Nelson Mandela

Nelson Mandela  menghembuskan nafas terakhir di kediamannya  di Johanesburg, Afrika Selatan  karena menderita infeksi paru-paru dan kesulitan bernapas.  Setelah sempat  dirawat selama 3 bulan di sebuah rumah sakit di kota Pretoria, awal september lalu dia pulang kerumahnya dalam kondisi kritis. Hingga akhirnya wafat pada tanggal 5 Desember 2013. Meninggalnya Nelson Mandela adalah sebuah kehilangan besar bagi warga dunia.

Lahir di Mvezo, afrika selatan 18 juli 1918 dengan nama asli Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela. Dia adalah seorang aktivis politik dan juga  revolusioner anti- apartheid di afrika selatan. Yang artinya dia melawan sistem perbedaan ras di negara tersebut. Pernah dipenjara selama 27 tahun (1962-1990) karena melawan rezim aphartheid. Menerima Nobel di tahun 1993 atas jasanya  menghapus diskriminasi dan perbudakan di negaranya bersama presiden Afrika Selatan kala itu frederik Willem De Klerk. Pada tahun 1994 dia menjadi presiden pertama yang berkulit hitam di afrika selatan. Mengundurkan diri sebagai presiden di tahun 1999.

Saya pribadi mengagumi beliau sebagai seorang yang rendah hati dan tidak pendendam.
Berikut 12 kutipan dari Nelson Mandela yang sangat saya sukai :

1. For to be free is not merely to cast off one’s chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others.
2. Real leaders must be ready to sacrifice all for the freedom of their people.
3. A fundamental concern for others in our individual and community lives would go a long way in making the world the better place we so passionately dreamt of.
4. Everyone can rise above their circumstances and achieve success if they are dedicated to and passionate about what they do.
5. Those who conduct themselves with morality, integrity and consistency need not fear the forces of inhumanity and cruelty.
6. We tried in our simple way to lead our life in a manner that may make a difference to those of others.
7. What counts in life is not the mere fact that we have lived. It is what difference we have made to the lives of others that will determine the significance of the life we lead.
8. Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world
9. I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.
10. If you want to make peace with your enemy, you have to work with your enemy. Then he becomes your partner
11. The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.
12. No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite.