Nelson Mandela

I am not a saint, unless you think of a saint as a sinner who keeps on trying.

Freedom is indivisible; the chains on any one of my people were the chains on all of them, the chains on all of my people were the chains on me.

During my lifetime I have dedicated myself to this struggle of the African people. I have fought against white domination, and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die.

The United States of America is a threat to world peace. Because what [America] is saying is that if you are afraid of a veto in the Security Council, you can go outside and take action and violate the sovereignty of other countries. That is the message they are sending to the world. That must be condemned in the strongest terms.

The USA is a threat to world peace. Who are they to pretend that they are the policemen of the world, the ones that should decide for the people of Iraq what should be done with their government and their leadership. All that [the USA] wants is Iraqi oil. [Blair is] simply the foreign minister of the United States. He is no longer prime minister of Britain.

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

Even behind prison walls I can see the heavy clouds and the blue sky over the horizon

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

There can be no greater gift than that of giving one’s time and energy to help others without expecting anything in return.

No child in Africa, and in fact anywhere in the world, should be denied education.

We must look within ourselves, become responsible and provide fresh solutions if we ever want to do more than complain,or make excuses.

I am fundamentally an optimist.

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.

I greet you all in the name of peace, democracy and freedom for all.

The time comes in the life of any nation when there remain only two choices - submit or fight. That time has now come to South Africa. We shall not submit and we have no choice but to hit back by all means in our power in defence of our people, our future, and our freedom

That day, Miss Mdingane told me that my new name was Nelson. Why she bestowed this particular name upon me I have no idea. Perhaps it had something to do with the great British sea captain Lord Nelson, but that would be only a guess.

I found solitary confinement the most forbidding aspect of prison life. There is no end and no beginning; there is only one's mind, which can begin to play tricks. Was that a dream or did it really happen? One begins to question everything.

To truly lead one's people, one must also truly know them.

If there is one thing in this planet that has the power to bind people it is soccer.

Our rich and varied cultural heritage has a _x000D_ profound power to help build our nation

We know it well that none of us acting alone can achieve success.