"There is no easy walk to freedom anywhere, and many of us will have to pass through the valley of the shadow of death again and again before we reach the mountaintop of our desires," Mandela writes.
In His Own Words is not the ideal introduction to Mandela's life and importance but it is a sharply unique perspective on his evolution as he endeavored to change a world in which he was not wanted but desperately needed. Mandela's era is passing but his works will never be forgotten, nor his impact not only on South Africa but also on the world. He still stands as the example to which other world leaders should aspire and to which our own tragically fall short. The contrast is enough to make you cry. However, it is the man's courage that he has always wanted to give to others and it is his courage that lifts the spirit through his words.
In His Own Words is not the ideal introduction to Mandela's life and importance but it is a sharply unique perspective on his evolution as he endeavored to change a world in which he was not wanted but desperately needed. Mandela's era is passing but his works will never be forgotten, nor his impact not only on South Africa but also on the world. He still stands as the example to which other world leaders should aspire and to which our own tragically fall short. The contrast is enough to make you cry. However, it is the man's courage that he has always wanted to give to others and it is his courage that lifts the spirit through his words.
"We have been richly blessed in him," Tutu writes in introducing Mandela's thoughts on religious freedom. "Anyone else at the helm of affairs in the difficult days of the delicate of the delicate transition from repression to democracy would have steered us on the rocks, the bloodbath that so many had grimly predicted for us would have certain overwhelmed us. Mercifully for us, it was this man, - how widely acclaimed as standing head and shoulders above all statesmen and world leaders, revered as an icon of forgiveness and reconciliation - through whom we were spared a comprehensive disaster. He has given us firm foundations, whose bricks are magnanimity and generosity, forgiveness and reconciliation; leadership that is altruistic and not self-serving for its own aggrandizement, ready to step down before being pushed; that prizes highly freedom of religion and conscience and respects all faiths and has a passion for integrity and honesty and respect for the inherent dignity of every person."
Amen, brother.
Amen, brother.
