NMNelson Mandela

113 collected words

Nelson Mandela

Life dates: 1918 AD — 2013 AD

Name supplied in the contributor-provided quotation collection. Basic attribution label; identity, lifetime and quotation authenticity have not been independently verified.

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Quotations and sayings

01c. 1965 AD

I do not deny that I planned sabotage. I did not plan it in a spirit of recklessness nor because I have any love of violence. I planned it as a result of a calm and sober assessment of the political situation that had arisen after many years of tyranny, exploitation and oppression of my people by the whites.

Nelson Mandela / quote

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02c. 1965 AD

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

Nelson Mandela / quote

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03c. 1965 AD

Let there be work, bread, water and salt for all.

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04c. 1965 AD

On the first day of school, my teacher, Miss Mdingane, gave each of us an English name and said that from thenceforth that was the name we would answer to in school. This was the custom among Africans in those days and was undoubtedly due to the British bias of our education.

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05c. 1965 AD

Forget the past.

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06c. 1965 AD

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?

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07c. 1965 AD

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.

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08c. 1965 AD

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.

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09c. 1965 AD

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.

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10c. 1965 AD

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.

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11c. 1965 AD

Africans require, want, the franchise on the basis of one man one vote. They want political independence.

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12c. 1965 AD

We must use time wisely and forever realize that the time is always ripe to do right.

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13c. 1965 AD

There are so many men and women who hold no distinctive positions but whose contribution towards the development of society has been enormous.

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14c. 1965 AD

A good head and a good heart are always a formidable combination.

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15c. 1965 AD

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.

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16c. 1965 AD

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

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17c. 1965 AD

At the outset, I want to say that the suggestion that the struggle in South Africa is under the influence of foreigners or communists is wholly incorrect. I have done whatever I did because of my experience in South Africa and my own proudly felt African background, and not because of what any outsider might have said.

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18c. 1965 AD

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.

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19c. 1965 AD

I would wear the blue overalls of the fieldworker and often wore round, rimless glasses known as Mazzawati teaglasses. I had a car, and I wore a chauffeur's cap with my overalls. The pose of chauffeur was convenient because I could travel under the pretext of driving my master's car.

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20c. 1965 AD

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.

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21c. 1965 AD

Before I went to jail, I was active in politics as a member of South Africa's leading organization - and I was generally busy from 7 A.M. until midnight. I never had time to sit and think.

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22c. 1965 AD

When I came to Johannesburg from the countryside, I knew nobody, but many strangers were very kind to me. I then was dragged into politics, and then, subsequently, I became a lawyer.

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23c. 1965 AD

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 defenseless people.

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24c. 1965 AD

Money won't create success, the freedom to make it will.

Nelson Mandela / quote

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