Yesterday died: Nelson Mandela (1918-2013), R.I.P. – he knew how to resist with perseverance. There were even more of these extraordinary people: the German Martin Luther – or the American Dr. Martin Luther King. There was Henry David Thoreau – and Julian Assange. There was Mikhail Gorbachev – or once the German philosopher Immanuel Kant (“If a man makes himself a worm, he must not complain when he is trodden on.”). And there are currently Edward Snowden (in Moscow) and his supporter at NSA uncovering Sarah Harrison (currently in Berlin). Asked how her phone was secure, she replies: “I have no phone!”
Related articles
- Nelson Mandela, And The Importance Of Transcendence (treeofmamre.wordpress.com)
- Henry David Thoreau Quote of The Week From Greg Bover (goodmorninggloucester.wordpress.com)
- Whistle-blowers: Trying Hard Not to Adjust to a Sick Society (thepeoplesvoice.org)
- Models of Nonviolent Struggle (cradfordblog.wordpress.com)
- Th, 11/7: Thoreau – “Reistance to Civil Government” (amerlit1fall2013.wordpress.com)
Flickr Comments 
Such is life!
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Men like this aren’t made every day! He resisted for so long. I’m happy for him that his struggle is over. The baton is handed on. 🙂
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A great man – may many more follow!
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They are certainly examples of how persistence eventually pays.
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A remarkable life. And a hard act to follow.
PS: You forgot to include Gandhi 🙂
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my friend, the author Rita Banerji in Calcutta, she says that the sermons of Gandhi about patience are the reason, why the women in India still are treated respectless – and there is no change in sight …
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https://twitter.com/Rita_Banerji
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Rita Banerji
@Rita_Banerji
One of the many reasons I’ve resented Gandhi
http://www.youthkiawaaz.com/2013/10/gandhi-used-power-position-exploit-young-women-way-react-matters-even-today/
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“…Gandhi is the person who pushed for a separate ‘colored’ category for Indians in South Africa. He was working in S.A as a lawyer for many years before coming to India. He said that he could accept that Indians were inferior to whites racially, but he could never accept that Indians were the same as black Africans. The language he used to describe black Africans is shockingly racist. Mandela would be a young man then. So I wondered why he praised Gandhi. Was it a deliberate decision to try to unite Indians and Africans — perhaps? Just like he made the decision for the ‘peace’ trials afterwards instead of court trials for white south Africans. He perhaps thought that was the best way to keep the peace?…”
mail from India
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He leaves a lasting legacy.
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Thoreau, Mandela, Gandhi….and when Mandela Died, some people in the world have to resist to powerful destruction like the IMF is doing in Portugal, Greece after Africa, south america ….And the main lesson with mandela was forgiveness
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Mandela, Martin Luther King und Gandhi haben die Welt verändert, indem sie die Menschen zum Umdenken brachten. Veränderung beginnt im Kopf! Dass das niemand mehr bezweifeln kann, gehört zu Mandelas größten Errungenschaften.
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Total Respect!
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In our South African language, Afrikaans, we call them VASBYTERS. That is a person who would not let go, thie closest I can get to a translation is to persevere, a person that would nit give up
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