Top 689 Quotes & Sayings by Nelson Mandela - Page 9

I have taken a moment here to rest, to steal a view of the glorious vista that surrounds me, to look back on the distance I have come.

In the 21st Century, the capacity to communicate will almost certainly be a key human right.

It was during those long and lonely years that my hunger for the freedom of my own people became a hunger for the freedom of all people, white and black. I knew as well as I knew anything that the oppressor must be liberated just as surely as the oppressed.

I know that, throughout the world, there are good men and women concerned with the greatest challenges facing society today - poverty, illiteracy, and disease.

Greece is the mother of democracy and South Africa is its youngest daughter

The time comes in the life of any nation when there remains only two choices - submit or fight.

Although I am a gregarious person, I love solitude even more.

A bright future beckons. The onus is on us, through hard work, honesty and integrity, to reach for the stars.

I am convinced that floods of personal disaster can never drown a determined revolutionary nor can the cumulus of misery that accompanies tragedy suffocate him.

I don't think there is much history can say about me. I just want to be remembered as part of that collective.

As we judge others so are we judged by others. The suspicious will always be tormented by suspicion.

There are so many men and women who hold no distinctive positions but whose contribution towards the development of society has been enormous. Some of them are not known even in their own countries, but when you come across them you are very impressed. Those are heroes or heroines we must never forget. Because of their service to society, you can't really help but admire them.

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.

It is my greatest wish that the Children’s Fund should continue to be a beacon of hope and light.

We forgive but not forgotten

I cannot and will not give any undertaking at a time when I, and you, the people, are not free. Your freedom and mine cannot be separated.

If you are stimulated by what you do, you never get tired

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.

The laws that stopped blacks from voting were the worst, because they prevented blacks from voting someone into parliament who could change the other laws. Even though the blacks were the majority of the population, they were still not getting a say.

Our continent must be allowed to do its own things, charting its course and destiny.

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

I can't help it if the ladies take note of me; I am not going to protest.

A government which uses force to maintain its rule teaches the oppressed to use force to oppose it.

There was much in such a society that was primitive and insecure and it certainly could never measure up to the demands of the present epoch. But in such a society are contained the seeds of revolutionary democracy in which none will be held in slavery.

I cherish my own freedom dearly, but I care even more for your freedom. Too many have died since I went to prison. Too many have suffered for the love of freedom. I owe it to their widows, to their orphans, to their mothers and their fathers, who have grieved and wept for them ..... Not only have I suffered during these long lonely wasted years. I am no less life-loving than you are. But I cannot sell the birthright of the people to be free ....... Only free men can negotiate. Prisoners cannot enter into contracts. Your freedom and mine cannot be separated.

We don't have to be victims of our past, that we can let go of our bitterness, and that all of us can achieve greatness.

When those in power deny you of freedom the only path to freedom is power

I was made, by the law, a criminal, not because of what I had done, but because of what I stood for, because of what I thought, because of my conscience... If I had my time over I would do the same again. So would any man who dares call himself a man.

The United States of America is a threat to world peace.

We must nurture tolerance, collective wisdom, and democracy.

I appeal to the Youth and those on the ground: start talking to each other across divisions of race and political organizations.

Where choice is set between cowardice and violence, I would advise violence ... I prefer to use arms in defense of honor rather than remain the vile witness of dishonor.

Millions of people in the world's poorest countries remain enslaved by the chains of poverty. It is time to set them free.

Soccer is one of the most unifying activities amongst us.

In human affairs, no single person, organisation or social formation ever has a final or an absolutely correct position. It is through conversation, debate and critical discussion that we approach positions that may provide workable solutions.

I knew as well as I knew anything that the oppressor must be liberated just as surely as the oppressed.

Press Freedom will never be under threat in South Africa for as long as the ANC is the majority party

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

AIDS is our number one enemy. This enemy can be defeated. While the research for a cure continues, four principles -- love, support, acceptance and care for those affected -- can make us winners.

Do not allow your anger to control your reason, but rather your reason to control your anger.

It is through education that the daughter of a peasant can become a doctor.

Sport has the power to change the world... Sport can awaken hope where there was previously only despair.

Individuals get caught up in the policy of their country. In prison, for instance, a warden or officer is not promoted if he doesn't follow the policy of the government - though he himself does not believe in that policy.

Teach the children that Africans are not one iota inferior to Europeans.

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.

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

We are extricating ourselves from a system that insulted our common humanity by dividing us from one another on the basis of race and setting us against each other as oppressed and oppressor. That system committed a crime against humanity.

I commend #AIESEC's continuing efforts to develop the #future #business #leadership of our countries.

I cannot overemphasise the value we place on a free, independent and outspoken press

It is our duty to give support to the brother leader ... especially in regards to the sanctions which are not hitting just him, they are hitting the ordinary masses of the people ... our African brothers and sisters.

Those South Africans who berate me for being loyal to our friends, literally they can go and throw themselves into a pool. I am not going to betray the trust of those who helped us.

It always gives me great pleasure to be surrounded by the beautiful children of our land. Whenever I am with the energetic young people ... I feel like a recharged battery, confident that our country can look forward to great things.

I realized that they could take everything from me except my mind and my heart. They could not take those things. Those things I still had control over. And I decided not to give them away.

We cannot proclaim this century the African Century and then ignore the AIDS pandemic, as some political leaders are apt to do. To claim this century the African Century is to declare war on AIDS.

Education has become a very powerful weapon in the struggle to produce a well-developed person.

There is an absence of democratic accountability and control in every sphere of government and the state. To address this debilitating legacy requires determined action and a deep commitment to transforming our society from a crisis ridden present into something all South Africans can be truly proud of.

HIV/AIDS is the greatest danger we have faced for many, many centuries. HIV/AIDS is worse than a war. It is like a world war. Millions of people are dying from it.

Our children are the rock on which our future will be built, our greatest asset as a nation

The freedom we enjoy is a richly textured gift handcrafted by ordinary folk

The private sector granted bursaries [scholarships] for the children of their workers. Some of them built homes for their workers. They had in-service training, which improved the skills of their workers. So that spirit was there. All we did was merely exploit it.