Nelson Mandela Quotes

♦ Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world – Nelson Mandela

♦  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 – Nelson Mandela

♦ A good head and a good heart are always a formidable combination – Nelson Mandela

♦ 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 – Nelson Mandela

♦ 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 –  Nelson Mandela

♦ 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 – Nelson Mandela

♦ If you want to make peace with your enemy, you have to work with your enemy. Then he becomes your partner – Nelson Mandela

♦ 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 – Nelson Mandela

♦ It always seems impossible until its done – Nelson Mandela

♦ After climbing a great hill, one only finds that there are many more hills to climb – Nelson Mandela

♦ 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 – Nelson Mandela

♦ There can be no keener revelation of a society’s soul than the way in which it treats its children – Nelson Mandela

♦ In my country we go to prison first and then become President – Nelson Mandela

♦ We must use time wisely and forever realize that the time is always ripe to do right – Nelson Mandela

♦ Never, never and never again shall it be that this beautiful land will again experience the oppression of one by another – Nelson Mandela

♦ I detest racialism, because I regard it as a barbaric thing, whether it comes from a black man or a white man – Nelson Mandela

♦ If the United States of America or Britain is having elections, they don’t ask for observers from Africa or from Asia. But when we have elections, they want observers – Nelson Mandela

♦ A good leader can engage in a debate frankly and thoroughly, knowing that at the end he and the other side must be closer, and thus emerge stronger. You don’t have that idea when you are arrogant, superficial, and uninformed – Nelson Mandela

♦ Money won’t create success, the freedom to make it will – Nelson Mandela

♦ There is nothing like returning to a place that remains unchanged to find the ways in which you yourself have altered – Nelson Mandela

♦ 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? – Nelson Mandela

♦ Let there be work, bread, water and salt for all – Nelson Mandela

♦ I dream of an Africa which is in peace with itself – Nelson Mandela

♦ Let freedom reign. The sun never set on so glorious a human achievement – Nelson Mandela

♦ 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 – Nelson Mandela

♦ We can’t afford to be killing one another – Nelson Mandela

♦ Any man or institution that tries to rob me of my dignity will lose – Nelson Mandela

♦ No country can really develop unless its citizens are educated – Nelson Mandela

♦ I was not a messiah, but an ordinary man who had become a leader because of extraordinary circumstances – Nelson Mandela

♦ To deny people their human rights is to challenge their very humanity – Nelson Mandela

♦ Courageous people do not fear forgiving, for the sake of peace – Nelson Mandela

♦ I am confident that nobody… will accuse me of selfishness if I ask to spend time, while I am still in good health, with my family, my friends and also with myself – Nelson Mandela

♦ When the water starts boiling it is foolish to turn off the heat – Nelson Mandela

♦ In countries where innocent people are dying, the leaders are following their blood rather than their brains – Nelson Mandela

♦ Unlike some politicians, I can admit to a mistake – Nelson Mandela

♦ Our human compassion binds us the one to the other – not in pity or patronizingly, but as human beings who have learnt how to turn our common suffering into hope for the future – Nelson Mandela

♦ I stand here before you not as a prophet, but as a humble servant of you, the people – Nelson Mandela

♦ 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 Mandela

♦ Only free men can negotiate; prisoners cannot enter into contracts. Your freedom and mine cannot be separated – Nelson Mandela

♦ If there is a country that has committed unspeakable atrocities in the world, it is the United States of America – Nelson Mandela

♦ Forget the past – Nelson Mandela

♦ I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities –  Nelson Mandela

♦ It is wise to persuade people to do things and make them think it was their own idea – Nelson Mandela

♦ Give a child love, laughter and peace, not AIDS – Nelson Mandela

♦ Intervention only works when the people concerned seem to be keen for peace – Nelson Mandela

♦ I cannot conceive of Israel withdrawing if Arab states do not recognize Israel, within secure borders – Nelson Mandela

♦ I made a mistake by being ejected from the presidency. Next time, I will choose a Cabinet which will allow me to be life President – Nelson Mandela

There is no such thing as part freedom – Nelson Mandela

♦ Sometimes, I feel like one who is on the sidelines, who has missed life itself – Nelson Mandela

♦ Leaders in all spheres who are living with HIV should be encouraged, not coerced, to lead by example and disclose their HIV status – Nelson Mandela

♦ I have retired, but if there’s anything that would kill me it is to wake up in the morning not knowing what to do – Nelson Mandela

I should tie myself to no particular system of society other than of socialism – Nelson Mandela

♦ Where globalization means, as it so often does, that the rich and powerful now have new means to further enrich and empower themselves at the cost of the poorer and weaker, we have a responsibility to protest in the name of universal freedom – Nelson Mandela

♦ You know, you can only lead them from behind – Nelson Mandela

♦  I can’t pretend that I’m brave and that I can beat the whole world – Nelson Mandela

♦ If you are poor, you are not likely to live long – Nelson Mandela

♦ Nonviolence is a good policy when the conditions permit – Nelson Mandela

♦ There are times when a leader must move out ahead of the flock, go off in a new direction, confident that he is leading his people the right way – Nelson Mandela

Communists have always played an active role in the fight by colonial countries for their freedom, because the short-term objects of Communism would always correspond with the long-term objects of freedom movements – Nelson Mandela

♦  There is nothing I fear more than waking up without a program that will help me bring a little happiness to those with no resources, those who are poor, illiterate, and ridden with terminal disease – Nelson Mandela

♦ I started to make a study of the art of war and revolution and, whilst abroad, underwent a course in military training. If there was to be guerrilla warfare, I wanted to be able to stand and fight with my people and to share the hazards of war with them – Nelson Mandela

♦ Our single most important challenge is therefore to help establish a social order in which the freedom of the individual will truly mean the freedom of the individual – Nelson Mandela

♦ There are many people who feel that it is useless and futile to continue talking about peace and non-violence against a government whose only reply is savage attacks on an unarmed and defenceless people – Nelson Mandela

♦ Real leaders must be ready to sacrifice all for the freedom of their people – Nelson Mandela

♦ Social equality is the only basis of human happiness – Nelson Mandela

♦ Great anger and violence can never build a nation. We are striving to proceed in a manner and towards a result, which will ensure that all our people, both black and white, emerge as victors – Nelson Mandela

♦ Without democracy there cannot be peace – Nelson Mandela

♦ We are fighting for a society where people will cease thinking in terms of colour- Nelson Mandela

♦  When a man has done what he considers to be his duty to his people and his country, he can rest in peace – Nelson Mandela