Nelson Mandela

Does anybody really think that they didn't get what they had because they didn't have the talent or the strength or the endurance or the commitment?

If the United States of America or Britain is having elections, they don't ask for observers from Africa or from Asia. But when we have elections, they want observers.

I dream of an Africa which is in peace with itself.

I was not a messiah, but an ordinary man who had become a leader because of extraordinary circumstances.

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

In my country we go to prison first and then become President.

After climbing a great hill, one only finds that there are many more hills to climb.

Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.

Everyone can rise above their circumstances and achieve success if they are dedicated to and passionate about what they do.

I like friends who have independent minds because they tend to make you see problems from all angles.

Education is the great engine of personal development. It is through education that the daughter of a peasant can become a doctor, that the son of a mineworker can become the head of the mine, that a child of farm workers can become the president of a great nation. It is what we make out of what we have, not what we are given, that separates one person from another.

Safety and security don't just happen, they are the result of collective consensus and public investment. We owe our children, the most vulnerable citizens in our society, a life free of violence and fear.

I always knew that someday I would once again feel the grass under my feet and walk in the sunshine as a free man.

A freedom fighter learns the hard way that it is the oppressor who defines the nature of the struggle,and the oppressed is often left no recourse but to use methods that mirror those of the oppressor.At a point, one can only fight fire with fire

What counts in life is not the mere fact that we have lived. It is what difference we have made to the lives of others that will determine the significance of the life we lead.

Once a person is determined to help themselves, there is nothing that can stop them.

Tread softly, Brathe peacefully, Laugh hysterically.

We know too well that our freedom is incomplete without the freedom of the Palestinians.

Peace is the greatest weapon for development that any person can have.

Success in politics demands that you must take your people into confidence about your views and state them very clearly, very politely, very calmly, but nevertheless, state them openly.

Without language, one cannot talk to people and understand them; one cannot share their hopes and aspirations, grasp their history, appreciate their poetry, or savor their songs.