Nelson Mandela Quotes

Some mornings I walked out into the courtyard and every living thing there, the seagulls and wagtails, the small trees, and even the stray blades of grass seemed to smile and shine in the sun. It was at such times, when I perceived the beauty of even this small, closed-in corner of the world, that I knew that some day my people and I would be free. ~ Nelson Mandela

Having resentment against someone is like drinking poison and thinking it will kill your enemy. ~ Nelson Mandela

I believe that in the end that it is kindness and accommodation that are all the catalysts for real change. ~ Nelson Mandela

It's a tragedy what is happening, what Bush is doing. All Bush wants is Iraqi oil. There is no doubt that the U.S. is behaving badly. Why are they not seeking to confiscate weapons of mass destruction from their ally Israel? This is just an excuse to get Iraq's oil. ~ Nelson Mandela

The truth is that we are not yet free; we have merely achieved the freedom to be free, the right not to be oppressed. We have not taken the final step of our journey, but the first step on a longer and even more difficult road. 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. The true test of our devotion to freedom is just beginning. ~ Nelson Mandela

We now undertake that we cannot rest while millions of our people suffer the pain and indignity of poverty in all its forms. ~ Nelson Mandela

I'm inspired by people like Nelson Mandela. Can you imagine - you know how racist America was back then - imagine how racism was in South Africa when he had to stand up and say what he had to say. That's bravery beyond comprehension. ~ Nas

I have been influenced in my thinking by both west and east. ~ Nelson Mandela

It never hurts to think too highly of a person; often they become ennobled and act better because of it. ~ Nelson Mandela

What in Mandela was seen as an almost saintly ability to conciliate could, in a lesser man, be read as weak-kneed populism. ~ Mark Gevisser

The real meaning of the spoken word has to be demonstrated by practical deeds ~ Nelson Mandela

I did not have an unlimited library to choose from on Robben Island. We had access to many unremembered mysteries and detective novels and all the works of Daphne du Maurier, but little more. ~ Nelson Mandela

I first met Nelson Mandela when I was in my late 20s, in 1993. I was helping facilitate an African National Congress (ANC) workshop to plan its media strategy. I went down to meet him for the first time and you know me I got stupid ... I just choked. I said, "Hello Madiba, it's a real honour to meet you," and I couldn't get another word out. ~ Kumi Naidoo

Some men, under the pressure of incarceration, showed true mettle, while others revealed themselves as less than what they had appeared to be. ~ Nelson Mandela

There were many dark moments when my faith in humanity was sorely tested ... ~ Nelson Mandela

No one in my family had ever attended school [ ... ] On the first day of school my teacher, Miss Mdingane, gave each of us an English name. This was the custom among Africans in those days and was undoubtedly due to the British bias of our education. That day, Miss Mdingane told me that my new name was Nelson. Why this particular name I have no idea. ~ Nelson Mandela

Let's be grateful to all those who came in before us. Grateful to all those men and women, young and old alike, who paved the path forward for us, brick by brick. To those men and women who marched across the bridge in Selma on that great day, those men and women who rallied behind the Gandhis and the Mandelas every single time they were needed, to those men and women who stood up for voting rights and civil rights and gay rights and equality and justice and a free world, those men and women who invented the future by inventing things that fundamentally changed the world from the electricity to vaccinations, from airplanes to birth control pills, from the printing press to the internet. ~ Sharad Vivek Sagar

From the poorest of countries to the richest of nations, education is the key to moving forward in any society. ~ Nelson Mandela

I was able to change my life by knowing that if somebody does something good for you, you have to respond. ~ Nelson Mandela

We signal that good can be achieved amongst human beings who are prepared to trust, prepared to believe in the goodness of people. ~ Nelson Mandela

If I am your leader, you have to listen to me & if you don't want to listen to me, then drop me as your leader ~ Nelson Mandela

