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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

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I Am Fundamentally An

Nelson Mandela

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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.

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Unlike Some Politicians, I Can Admit To A Mistake.

One Effect Of Sustained Conflict Is To Narrow Our Vision Of What Is Possible. Time And Time Again, Conflicts Are Resolved Through Shifts That Were Unimaginable At The Start.

We Can Neither Heal Nor Build If, On The One Hand The Rich In Our Society See The Poor As Hordes Of Irritants Or If On The Other Hand The Poor Sit Back, Expecting Charity. All Of Us Must Take Responsibility For The Upliftment Of Our Conditions, Prepared To Give Our Best To The Benefit Of All

We Cannot Proclaim This Century The African Century And Then Ignore The Aids Pandemic, As Some Political Leaders Are Apt To Do. To Claim This Century The African Century Is To Declare War On Aids.

One Cannot Be Prepared For Something While Secretly Believing It Will Not Happen.

Sometimes It Falls Upon A Generation To Be Great. You Can Be That Great Generation. Let Your Greatness Blossom. Of Course The Task Will Not Be Easy. But Not To Do This Would Be A Crime Against Humanity, Against Which I Ask All Humanity Now To Rise Up.

If There Is A Country That Has Committed Unspeakable Atrocities In The World, It Is The United States Of America.

Atrocities Committed

We Succeeded To Take Our Last Steps To Freedom In Conditions Of Relative Peace. We Commit Ourselves To The Construction Of A Complete, Just And Lasting Peace. We Have Triumphed In The Effort To Implant Hope In The Breasts Of The Millions Of Our People.

Let The Efforts Of Us All, Prove That He [martin Luther King] Was Not A Mere Dreamer When He Spoke Of The Beauty Of Genuine Brotherhood And Peace Being More Precious Than Diamonds Or Silver Or Gold

Our Fear Is Not That We Are Inadequate, But That We Are Powerful Beyond Measure.

Our Greatest Fear

Strong Convictions Are The Secret Of Surviving Deprivation; Your Spirit Can Be Full Even When Your Stomach Is Empty.

To Be The Father Of A Nation Is A Great Honor, But To Be The Father Of A Family Is A Greater Joy.

I Say To All Those Leaders, Do Not Look The Other Way. Do Not Hesitate... It Is Within Your Power To Avoid A Genocide Of Humanity.

Fools Multiply When Wise Men Are Silent.

There Is No Such Thing As Part Freedom.

Each Of Us, As Citizens, Has A Role To Play In Creating A Better World For Our Children

If You Want To Change The World, Help The Women.

There Was Much In Such A Society That Was Primitive And Insecure And It Certainly Could Never Measure Up To The Demands Of The Present Epoch. But In Such A Society Are Contained The Seeds Of Revolutionary Democracy In Which None Will Be Held In Slavery.

Only Free Men Can Negotiate; Prisoners Cannot Enter Into Contracts. Your Freedom And Mine Cannot Be Separated.

You Know You Are Really Famous The Day You Discover You Have Become A Comic Character!

I Dream Of An Africa Which Is In Peace With Itself.

We Recall The Joy And Excitement Of A Nation That Had Found Itself, The Collective Relief That We Had Stepped Out Of Our Restrictive Past, And The Expectant Air Of Walking Into A Brighter Future.

I Love Playing And Chatting With Children...feeding And Putting Them To Bed With A Little Story, And Being Away From The Family Has Troubled Me Throughout My...life. I Like Relaxing At The House, Reading Quietly, Taking In The Sweet Smell That Comes From The Pots, Sitting Around A Table With The Family And Taking Out My Wife And Children. When You Can No Longer Enjoy These Simple Pleasures Something Valuable Is Taken Away From Your Life And You Feel It In Your Daily Work.

There Were Many Dark Moments When My Faith In Humanity Was Sorely Tested.

Through Its Imperialist System Britain Brought About Untold Suffering Of Millions Of People. And This Is An Historical Fact. To Be Able To Admit This Would Increase The Respect, You Know, Which We Have For British Institutions.

No Form Of Violence Can Ever Be Excused In A Society That Wishes To Call Itself Decent

The Church Was As Concerned With This World As The Next: I Saw That Virtually All Of The Achievements Of Africans Seemed To Have Come About Through The Missionary Work Of The Church.

