His speech was accompanied by loud cheers from the crowd that filled the FNB Stadium.
“The question I ask myself as man and president is how well have I applied Mandela’s lessons in my life,” said Obama.
“Mandela makes me want be a better man — let us search for his strength — his greatness of spirit within our hearts.”
Obama said Mandela understood the ties that bind the human spirit: “There is a word in South Africa – Ubuntu – that describes his greatest gift: his recognition that we are all bound together in ways that can be 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. ”
Mandela, he said, not only embodied Ubuntu, but he taught millions to find the truth within themselves.
“Mandela reminds us that it always seems impossible until it is done; he taught us the power of action and ideals; the importance of reasons and arguments.
“He understood that ideals could not be contained within prison walls or extinguished by a sniper’s bullet.”
Obama thanked South Africans for sharing Mandela with the world, saying: “His struggle was your struggle and his triumph was your triumph”.
“It’s an honour to be with you today, to celebrate a life like no other.”
Obama quoted Mandela when he said: “I’m not a saint unless, you refer to a saint as a sinner who keeps on trying.”
