 to transfer power and draft new laws 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 He was not afraid to compromise for the sake of a larger goal 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 And because he was not only a leader of a movement but a skilful politician 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 the constitution that emerged was worthy of this multi-racial democracy 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 true to his vision of laws to protect minority 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 as well as majority rights and the precious freedom of every Southafrican 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 And finally Mandela uderstood 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 the ties that bind the human spirit. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 There is a word in Southafrican 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Ubuntu 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 [cheers] 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 A word that captures Mandela's greatest gift: 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 his recognition that we are all bound together in ways 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 that are invisible to the eye 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 that there is a oneness to humanity 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 that we achieve ourselves by sharing 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 ourselves with others and caring for those around us 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 We can never know how much of this sense was innate in him 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 or how much was shaped in a dark and solitary cell. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 But we remember the gestures -- large and small -- 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 introducing his jailers as honored guests at an inauguration; 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 taking a pitch in a springbok uniform; 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 turning his family's heartbreak into a call to confront HIV-AIDS 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 that reveal the depths of his empathy and his understanding 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 He not only embodied ubuntu he taught millions 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 to find that truth within themselves. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 It took a man like Madiba to free 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 not just the prisoner but the jailer as well 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 [cheers] 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 to show that you must trust 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 others so that they may trust you 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 to teach that reconciliation is not a matter of ignoring a cruel past 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 but a means of confronting it with inclusion and generosity and truth 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 He changed laws 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 but he also changed hearts 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 For the people of South Africa 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 for those he inspired around the globe 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 but his passing is rightly a time of mourning 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and a time to celebrate a heroic life 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 But I believe it should also prompt in each of us 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 a time for self-reflection with honesty 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 regardless of our station or circumstance 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 we must ask: "How well have I applied 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 his lessons in my own life?" 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 It's a question I ask myself 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 as a man and as a president 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 We know that white South Africa 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 the United States had overcome centuries of racial subjugation 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 As was true here, it took sacrifice, the sacrifices of countless people 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 -- known and unknown -- to see the dawn of a new day 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Michelle and I are beneficiaries of that struggle 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 [cheers] 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 But in America and in South Africa and in countries all around the globe 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 we cannot allow our progress to cloud the fact 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 that our work is not yet done 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 The struggles that follow the victory of formal equality 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 or universal franchise may not be as filled with drama and moral clarity as those 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 that came before but they are not less important 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 For around the world today 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 we still children suffering from hunger and disease 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 we still see run down schools 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 we still see young people without prospects for the future. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Around the world today 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 men and women are still imprisoned for their political believes 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and are still persecuted for what they look like 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 how they worship, and who they love 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and that is happening today 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 [cheers] 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 And so we, too, must act on behalf of justice 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 We, too, must act on behalf of peace 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 There are too many people who happily embrace 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Madiba's legacy of racial reconciliation but 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 passionately resist even modest reforms. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 that would challange chronic property and growing inequality 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 There are too many leaders who claim solidarity 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 with Madiba's struggle for freedom but do not tolerate 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 the same for their own people 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 [cheers] 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 And there are too many of us 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 too many of us on the side lines 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 comfortable in complacency or cynicism 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 when our voices must be heard 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 The questions we face today 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 how to promote equality and justice; 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 how to uphold freedom and human rights; 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 how to end a conflict and sectarian war 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 these things do not have easy answers 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 But there were no easy answers 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 in front of that child born in World War I 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Nelson Mandela reminds us that 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 it always seems impossible until it is done 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 South Africa shows that it is true 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 South Africa shows we can change 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 that we can choose a world defined not by our differences 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 but by our common hopes 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 we can choose a world defined not by conflict 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 but by peace and justice and opportunity 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 We will never see 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 the likes of Nelson Mandela again 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 well I may say that the young people of Africa 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and the young people around the world 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 you, too, can make his life's work your own 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Over thirty years ago, while still a student 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 I learned of Nelson Mandela 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and the struggles taking place in this beautiful land 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and it stirred something in me 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 it woke me up to my responsibilities 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 -- to others and to myself -- and set me on an improbable journey 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 that finds me here today 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and while I will always fall short of Madiba's 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 example he makes me want to be a better man 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 [cheers] 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 He speaks 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 to what is best inside us 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 After this great liberator is laid to rest 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and we've return to our cities and villages 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and rejoined our daily routines 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 let us search for his strength 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 let us search for his largeness of spirit 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 somewhere inside of ourselves 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and when the night grows dark 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 when injustice weights heavy on our hearts 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 when our best laid plans seem beyond our reach 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 let us think of Madiba 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and the words that brought him comfort within the 4 walls of his cell: 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 "It matters not how streight the gate, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 how charged the punishment the scroll 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 I am the master of my fate, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 I am the captain of my soul." 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 What a magnificent soul it was. We will miss him deeply 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 May God bless the memory of Nelson Mandela. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 May God bless the people of South Africa.