Great Peacemakers Are All People Of Integrity, Of Honesty, But Humility.

Whenever I Am With Energetic Young People, I Feel Like A Recharged Battery.

Each Of Us Is As Intimately Attached To The Soil Of This Beautiful Country As Are The Famous Jacaranda Trees Of Pretoria And The Mimosa Trees Of The Bushveld - A Rainbow Nation At Peace With Itself And The World.

The Truth Is That We Are Not Yet Free; We Have Merely Achieved The Freedom To Be Free, The Right Not To Be Oppressed. We Have Not Taken The Final Step Of Our Journey, But The First Step On A Longer And Even More Difficult Road. 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. The True Test Of Our Devotion To Freedom Is Just Beginning.

To Deny People Their Human Rights Is To Challenge Their Very Humanity.

Honour Belongs To Those Who Never Forsake The Truth Even When Things Seem Dark And Grim, Who Try Over And Over Again, Who Are Never Discouraged By Insults, Humiliation And Even Defeat.

If There Is A Country That Has Committed Unspeakable Atrocities In The World, It Is The United States Of America. They Don't Care For Human Beings.... What I Am Condemning Is That One Power, With A President [george W. Bush] Who Has No Foresight, Who Cannot Think Properly, Is Now Wanting To Plunge The World Into A Holocaust.

If You Are Stimulated By What You Do, You Never Get Tired

Sport Has The Power To Inspire And Unite People. In Africa, Soccer Enjoys Great Popularity And Has A Particular Place In The Hearts Of People. That Is Why It Is So Important That The Fifa World Cup Will, For The First Time Ever, Be Hosted On The African Continent In 2010. We Feel Privileged And Humbled That South Africa Has Been Given This Singular Honour Of Being The African Host Country.

I Hate Racial Discrimination Most Intensely And All Its Manifestations. I Have Fought All My Life; I Fight Now, And Will Do So Until The End Of My Days. Even Although I Now Happen To Be Tried By One, Whose Opinion I Hold In High Esteem, I Detest Most Violently The Set-up That Surrounds Me Here. It Makes Me Feel That I Am A Black Man In A White Man's Court. This Should Not Be I Should Feel Perfectly At Ease And At Home With The Assurance That I Am Being Tried By A Fellow South African, Who Does Not Regard Me As An Inferior, Entitled To A Special Type Of Justice.

There Is No Easy Walk To Freedom Anywhere.

Shadow Of Death

As We Are Liberated From Our Own Fear, Our Presence Automatically Liberates Others.

I Have Cherished The Ideal Of A Democratic And Free Society In Which All Persons Live Together In Harmony And With Equal Opportunities.

From Its Earliest Days, The Cuban Revolution Has Also Been A Source Of Inspiration To All Freedom-loving People. We Admire The Sacrifices Of The Cuban People In Maintaining Their Independence And Sovereignty In The Face Of The Vicious Imperialist-orquestrated Campaign To Destroy The Impressive Gain Made In The Cuban Revolution. Long Live The Cuban Revolution. Long Live Comrade Fidel Castro.

It Is The Dictate Of History To Bring To The Fore The Kind Of Leaders Who Seize The Moment, Who Cohere The Wishes And Aspirations Of The Oppressed. Such Was Steve Biko, A Fitting Product Of His Time; A Proud Representative Of The Re-awakening Of A People.

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.

If You Want To Preach A Revolutionary Message, Wear A Suit.

Nonviolence Is A Good Policy When The Conditions Permit.

The Question Of Education Has Nothing To Do With The Question Of The Vote. On Numerous Occasions It Has Been Proved In History That People Can Enjoy The Vote Even If They Have No Education.

If You Sit Down And Talk To A Person, It's Easy To Convince Him That Apartheid Can Never Save A Country And Will Lead To The Slaughtering Of Innocent People - Including His Own People.

The Un Took A Strong Stand Against Apartheid; And Over The Years, An International Consensus Was Built, Which Helped To Bring An End To This Iniquitous System. But We Know Too Well That Our Freedom Is Incomplete Without The Freedom Of The Palestinians...

I Was Made, By The Law, A Criminal, Not Because Of What I Had Done, But Because Of What I Stood For, Because Of What I Thought, Because Of My Conscience... If I Had My Time Over I Would Do The Same Again. So Would Any Man Who Dares Call Himself A Man.

