Bono has paid tribute to Nelson Mandela through the ONE Campaign's website.
“It was as if he was born to teach the age a lesson in humility, in humour and above all else in patience,” wrote the U2 singer. "In the end, Nelson Mandela showed us how to love rather than hate, not because he had never surrendered to rage or violence, but because he learnt that love would do a better job. Mandela played with the highest stakes. He put his family, his country, his time, his life on the line, and he won most of these contests. Stubborn til the end for all the right reasons, it felt like he very nearly outstared his maker.
“Today, finally, he blinked. And some of us cry, knowing our eyes were opened to so much because of him.”
Bono’s sentiments were echoed by Bill Clinton, who wrote: “History will remember Nelson Mandela as a champion for human dignity and freedom, for peace and reconciliation. We will remember him as a man of uncommon grace and compassion, for whom abandoning bitterness and embracing adversaries was not just a political strategy but a way of life. Our thoughts and prayers go out to Graça and his family and to the people of South Africa. All of us are living in a better world because of the life that Madiba lived. He proved that there is freedom in forgiving, that a big heart is better than a closed mind, and that life’s real victories must be shared.”
Join Bono and the ONE Campaign in paying tribute to Nelson Mandela here.