I am fundamentally an optimist. ~ Nelson Mandela

Whenever anybody called Nelson Mandela a saint, he would say: "If by saint you mean a sinner who is trying to be better, then I'm a saint." ~ Kumi Naidoo

I pay tribute to the endless heroism of youth. ~ Nelson Mandela

South Africans must recall the terrible past so that we can deal with it, forgiving where forgiveness is necessary but never forgetting. ~ Nelson Mandela

Our task is not to liberate the oppressed, but to liberate the oppressors ~ Nelson Mandela

We recall our terrible past so that we can deal with it, to forgive where forgiveness is necessary, without forgetting; to ensure that never again will such inhumanity tear us apart; and to move ourselves to eradicate a legacy that lurks dangerously as a threat to our democracy. ~ Nelson Mandela

Let each know that for each the body, the mind and the soul have been freed to fulfill themselves. ~ Nelson Mandela

In the end, reconciliation is a spiritual process, which requires more than just a legal framework. It has to happen in the hearts and minds of people. ~ Nelson Mandela

A man who takes away another man's freedom is a prisoner of hatred, he is locked behind the bars of prejudice and narrow mindedness. ~ Nelson Mandela

We have triumphed in the effort to implant hope in the breasts of the millions of our people. We enter into a covenant that we shall build the society in which all South Africans, both black and white, will be able to walk tall, without any fear in their hearts, assured of their inalienable right to human dignity - a rainbow nation at peace with itself and the world. ~ Nelson Mandela

If you look at those matters, you will come to the conclusion that the attitude of the United States of America is a threat to world peace. ~ Nelson Mandela

Democracy is based on the majority principle. This is especially true in a country such as ours where the vast majority have been systematically denied their rights. At the same time, democracy also requires that the rights of political and other minorities be safeguarded. ~ Nelson Mandela

I enjoyed the discipline and solitariness of long-distance running, which allowed me to escape from the hurly-burly of school life. ~ Nelson Mandela

A leader ... is like a shepherd. He stays behind the flock, letting the most nimble go out ahead, whereupon the others follow, not realizing that all along they are being directed from behind. ~ Nelson Mandela

The Liberty Bell is "a very significant symbol for the entire democratic world." ~ Nelson Mandela

It is always impossible until it is done. ~ Nelson Mandela

A good leader can engage in a debate frankly and thoroughly, knowing that at the end he and the other side must be closer, and thus emerge stronger. You don't have that idea when you are arrogant, superficial, and uninformed. ~ Nelson Mandela

A garden was one of the few thing in prison that one could control. To plant a seed, watch it grow, to tend it then harvest it, offered a simple but enduring satisfaction. The sense of being the custodian of this small patch of earth offered a taste of freedom. ~ Nelson Mandela

There is a constant struggle between good an evil in the world. It is up to good people to choose the right side ~ Nelson Mandela

I have fought against white domination, and I have fought against black domination ... ~ Nelson Mandela

Learn to know yourself ... to search realistically and regularly the processes of your own mind and feelings. ~ Nelson Mandela

We understand and promote the notion that while children need to be guided they also have an entrenched right to be whatever they want to be and that they can achieve this only if they are given the space to dream and live out their dreams. ~ Nelson Mandela

It is important to not be hostile to what a greater part of society has embraced, whether as Christians, Hindus or Muslims. It is important to respect that because whether you believe or not in the existence of a superior being, humanity does believe in that. ~ Nelson Mandela

If you want to preach a revolutionary message, wear a suit. ~ Nelson Mandela

We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us, it's in everyone. ~ Nelson Mandela

A movement without vision would be a movement without moral foundation. ~ Nelson Mandela

I admire young people who are concerned with the affairs of their community and nation perhaps because I also became involved in struggle whist I was still at school. ~ Nelson Mandela

Other people have qualities that may be better than your own. Let them express them. ~ Nelson Mandela

I met Nelson Mandela, and I really didn't know what to say. It was years ago at a benefit. I was just in awe of this man because of what he'd done. ~ Robin Williams