No Country Can Really Develop Unless Its Citizens Are Educated. Any Nation That Is Progressive Is Led By People Who Have Had The Privilege Of Studying.

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.

I Cannot Overemphasise The Value We Place On A Free, Independent And Outspoken Press

We Recall Our Terrible Past So That We Can Deal With It, To Forgive Where Forgiveness Is Necessary, Without Forgetting; To Ensure That Never Again Will Such Inhumanity Tear Us Apart; And To Move Ourselves To Eradicate A Legacy That Lurks Dangerously As A Threat To Our Democracy.

You Mustn't Compromise Your Principles, But You Mustn't Humiliate The Opposition. No One Is More Dangerous Than One Who Is Humiliated.

The Laws That Stopped Blacks From Voting Were The Worst, Because They Prevented Blacks From Voting Someone Into Parliament Who Could Change The Other Laws. Even Though The Blacks Were The Majority Of The Population, They Were Still Not Getting A Say.

Other People Have Qualities That May Be Better Than Your Own. Let Them Express Them.

It Generally Appears Outlandish Until Its Carried Out.

True Reconciliation Does Not Consist In Merely Forgetting The Past.

When We Can Sit In The Face Of Insanity Or Dislikes And Be Free From The Need To Make It Different, Then We Are Free.

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Freedom Would Be Meaningless Without Security In The Home And In The Streets.

Only Armchair Politicians Are Immune From Committing Mistakes. Errors Are Inherent In Political Action.

It Is My Deepest Conviction That The Children Should Be Seen And Heard As Our Most Treasured Assets.

Our Differences Are Our Strength As A Species And As A World Community.

There Can Be No Greater Gift Than That Of Giving One’s Time And Energy To Help Others Without Expecting Anything In Return.

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The Youth Of Today Are The Leaders Of Tomorrow.

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I Detest Racialism, Because I Regard It As A Barbaric Thing, Whether It Comes From A Black Man Or A White Man.

I Never Think Of The Time I Have Lost. I Just Carry Out A Programme Because It's There. It's Mapped Out For Me.

There Are Many People In South Africa Who Are Rich And Who Can Share Those Riches With Those Not So Fortunate Who Have Not Been Able To Conquer Poverty.

Do Not Allow Your Anger To Control Your Reason, But Rather Your Reason To Control Your Anger.

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.

It Is Also The Fate Of Leadership To Be Misunderstood. For Historians, Academics, Writers And Journalists To Reflect Great Lives According To Their Own Subjective Canon.

When The Water Starts Boiling It Is Foolish To Turn Off The Heat.

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.

We Owe Our Children – The Most Vulnerable Citizens In Any Society – A Life Free From Violence And Fear.

I Should Tie Myself To No Particular System Of Society Other Than Of Socialism.

Aids Today In Africa Is Claiming More Lives Than The Sum Total Of All Wars, Famines And Floods And The Ravages Of Such Deadly Diseases As Malaria ... We Must Act Now For The Sake Of The World.

Let It Never Be Said By Future Generations That Indifference, Cynicism Or Selfishness Made Us Fail To Live Up To The Ideals Of Humanism Which The Nobel Peace Prize Encapsulates. Let The Strivings Of Us All, Prove Martin Luther King Jr. To Have Been Correct, When He Said That Humanity Can No Longer Be Tragically Bound To The Starless Midnight Of Racism And War.

Whose Life Testifies To The Truth That There Is No Shame In Being Oppressed: Those Who Should Be Ashamed Are They Who Oppress Others.

I Was Able To Change My Life By Knowing That If Somebody Does Something Good For You, You Have To Respond.

But The Hard Facts Were That Fifty Years Of Non-violence Had Brought The African People Nothing But More And More Repressive Legislation, And Fewer And Fewer Rights.

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.

We Know It Well That None Of Us Acting Alone Can Achieve Success.

These Numbers Are Staggering, In Fact Incomprehensible. By All Accounts, We Are Dealing With The Greatest Health Crisis In Human History.

When The History Of Our Times Is Written, Will We Be Remembered As The Generation That Turned Our Backs In A Moment Of Global Crisis Or Will It Be Recorded That We Did The Right Thing?

When I Walked Out Of The Gate I Knew That If I Continued To Hate These People I Was Still In Prison.

