Together we have travelled a long road to be where we are today. This has been a road of struggle against colonial and apartheid oppression.
Thabo MbekiRead
Gloom and despondency have never defeated adversity. Trying times need courage and resilience. Our strength as a people is not tested during the best of times.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Adversity cannot be overcome by weakness; it requires courage and resilience.
This quote emphasizes that true strength is revealed not in moments of ease, but during challenging times. Gloom and despair do not conquer tough situations; instead, the ability to face difficulties with courage and resilience is what defines our strength as individuals and communities.
Themes
CourageResilienceAdversityStrengthChallenge
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about overcoming obstacles, one might quote this to inspire resilience.
More from Thabo Mbeki
All quotes →A global human society, characterised by islands of wealth, surrounded by a sea of poverty, is unsustainable
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Many of our own people here in this country do not ask about computers, telephones and television sets. They ask - when will we get a road to our village.
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South Africa belongs to all who live in it, black and white.
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Our experience over the last 20 years has shown that indeed people must themselves become their own liberators. You cannot wait for somebody else to come and rescue you.
Thabo MbekiRead
As we mourn President Mandela’s passing we must ask ourselves the fundamental question - what shall we do to respond to the tasks of building a democratic, non-racial, non-sexist and prosperous South Africa, a people-centred society free of hunger, poverty, disease and inequality, as well as Africa’s renaissance, to whose attainment President Nelson Mandela dedicated his whole life?
Thabo MbekiRead
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