Nelson Mandela

It can be said that there are four basic and primary things that the mass of people in a society wish for: to live in a safe environment, to be able to work and provide for themselves, to have access to good public health and to have sound educational opportunities for their children.

No form of violence can ever be excused in a society that wishes to call itself decent

If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his language, that goes to his heart.

A movement without vision would be a movement without moral foundation.

The importance of a high moral code, which is at the foundation of the Scout movement, cannot be stressed too highly.

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.

Rhetoric is not important. Actions are.

If you are negotiating you must do so in a spirit of reconciliation, not from the point of view of issuing ultimatums.

Resentment is like a glass of poison that a man drinks; then he sits down and waits for his enemy to die.

Our freedom is also incomplete, dear compatriots, as long as we are denied our security by criminals who prey on our communities, who rob our businesses and undermine our economy, who ply their destructive trade in drugs in our schools, and who do violence against our women and children.

For every woman and girl violently attacked, we reduce our humanity. For every woman forced into unprotected sex because men demand this, we destroy dignity and pride. Every woman who has to sell her life for sex we condemn to a lifetime in prison. For every moment we remain silent, we conspire against our women. For every woman infected by HIV, we destroy a generation.

The challenge for each one of you is to take up these ideals of tolerance and respect for others and put them to practical use in your schools, your communities and throughout your lives.

We shall immunize every child in Africa to get rid of this terrible disease forever.

When the water starts boiling it is foolish to turn off the heat.

Let there be work, bread, water and salt for all.

Isimangaliso must be the only place on the globe where the oldest land mammal (rhinoceros) and the world biggest terrestrial mammal (elephant) share an ecosystem with the world's oldest fish (coelacanth) and the world's biggest marine mammal (whale)

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

Only 50 years ago persons with intellectual disabilities were scorned, isolated and neglected. Today, they are able to attend school, become employed and assimilate into their local community.

We raise our voices in holy gladness to celebrate the victory of the risen Christ over the terrible forces of death.

I am fundamentally an optimist. Whether that comes from nature or nurture, I cannot say. Part of being optimistic is keeping one's head pointed toward the sun, one's feet moving forward. There were many dark moments when my faith in humanity was sorely tested, but I would not and could not give myself up to despair. That way lays defeat and death.

Our children are our greatest treasure. They are our future. Those who abuse them tear at the fabric of our society and weaken our nation.