01UndatedIt was not lack of ability that limited my people, but lack of opportunity.Nelson Mandela / quote ↗
02UndatedCrime must be brought under control... Freedom without civility, freedom without the ability to live in peace, was not true freedom at all.Nelson Mandela / quote ↗
03UndatedWe owe our children – the most vulnerable citizens in any society – a life free from violence and fear.Nelson Mandela / quote ↗
05UndatedI 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 here to rest, to steal a view of the glorious vista that surrounds me, to look back on the distance I have come. But I can only rest for a moment, for with freedom come responsibilities, and I dare not linger, for my long walk is not ended.Nelson Mandela / quote ↗
06UndatedAfter climbing a great hill, one only finds that there are many more hills to climb.Nelson Mandela / quote ↗
09UndatedThis document [the Reconstruction and Development Programme] was translated into a simpler manifesto called 'A Better Life for All', which in turn became the ANC's campaign slogan.Nelson Mandela / quote ↗
10UndatedIt is not my ambition to marry a white woman or swim in a white pool. It is political equality that we want.Nelson Mandela / quote ↗
13UndatedDuring my lifetime I have dedicated myself to this struggle of the African people. I have fought against white domination, and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die.Nelson Mandela / quote ↗
14UndatedPeople must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite... Man's goodness is a flame that can be hidden but never extinguished.Nelson Mandela / quote ↗
15UndatedIt 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.Nelson Mandela / quote ↗
16UndatedPrison is designed to break one's spirit and destroy one's resolve. To do this, the authorities attempt to exploit every weakness, demolish every initiative, negate all signs of individuality--all with the idea of stamping out that spark that makes each of us human and each of us who we are.Nelson Mandela / quote ↗
17UndatedWe were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us it's in everyone.Nelson Mandela / quote ↗
18UndatedOur 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 / quote ↗
19UndatedI have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die.Nelson Mandela / quote ↗
20UndatedSabotage did not involve loss of life, and it offered the best hope for future race relations. Bitterness would be kept to a minimum and, if the policy bore fruit, democratic government could become a reality.Nelson Mandela / quote ↗
21UndatedI came across few whites as a boy at Qunu. The local magistrate, of course, was white, as was the nearest shopkeeper. Occasionally, white travelers or policemen passed through our area. These whites appeared as grand as gods to me, and I was aware that they were to be treated with a mixture of fear and respect.Nelson Mandela / quote ↗
22UndatedIf 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 / quote ↗
23UndatedI 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 / quote ↗
24UndatedIn the 1940s, traveling for an African was a complicated process. All Africans over the age of sixteen were compelled to carry 'Native passes' issued by the Native Affairs Department and were required to show that pass to any white policeman, civil servant, or employer. Failure to do so could mean arrest, trial, a jail sentence or fine.Nelson Mandela / quote ↗