Apartheid Is A Crime Against Humanity. Israel Has Deprived Millions Of Palestinians Of Their Liberty And Property. It Has Perpetuated A System Of Gross Racial Discrimination And Inequality. It Has Systematically Incarcerated And Tortured Thousands Of Palestinians, Contrary To The Rules Of International Law. It Has, In Particular, Waged A War Against A Civilian Population, In Particular Children.

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.

Freedom Cannot Be Achieved Unless Women Have Been Emancipated From All Forms Of Oppression... Our Endeavors Must Be About The Liberation Of The Woman, The Emancipation Of The Man And The Liberty Of The Child.

Our Task Is Not To Liberate The Oppressed, But To Liberate The Oppressors

The Best Weapon Is To Sit Down And Talk.

It Is Necessary To Heal The Wounds Of The Past If You Are Going To Build Your Country And To Have Unity. I Am Working With People Who Fought Me Very Bitterly Before The Elections. It Was My Responsibility As The Man Who Is Leading The Majority Party, My Responsibility To Heal The Wounds Of The Past And To Work With People Who Were My Opponents.

I Dream Of Our Vast Deserts, Of Our Forests, Of All Our Great Wildernesses. We Must Never Forget That It Is Our Duty To Protect This Environment.

We Are Extricating Ourselves From A System That Insulted Our Common Humanity By Dividing Us From One Another On The Basis Of Race And Setting Us Against Each Other As Oppressed And Oppressor. That System Committed A Crime Against Humanity.

Common Humanity

I Was Called A Terrorist Yesterday... Today I Am Admired By The Very People Who Said I Was One.

If You Don’t Intend Having A Compromise, You Don’t Negotiate At All.

Only 50 Years Ago Persons With Intellectual Disabilities Were Scorned, Isolated And Neglected. Today, They Are Able To Attend School, Become Employed And Assimilate Into Their Local Community.

Let Us Give Publicity To H.i.v./aids And Not Hide It, Because The Only Way To Make It Appear Like A Normal Illness Like Tb, Like Cancer, Is Always To Come Out And Say Somebody Has Died Because Of H.i.v./aids, And People Will Stop Regarding It As Something Extraordinary.

It Is Also The Fate Of Leadership To Be Misunderstood. It Is A Grave Error For Any Leader To Be Oversensitive In The Face Of Criticism, To Conduct Discussions As If He Or She Is A Schoolmaster Talking To Less Informed And Inexperienced Learners.

Our Daily Deeds As Ordinary South Africans Must Produce An Actual South African Reality That Will Reinforce Humanity's Belief In Justice, Strenthen Its Confidence In The Nobility Of The Human Soul, And Sustain All Our Hopes For A Glorious Life For All.

Be A Life Long Student, Read As Many Books As Possible.

Our Society Needs To Re-establish A Culture Of Caring.

I Am Fundamentally An Optimist.

I Am The Captain Of My Soul.

[gandhi] Said, "i Want To Find God, And Because I Want To Find God, I Have To Find God Along With Other People. I Don't Believe I Can Find God Alone. If I Did, I Would Be Running To The Himalayas To Find God In Some Cave There. But Since I Believe That Nobody Can Find God Alone, I Have To Work With People. I Have To Take Them With Me. Alone I Can't Come To Him."

You Can Start Changing Our World For The Better Daily, No Matter How Small The Action.

Where Choice Is Set Between Cowardice And Violence, I Would Advise Violence ... I Prefer To Use Arms In Defense Of Honor Rather Than Remain The Vile Witness Of Dishonor.

Let Us Remind Ourselves That Our Work Is Far From Complete. Where There Is Poverty And Sickness, Including Aids, Where Human Beings Are Being Oppressed, There Is More Work To Be Done. Our Work Is For Freedom For All.

In All Disputes, A Point Is Arrived At Where No Party, No Matter How Right Or Wrong It Might Have Been At The Start Of That Dispute, Will Any Longer Be Totally In The Right Or Totally In The Wrong. Such A Point I Believe, Has Been Reached In This Debate... Let Us Not Equivocate. A Tragedy Of Unprecedented Proportions Is Unfolding In Africa.

I Looked Into The Vast Dome Of Blue Emptiness That Stretched Out Above Me In All Directions And The Illusion Was Still There, The Size And Speed, And What Information They Were Sending To Mother Earth.

