Mandela Speaks

“The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.” Quoting Marianne Williamson

“And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same”

“I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.”
“It always seems impossible until it’s done.”

“There is no passion to be found playing small - in settling for a life that is less than the one you are capable of living.”

“If you want to make peace with your enemy, you have to work with your enemy. Then he becomes your partner.”

“As I have said, the first thing is to be honest with yourself. You can never have an impact on society if you have not changed yourself... Great peacemakers are all people of integrity, of honesty, but humility.”

“After climbing a great hill, one only finds that there are many more hills to climb.”

“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.”

“It is better to lead from behind and to put others in front, especially when you celebrate victory when nice things occur. You take the front line when there is danger. Then people will appreciate your leadership.”

“As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”

“There is no easy walk to freedom anywhere, and many of us will have to pass through the valley of the shadow of death again and again before we reach the mountaintop of our desires.”

“There is nothing like returning to a place that remains unchanged to find the ways in which you yourself have altered.”
“As a leader... I have always endeavored to listen to what each and every person in a discussion had to say before venturing my own opinion. Oftentimes, my own opinion will simply represent a consensus of what I heard in the discussion. I always remember the axiom: a leader is like a shepherd. He stays behind the flock, letting the most nimble go out ahead, whereupon the others follow, not realizing that all along they are being directed from behind.”

“There can be no keener revelation of a society's soul than the way in which it treats its children.”

“A good head and a good heart are always a formidable combination.”
“I have walked that long road to freedom. I have tried not to falter; I have made missteps along the way. But I have discovered the secret that after climbing a great hill, one only finds that there are many more hills to climb. I have taken a moment
“For to be free is not merely to cast off one's chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others.”
“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.”
“I cherish my own freedom dearly, but I care even more for your freedom. Too many have died since I went to prison. Too many have suffered for the love of freedom. I owe it to their widows, to their orphans, to their mothers and their fathers,…”
“In my country we go to prison first and then become President.”

“One of the few advantages of prison is that you have time to read and time for reflection,... If the comic reaches new readers, then the project will have been worthwhile.”
“One of the few advantages of prison life is that one has time to read. This        opened our minds and forced us to re-examine some of our views.”
“We must use time wisely and forever realize that the time is always ripe to do right.”

“It is said that no-one truly knows a nation until one has been inside its jails. A nation should not be judged by how it treats its highest citizens, but its lowest ones,”
“When the water starts boiling it is foolish to turn off the heat.”
“I dream of an Africa which is in peace with itself.”
“Money won't create success, the freedom to make it will.”

“Does anybody really think that they didn't get what they had because they didn't have the talent or the strength or the endurance or the commitment?”
“That was one of the things that worried me - to be raised to the position of a semi-god - because then you are no longer a human being. I wanted to be known as Mandela, a man with weaknesses, some of which are fundamental, and a man who is committed”
“Let freedom reign. The sun never set on so glorious a human achievement.”
“There is no such thing as part freedom”

“I detest racialism, because I regard it as a barbaric thing, whether it comes from a black man or a white man”

“Let there be work, bread, water and salt for all.”
“We need to exert ourselves that much more, and break out of the vicious cycle of dependence imposed on us by the financially powerful: those in command of immense market power and those who dare to fashion the world in their own image”

“Only free men can negotiate; prisoners cannot enter into contracts. Your freedom and mine cannot be separated.”
“The curious beauty of African music is that it uplifts even as it tells a sad tale. You may be poor, you may have only a ramshackle house, you may have lost your job, but that song gives you hope”.

“If there are dreams about a beautiful South Africa, there are also roads that lead to their goal. Two of these roads could be named Goodness and Forgiveness.”

“How can I be expected to believe that this same racial discrimination which has been the cause of so much injustice and suffering right through the years, should now operate here to give me a fair and open trial?....consider myself neither morally nor legally obliged to obey laws made by a Parliament in which I am not represented. That the will of the people is the basis of the authority of government, is a principle universally acknowledged as sacred throughout the civilized world.”

“The time comes in the life of any nation when there remains 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 defense of our people,…”                                                                          Quotations Credit- www.thinkexist.com