Racism is a blight on the human conscience. The idea that any people can be inferior to another, to the point where those who consider themselves superior define and treat the rest as subhuman, denies the humanity even of those who elevate themselves to the status of gods. ~ Nelson Mandela

Fools multiply when wise men are silent. ~ Nelson Mandela

I detest racialism, because I regard it as a barbaric thing, whether it comes from a black man or a white man. ~ Nelson Mandela

I cherish my own freedom dearly, but I care even more for your freedom. From a response to an offer of conditional freedom, read by Zindzi Mandela at a rally, Jabulani Stadium, Soweto, South Africa, ~ Nelson Mandela

I dust [your photo] carefully every morning, for to do so gives me the pleasant feeling that I'm caressing you as in the old days. I even touch your nose with mine to recapture the electric current that used to flush through my blood whenever I did so. ~ Nelson Mandela

A winner is a dreamer who never gives up ~ Nelson Mandela

Why is the United States behaving so arrogantly? All that (Mr. Bush) wants is Iraqi oil. ~ Nelson Mandela

Right. So you go into Darfur and you go into South Africa, you get rid of the white government there. You put sanctions on them. You stand behind Nelson Mandela - who was bankrolled by communists for a time, had the support of certain communist leaders. You go to Ethiopia. You do the same thing. ~ Rush Limbaugh

One effect of sustained conflict is to narrow our vision of what is possible. ~ Nelson Mandela

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. ~ Nelson Mandela

Negotiation and discussion are the greatest weapons we have for promoting peace and development. ~ Nelson Mandela

Leaving golf aside for the moment, I'd choose Roger Federer as a sporting role model, Muhammad Ali for a sporting and non-sporting role model and Nelson Mandela as a true and lasting inspiration. ~ Rory McIlroy

There is no easy walk to freedom anywhere, and many of us will have to pass through the valley of the shadow of death again and again before we reach the mountaintop of our desires. ~ Nelson Mandela

This document [the Reconstruction and Development Programme] was translated into a simpler manifesto called 'A Better Life for All', which in turn became the ANC's campaign slogan. ~ Nelson Mandela

Our motto should be: let us make peace so that we can concentrate on the really important work that needs to be done. That is, alleviating the plight of the poor and the defenceless, for as long as most of humanity feels the pain of poverty we all remain prisoners. ~ Nelson Mandela

It is a simple tale, but its message is an enduring one: virtue and generosity will be rewarded in ways that one cannot know. ~ Nelson Mandela

The youth of today are the leaders of tomorrow. ~ Nelson Mandela

Appearances matter - and remember to smile. ~ Nelson Mandela

I feel like a young man of 15. ~ Nelson Mandela

I want to find God, and because I want to find God, I have to find God along with other people. I don't believe I can find God alone. If I did, I would be running to the Himalayas to find God in some cave there. But since I believe that nobody can find God alone, I have to work with people. I have to take them with me. Alone I can't come to Him. ~ Nelson Mandela

Never, never and never again shall it be that this beautiful land will again experience the oppression of one by another. ~ Nelson Mandela

As we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. ~ Nelson Mandela

If the ANC does to you what the apartheid government did to you, then you must do to the ANC what you did to the apartheid government. ~ Nelson Mandela

I have often wondered whether a person is justified in neglecting his own family to fight for opportunities for others. ~ Nelson Mandela

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. ~ Nelson Mandela

We can neither heal nor build if, on the one hand the rich in our society see the poor as hordes of irritants or if on the other hand the poor sit back, expecting charity. All of us must take responsibility for the upliftment of our conditions, prepared to give our best to the benefit of all ~ Nelson Mandela

I and some colleagues came to the conclusion that as violence in this country was inevitable, it would be wrong and unrealistic for African leaders to continue preaching peace and non-violence at a time when the government met our peaceful demands with force. It was only when all else had failed, when all channels of peaceful protest had been barred to us, that the decision was made to embark on violent forms of political struggle. ~ Nelson Mandela