He Knew When To Compromise. Yet He Never Compromised His Principles. He Was A Militant. Yet A Militant Who Knew How To Plan, Assess Concrete Situations And Emerge With Rational Solutions To Problems.

A New Society Cannot Be Created By Reproducing The Repugnant Past, However Refined Or Enticingly Repackaged.

Overcoming Poverty Is Not A Gesture Of Charity. It Is An Act Of Justice.

Hunger And Poverty

There Is A Constant Struggle Between Good An Evil In The World. It Is Up To Good People To Choose The Right Side

Without Education, Your Children Can Never Really Meet The Challenges They Will Face. So It's Very Important To Give Children Education And Explain That They Should Play A Role For Their Country.

The Titanic Effort That Has Brought Liberation To South Africa, And Ensured The Total Liberation Of Africa, Constitutes An Act Of Redemption For The Black People Of The World.

Hating Clouds The Mind. It Gets In The Way Of Strategy. Leaders Cannot Afford To Hate

A New World Will Be Won Not By Those Who Stand At A Distance With Their Arms Folded, But By Those Who Are In The Arena, Whose Garments Are Torn By Storms And Whose Bodies Are Maimed In The Course Of The Contest.

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.

Isimangaliso Must Be The Only Place On The Globe Where The Oldest Land Mammal (rhinoceros) And The World Biggest Terrestrial Mammal (elephant) Share An Ecosystem With The World's Oldest Fish (coelacanth) And The World's Biggest Marine Mammal (whale)

Let Us Not Be Tempted By Those Who Try To Find The Unique Qualities In A Particular Group. In This Case, Among South Africa Indigenous People, It Reflected What Has Been Evidenced Throughout The World.

The History Of Struggle Is Rich With Stories Of Heroes And Heroines - Some Of Them Leaders, Some Of Them Followers, All Of Them Deserve To Be Remembered.

An Educated, Enlightened & Informed Population Is One Of The Surest Ways Of Promoting The Health Of A Democracy

The Importance Of A High Moral Code, Which Is At The Foundation Of The Scout Movement, Cannot Be Stressed Too Highly.

Now We Are In The Second Term Of The Government Of A United Nation And The Government Has Done Very Well. One Thing They Have Done, One Thing People Could Not Be Blind To, Was The Achievement This Government Has Made In Giving Human Beings Dignity, Which They Did Not Enjoy Before. They Now Have Dignity.

Good Men And Women Can Be Mobilized To Ensure That South Africa Is United And That The Spirit Of Reconciliation Is Strengthened And That Progress In This Country Takes Place As Fast As It Can.

We Raise Our Voices In Holy Gladness To Celebrate The Victory Of The Risen Christ Over The Terrible Forces Of Death.

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.

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 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.

It Is Our Duty To Give Support To The Brother Leader ... Especially In Regards To The Sanctions Which Are Not Hitting Just Him, They Are Hitting The Ordinary Masses Of The People ... Our African Brothers And Sisters.

I Want To Sleep For Eternity With A Broad Smile On My Face. I Want Those Who Remain Behind To Say This Man Has Done His Duty.

Everyone Can Rise Above Their Circumstances And Achieve Success If They Are Dedicated To And Passionate About What They Do.

Nothing Is Black Or White.

Take It Upon Yourself Where You Live To Make People Around You Joyful And Full Of Hope.

The Commonwealth Makes The World Safe For Diversity

The Death Sentence Is A Barbaric Act.

I Appeal To The Youth And Those On The Ground: Start Talking To Each Other Across Divisions Of Race And Political Organizations.

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.

Our Economic Approach To Food And Its Distribution Reflects Our Basic Moral Values.

To The Youth Of Today, I Also Have A Wish To Make: Be The Scriptwriters Of Your Destiny And Feature Yourselves As Stars That Showed The Way Towards A Brighter Future.

I Did Not Enjoy The Violence Of Boxing So Much As The Science Of It. I Was Intrigued By How One Moved One's Body To Protect Oneself, How One Used A Strategy Both To Attack And Retreat, How One Paced Oneself Over A Match.

We Now Undertake That We Cannot Rest While Millions Of Our People Suffer The Pain And Indignity Of Poverty In All Its Forms.

If We Do Not Do Something To Prevent It, Africa's Animals, And The Places In Which They Live, Will Be Lost To Our World, And Her Children, Forever. Before It Is Too Late, We Need Your Help To Lay The Foundation That Will Preserve This Precious Legacy Long After We Are Gone.

