Nelson Mandela Quotes And Sayings

To Deny People Their Human Rights Is To Challenge Their Very Humanity.

Our Single Most Important Challenge Is Therefore To Help Establish A Social Order In Which The Freedom Of The Individual Will Truly Mean The Freedom Of The Individual.

The Titanic Effort That Has Brought Liberation To South Africa, And Ensured The Total Liberation Of Africa, Constitutes An Act Of Redemption For The Black People Of The World.

I Was First Imprisoned In Pretoria, And Then, Thereafter, I Was Taken To Robben Island. I Stayed There For A Couple Of Weeks. I Was Taken Back To Pretoria When I Was Charged In The Rivonia Trial, When I Was Then Sent To Robben Island For Life.

Without Education, Your Children Can Never Really Meet The Challenges They Will Face. So It's Very Important To Give Children Education And Explain That They Should Play A Role For Their Country.

We Pledge Ourselves To Liberate All Our People From The Continuing Bondage Of Poverty, Deprivation, Suffering, Gender And Other Discrimination.

Apart From Life, A Strong Constitution, And An Abiding Connection To The Thembu Royal House, The Only Thing My Father Bestowed Upon Me At Birth Was A Name, Rolihlahla.

I Cannot Say For Certain If There Is Such A Thing As Love At First Sight, But I Do Know That The Moment I First Glimpsed Winnie Nomzamo, I Knew That I Wanted To Have Her As My Wife.

I Realized Quickly What Mandela And Tambo Meant To Ordinary Africans. It Was A Place Where They Could Come And Find A Sympathetic Ear And A Competent Ally, A Place Where They Would Not Be Either Turned Away Or Cheated, A Place Where They Might Actually Feel Proud To Be Represented By Men Of Their Own Skin Color.

On The First Day Of School, My Teacher, Miss Mdingane, Gave Each Of Us An English Name And Said That From Thenceforth That Was The Name We Would Answer To In School. This Was The Custom Among Africans In Those Days And Was Undoubtedly Due To The British Bias Of Our Education.

Let Freedom Reign. The Sun Never Set On So Glorious A Human Achievement.

A Good Head And A Good Heart Are Always A Formidable Combination.

There Can Be No Keener Revelation Of A Society's Soul Than The Way In Which It Treats Its Children.

I Have Retired, But If There's Anything That Would Kill Me It Is To Wake Up In The Morning Not Knowing What To Do.

Leaders In All Spheres Who Are Living With Hiv Should Be Encouraged, Not Coerced, To Lead By Example And Disclose Their Hiv Status.

I Was Not A Messiah, But An Ordinary Man Who Had Become A Leader Because Of Extraordinary Circumstances.

No Country Can Really Develop Unless Its Citizens Are Educated.

There Is Nothing I Fear More Than Waking Up Without A Program That Will Help Me Bring A Little Happiness To Those With No Resources, Those Who Are Poor, Illiterate, And Ridden With Terminal Disease.

I Was Called A Terrorist Yesterday, But When I Came Out Of Jail, Many People Embraced Me, Including My Enemies, And That Is What I Normally Tell Other People Who Say Those Who Are Struggling For Liberation In Their Country Are Terrorists.

There Are Times When A Leader Must Move Out Ahead Of The Flock, Go Off In A New Direction, Confident That He Is Leading His People The Right Way.

There Are So Many Men And Women Who Hold No Distinctive Positions But Whose Contribution Towards The Development Of Society Has Been Enormous.

It Is Better To Lead From Behind And To Put Others In Front, Especially When You Celebrate Victory When Nice Things Occur. You Take The Front Line When There Is Danger. Then People Will Appreciate Your Leadership.

Whatever Position I Occupied, It Was The Result Of Colleagues - Of My Comrades In The Movement - Who Had Decided In Their Wisdom To Use Me For The Purpose Of Focusing The Attention Of The Country And The International Community On Me.

Even If You Have A Terminal Disease, You Don't Have To Sit Down And Mope. Enjoy Life And Challenge The Illness That You Have.

