just announced that nelson Mandela has died.

A truly great leader. An immense loss. Some one a state funeral is really suitable for. RIP

So true. A lovely, generous yet humble man.

As a child of the Cold War, there were several immutable facts.

The Berlin Wall.
Imminent Nuclear War.
Nelson Mandela imprisoned.

I was against all of them, but they could never change.

Then they did. I never thought I'd see any of them change, but they did. I guess there are some people today who were born after the fall of the Berlin Wall, the collapse of the Soviet Union and the release of Mandela who simply won't understand what those of us who did live with those realities felt like.

RIP Nelson. You brought - and delivered - hope to many.

Also never felt it necessary to stand for more than one term. So unlike most leaders.

A remarkable man, if only for his capacity to ignore the actions of others that harmed him and those he loved, and just do the right thing. Very few have ever had that level of conviction and courage. His defining moment to me was not his imprisonment, nor the remarkable 'walk to freedom'
on the day of his release but the day he stood in a Springbok rugby jersey and embraced Francois Pienaar, the captain of the South African rugby team. Rugby in SA was the white man's game, the embodiment of prejudice and division. Simply by setting an example, by showing he was willing to accept those who had wronged him in the past in the most public fashion, he turned South Africa down a path to peace where it could have descended into chaos and bloodshed.

I have to say though, I found his circumstances towards the end rather sad. He was an old, old man who had given his people so, so much. Yet it seemed to me that because he was so important, so vital to his nation's identity that they couldn't let him go, they couldn't let him rest. I hope he's found rest now. He deserves it.

if that was a bit smaller I would sig that

Anyway R.I.P Nelson and I hope more world leaders follow your example

RIP Nelson Mandela - a soul definitely worthy of remembrance but not the saint the nauseating sycophants claim he was.

RIP Nelson

I don't know what is on the other side but I would like to think the stars will twinkle and shine more now.