South African anti-apartheid revolutionary, political leader and philanthropist who served as President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999
It always seems impossible until it’s done. – Nelson Mandela
Sport has the power to change the world. It has the power to inspire, it has the power to unite people in a way that little else does. It speaks to youth in a language they understand. Sport can create hope, where once there was only despair. It is more powerful than governments in breaking down racial barriers. It laughs in the face of all types of discrimination. – Nelson Mandela
Your playing small does not serve the world. Who are you not to be great? – Nelson Mandela
Know your enemy – and learn about his favorite sport. – Nelson Mandela
The more informed you are, the less arrogant and aggressive you are. – Nelson Mandela
There is a universal respect and even admiration for those who are humble and simple by nature, and who have absolute confidence in all human beings irrespective of their social status. – Nelson Mandela
Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world. – Nelson Mandela
Resentment is like drinking poison and then hoping it will kill your enemies. – Nelson Mandela
When a man is denied the right to live the life he believes in, he has no choice but to become an outlaw. – Nelson Mandela
Resentment is a method of self harm. – 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
Do not judge me by my successes, judge me by how many times I fell down and got back up again. – Nelson Mandela
No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People 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. – Nelson Mandela
It is music and dancing that make me at peace with the world. – Nelson Mandela
Once a person is determined to help themselves, there is nothing that can stop them. – Nelson Mandela
We must work together to ensure the equitable distribution of wealth, opportunity, and power in our society. – Nelson Mandela
Appearances matter – and remember to smile. – Nelson Mandela
Let there be justice for all. Let there be peace for all. Let there be work, bread, water and salt for all. Let each know that for each the body, the mind and the soul have been freed to fulfill themselves. – Nelson Mandela
As long as poverty, injustice and gross inequality persist in our world, none of us can truly rest. – Nelson Mandela
We owe our children – the most vulnerable citizens in any society – a life free from violence and fear. – Nelson Mandela
Freedom is indivisible; the chains on any one of my people were the chains on all of them, the chains on all of my people were the chains on me. – Nelson Mandela
I am the master of my fate and the captain of my destiny. – Nelson Mandela
I am influenced more than ever before by the conviction that social equality is the only basis of human happiness. – Nelson Mandela
To deny people their human rights is to challenge their very humanity. – Nelson Mandela
In prison, illusions can offer comfort. – Nelson Mandela
I am fundamentally an optimist. Whether that comes from nature or nurture, I cannot say. Part of being optimistic is keeping one’s head pointed toward the sun, one’s feet moving forward. There were many dark moments when my faith in humanity was sorely tested, but I would not and could not give myself up to despair. That way lays defeat and death. – Nelson Mandela
There can be no keener revelation of a society’s soul than the way in which it treats its children. – Nelson Mandela
Live life as though nobody is watching, and express yourself as though everyone is listening. – Nelson Mandela
Only free men can negotiate, prisoners can’t enter in contracts. – Nelson Mandela
And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others. – Nelson Mandela
A winner is a dreamer who never gives up. – Nelson Mandela
Lead from the back – and let others believe they are in front. – Nelson Mandela
I have always believed that exercise is the key not only to physical health but to peace of mind. – Nelson Mandela
After climbing a great hill, one only finds that there are many more hills to climb. – Nelson Mandela
I am not a saint, unless you think of a saint as a sinner who keeps on trying. – Nelson Mandela
You will achieve more in this world through acts of mercy than you will through acts of retribution. – Nelson Mandela
May your choices reflect your hopes, not your fears. – 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
A good head and good heart are always a formidable combination. But when you add to that a literate tongue or pen, then you have something very special. – Nelson Mandela
One cannot be prepared for something while secretly believing it will not happen. – Nelson Mandela
Peace is the greatest weapon for development that any person can have. – Nelson Mandela
Overcoming poverty is not a task of charity, it is an act of justice. Like Slavery and Apartheid, poverty is not natural. It is man-made and it can be overcome and eradicated by the actions of human beings. Sometimes it falls on a generation to be great. YOU can be that great generation. Let your greatness blossom. – Nelson Mandela
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. – Nelson Mandela
The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear. – Nelson Mandela
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. – 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
There is nothing like returning to a place that remains unchanged to find the ways in which you yourself have altered. – Nelson Mandela
As I walked out the door toward the gate that would lead to my freedom, I knew if I didn’t leave my bitterness and hatred behind, I’d still be in prison. – Nelson Mandela
I have never cared very much for personal prizes. A person does not become a freedom fighter in the hope of winning awards. – Nelson Mandela
It is not where you start but how high you aim that matters for success. – Nelson Mandela
During 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
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