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.
Nelson MandelaRead
We owe our children – the most vulnerable citizens in any society – a life free from violence and fear.
Interpretation
What this quote means
We must ensure that children grow up in a safe and nurturing environment.
Nelson Mandela emphasizes the responsibility of society to protect its children, who are the most defenseless members. He highlights the importance of creating a secure and peaceful environment for them to thrive and grow, free from the threats of violence and fear that can hinder their development and well-being.
Themes
ChildrenViolenceFearSocietyResponsibilitySafety
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech advocating for children's rights, a speaker might reference this quote to emphasize the importance of creating a safer environment for youth.
More from Nelson Mandela
All quotes →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.
Nelson MandelaRead
We signal that good can be achieved amongst human beings who are prepared to trust, prepared to believe in the goodness of people.
Nelson MandelaRead
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.
Nelson MandelaRead
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.
Nelson MandelaRead
From the beginning, Mandela and Tambo was besieged with clients. We were not the only African lawyers in South Africa, but we were the only firm of African lawyers. For Africans, we were the firm of first choice and last resort.
Nelson MandelaRead
Similar quotes
Those kids aren't dumb. But the people who run these schools want to make sure they don't get smart: they are really teaching the kids to be slaves.
James A. BaldwinRead
Education is not simply to learn to read and write. It's emancipation. It makes you free.
Ziauddin YousafzaiRead
Let the American youth never forget, that they possess a noble inheritance, bought by the toils, and sufferings, and blood of their ancestors; and capacity, if wisely improved, and faithfully guarded, of transmitting to their latest posterity all the substantial blessings of life, the peaceful enjoyment of liberty, property, religion, and independence.
Joseph StoryRead
Educational equality doesn't guarantee equality on the labor market. Even the most developed countries are not gender-equal. There are still glass ceilings and 'leaky pipelines' that prevent women from getting ahead in the workplace.
Michelle BacheletRead
I never let schooling interfere with my education.
Mark TwainRead
Sometimes you buy a book, powerfully drawn to it, but then it just sits on the shelf. Maybe you flick through it, the ghost of your original purpose at your elbow, but it's not so much rereading as re-dusting. Then one day you pick it up, take notice of the contents; your inner life realigns.
Hilary MantelRead