We owe our children – the most vulnerable citizens in any society – a life free from violence and fear.
Nelson MandelaRead
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.
Interpretation
Democratic accountability is lacking in governance and needs to be addressed for societal transformation.
In this quote, Nelson Mandela highlights the importance of democratic accountability in government and the state. He calls for a deep commitment to reforming society, stating that to overcome the challenges faced by South Africa, collective and determined action is required to transform it into a nation that all its citizens can take pride in.
In practice
This quote could be used in a speech about the importance of civic engagement in democratic processes.
We owe our children – the most vulnerable citizens in any society – a life free from violence and fear.
What freedom am I being offered while the organization of the people remains banned? Only free men can negotiate. A prisoner cannot enter into contracts.
The past is a rich resource on which we can draw in order to make decisions for the future, but it does not dictate our choices. We should look back at the past and select what is good, and leave behind what is bad.
We signal that good can be achieved amongst human beings who are prepared to trust, prepared to believe in the goodness of people.
After one has been in prison, it is the small things that one appreciates: being able to take a walk whenever one wants, going into a shop and buying a newspaper, speaking or choosing to remain silent. The simple act of being able to control one's person.
I dream of the realization of the unity of Africa, whereby its leaders combine in their efforts to solve the problems of this continent. I dream of our vast deserts, of our forests, of all our great wildernesses.
If there are men in this country big enough to own the government of the United States, they are going to own it.
The President can exercise no power which cannot be fairly and reasonably traced to some specific grant of power in the Federal Constitution or in an act of Congress passed in pursuance thereof. There is no undefined residuum of power which he can exercise because it seems to him to be in the public interest.
It is impossible that the whisper of a faction should prevail against the voice of a nation.
Only we, the public, can force our representatives to reverse their abdication of the war powers that the Constitution gives exclusively to the Congress.
Any man who is under 30, and is not a liberal, has no heart; and any man who is over 30, and is not a conservative, has no brains.
If you do not take an interest in the affairs of your government, then you are doomed to live under the rule of fools.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.