The Names Of Dingane And Bambata, Hintsa And Makana, Squngthi And Dalasile, Moshoeshoe And Sekhukhuni, Were Praised As The Glory Of The Entire African Nation. I Hoped Then That Life Might Offer Me The Opportunity To Serve My People And Make My Own Humble Contribution To Their Freedom Struggle.

As An Attorney, I Could Be Rather Flamboyant In Court. I Did Not Act As Though I Were A Black Man In A White Man's Court, But As If Everyone Else - White And Black - Was A Guest In My Court. When Trying A Case, I Often Made Sweeping Gestures And Used High-flown Language.

Sabotage Did Not Involve Loss Of Life, And It Offered The Best Hope For Future Race Relations. Bitterness Would Be Kept To A Minimum And, If The Policy Bore Fruit, Democratic Government Could Become A Reality.

The Education I Received Was A British Education, In Which British Ideas, British Culture, British Institutions, Were Automatically Assumed To Be Superior. There Was No Such Thing As African Culture.

I Will Not Leave South Africa, Nor Will I Surrender. Only Through Hardship, Sacrifice And Militant Action Can Freedom Be Won. The Struggle Is My Life. I Will Continue Fighting For Freedom Until The End Of My Days.

Our Daily Deeds As Ordinary South Africans Must Produce An Actual South African Reality That Will Reinforce Humanity's Belief In Justice, Strengthen Its Confidence In The Nobility Of The Human Soul, And Sustain All Our Hopes For A Glorious Life For All.

I Should Tie Myself To No Particular System Of Society Other Than Of Socialism.

There Is No Passion To Be Found Playing Small - In Settling For A Life That Is Less Than The One You Are Capable Of Living.

I Detest Racialism, Because I Regard It As A Barbaric Thing, Whether It Comes From A Black Man Or A White Man.

Especially For Those Of Us Who Lived In Single Cells, You Had The Time To Sit Down And Think, And We Discovered That Sitting Down Just To Think Is One Of The Best Ways Of Keeping Yourself Fresh And Able, To Be Able To Address The Problems Facing You, And You Had The Opportunity, Also, Of Examining Your Past.

I Would Wear The Blue Overalls Of The Fieldworker And Often Wore Round, Rimless Glasses Known As Mazzawati Teaglasses. I Had A Car, And I Wore A Chauffeur's Cap With My Overalls. The Pose Of Chauffeur Was Convenient Because I Could Travel Under The Pretext Of Driving My Master's Car.

Any Man Or Institution That Tries To Rob Me Of My Dignity Will Lose.

When I Came To Johannesburg From The Countryside, I Knew Nobody, But Many Strangers Were Very Kind To Me. I Then Was Dragged Into Politics, And Then, Subsequently, I Became A Lawyer.

Unlike Some Politicians, I Can Admit To A Mistake.

Let Us Give Publicity To H.i.v./aids And Not Hide It, Because The Only Way To Make It Appear Like A Normal Illness Like Tb, Like Cancer, Is Always To Come Out And Say Somebody Has Died Because Of H.i.v./aids, And People Will Stop Regarding It As Something Extraordinary.

If There Is A Country That Has Committed Unspeakable Atrocities In The World, It Is The United States Of America.

The United States Has Made Serious Mistakes In The Conduct Of Its Foreign Affairs, Which Have Had Unfortunate Repercussions Long After The Decisions Were Taken.

Intervention Only Works When The People Concerned Seem To Be Keen For Peace.

Africans Require, Want, The Franchise On The Basis Of One Man One Vote. They Want Political Independence.

I Really Wanted To Retire And Rest And Spend More Time With My Children, My Grandchildren And Of Course With My Wife.

After Climbing A Great Hill, One Only Finds That There Are Many More Hills To Climb.

I Have Been Influenced In My Thinking By Both West And East.

Let Each Know That For Each The Body, The Mind And The Soul Have Been Freed To Fulfill Themselves.

I Have Always Regarded Myself, In The First Place, As An African Patriot.

Prison Life, Fortunately, I Spent A Lot Of Years, About 18 Years With Other Prisoners, And, As I Say, They Enriched Your Soul.

Communists Have Always Played An Active Role In The Fight By Colonial Countries For Their Freedom, Because The Short-term Objects Of Communism Would Always Correspond With The Long-term Objects Of Freedom Movements.