Whose life testifies to the truth that there is no shame in being oppressed: Those who should be ashamed are they who oppress others. ~ Nelson Mandela

Nelson Mandela once remarked that he befriended his jailers, those grim, khaki-clad overseers of his decades of hard labor in a limestone quarry, by "exploiting their good qualities." Asked if he believed all people were kind at their core, he responded, "There is no doubt whatsoever, provided you are able to arouse their inherent goodness." If that sounds like wishful thinking, well, he actually did it. ~ Marc Ian Barasch

We can build a society grounded on friendship and our common humanity - a society founded on tolerance. That is the only road open to us. ~ Nelson Mandela

Those who can't imagine change reveal the deficits of their imaginations, not the difficulty of change. ~ Nelson Mandela

Politics can be strengthened by music, but music has a potency that defies politics. ~ Nelson Mandela

Later the island was turned into a leper colony, a lunatic asylum, and a naval base. The government had only recently turned the island back into a prison. ~ Nelson Mandela

A friend of mine once saw Mandela in a South African airport and told me this story. The president had noticed a lady who was walking by with her daughter, a beautiful five- or six-year-old girl, with blond hair and blue eyes. Mandela walked up to this little girl and leaned down and shook her hand, and he said, "Do you know who I am?" And the child smiled and said, "Yes, you are President Mandela." Mandela said, "Yes, I am your president. And if you work very hard in school and you learn a lot and you are nice to everybody, you too could grow up to be President of South Africa." Just ~ Nelson Mandela

There is no future without forgiveness ~ Nelson Mandela

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. ~ Nelson Mandela

During my time here [Guantanamo], as Nelson Mandela says ... the most important thing you have is time to think about things. I came to the conclusion that ... you're not going to gain anything with hate. Second thing, it's more destructive than it's constructive. Third thing: I came to a conclusion that love and forgiveness are more constructive and will bring people together. ~ Omar Khadr

Why don't we have people like Thich Nhat Hanh or Marshall Rosenberg and Nelson Mandela solving violent situations in a peaceful way? ~ Sandra Cisneros

Although few people will remember 3 June 1993, it was a landmark in South African history. On that day, after months of negotiations at the World Trade Centre, the multiparty forum voted to set a date for the country's first national, nonracial, one-person-one-vote election: 27 April 1994. For the first time in South African history, the black majority would go to the polls to elect their own leaders. ~ Nelson Mandela

We succeeded to take our last steps to freedom in conditions of relative peace. We commit ourselves to the construction of a complete, just and lasting peace. We have triumphed in the effort to implant hope in the breasts of the millions of our people. ~ Nelson Mandela

Overcoming poverty is not a task of charity, it is an act of justice. Like Slavery and Apartheid, poverty is not natural. It is man-made and it can be overcome and eradicated by the actions of human beings. Sometimes it falls on a generation to be great. YOU can be that great generation. Let your greatness blossom. ~ Nelson Mandela

Courage is not the absence of fear - it s inspiring others to move beyond it. ~ Nelson Mandela

Nelson Mandela and myself had a wonderful relationship - he was a special man and will be missed. ~ Donald Trump

Our people outside of prison used my name to mobilize the community locally and internationally. But for me to be treated separately from my colleagues, who had contributed as much as and even more than I had, would have been a betrayal of them. ~ Nelson Mandela

Our economic approach to food and its distribution reflects our basic moral values. ~ Nelson Mandela

Only mass education, he used to say, would free my people, arguing that an educated man could not be oppressed because he could think for himself. ~ Nelson Mandela

The path of those who preach love, and not hatred, is not easy. They often have to wear a crown of thorns. ~ Nelson Mandela

Men come and men go, I have come and I will go when my time comes ~ Nelson Mandela

We owe our children – the most vulnerable citizens in any society – a life free from violence and fear. ~ Nelson Mandela

Let freedom reign. The sun never set on so glorious a human achievement. ~ Nelson Mandela