We Have Laid The Foundation For A Better Life. Things That Were Unimaginable A Few Years Ago Have Become Everyday Reality. I Belong To The Generation Of Leaders For Whom The Achievement Of Democracy Was The Defining Challenge.

You Can Never Have An Impact On Society If You Have Not Changed Yourself.

Poverty Is Not Natural; It Is Man-made

The Suffering Inflicted, And More Often Than Not On The Most Vulnerable Sectors Of Society, Demeans All Of Us As Humanity. That It Is Invariably Women, Children, The Aged And Disabled Who Suffer In These Conflicts Stands To The Added Shame Of Humankind.

Home Is Home Even For Those Who Aspire To Serve Wider Interests And Who Have Established Their Home Of Choice In Distant Regions.

I Am Not An Optimist, But A Great Believer Of Hope.

A Society That Does Not Value Its Older People Denies Its Roots And Endangers Its Future. Let Us Strive To Enhance Their Capacity To Support Themselves For As Long As Possible And, When They Cannot Do So Anymore, To Care For Them.

There Is Nothing To Popularize A Person. Only Humility, Which Is The Ability To Remain In The Background And To Put Others In The Front Light.

Teach The Children That Africans Are Not One Iota Inferior To Europeans.

The March To Freedom Is Irreversible.

Although I Am A Gregarious Person, I Love Solitude Even More.

The Time Is Always Right To Do Right

Give A Child Love, Laughter And Peace, Not Aids.

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.

We Have Introduced A Rule Of Law Into Many Sections Of Our Public Life.

A Garden Was One Of The Few Thing In Prison That One Could Control. To Plant A Seed, Watch It Grow, To Tend It Then Harvest It, Offered A Simple But Enduring Satisfaction. The Sense Of Being The Custodian Of This Small Patch Of Earth Offered A Taste Of Freedom.

It Is Not Our Diversity Which Divides Us; It Is Not Our Ethnicity, Or Religion Or Culture That Divides Us. Since We Have Achieved Our Freedom, There Can Only Be One Division Amongst Us: Between Those Who Cherish Democracy And Those Who Do Not.

Forgiveness Liberates The Soul. It Removes Fear. That Is Why It Is Such A Powerful Weapon.

It Enables Me To Go To Bed With An Enriching Feeling In My Soul And The Belief That I Am Changing Myself.

I Have Often Wondered Whether A Person Is Justified In Neglecting His Own Family To Fight For Opportunities For Others.

If We Are To Accomplish Anything In This World, It Will In Equal Measure Be Due To The Work And Achievements Of Others.

The Call Now Is For Each Of Us To Ask Ourselves: Are We Doing All We Can To Help Build The Country Of Our Dreams?

Our Children Are The Rock On Which Our Future Will Be Built, Our Greatest Asset As A Nation

No One Is Born Hating Another Person Because Of The Colour Of His Skin, Or His Background, Or His Religion.

Education And Freedom

If You Want To Make Peace With Your Enemy, You Have To Work With Your Enemy. Then He Becomes Your Partner.

I Can't Help It If The Ladies Take Note Of Me; I Am Not Going To Protest.

We Have Introduced A Rule Of Law. That Never Existed For Centuries In This Country [south Africa], Especially Under The Apartheid Regime, When The Law Was Reduced Into Disrepute.

I Would Like To Be Remembered Not As Anyone Unique Or Special, But As Part Of A Great Team In This Country That Has Struggled For Many Years, For Decades And Even Centuries. The Greatest Glory Of Living Lies Not In Never Falling, But In Rising Every Time You Fall.

Freedom Can Never Be Taken For Granted. Each Generation Must Safeguard It And Extend It. Your Parents And Elders Sacrificed Much So That You Should Have Freedom Without Suffering What They Did. Use This Precious Right To Ensure That The Darkness Of The Past Never Returns.

Man's Goodness Is A Flame That Can Be Hidden But Never Extinguished

Freedom Is Meaningless If People Cannot Put Food In Their Stomachs, If They Can Have No Shelter, If Illiteracy And Disease Continue To Dog Them.

Let Us Remind Ourselves That It Is Ordinary People - Men And Women, Boys And Girls - That Make The World A Special Place

There Is No Future Without Forgiveness

We Must Also Know That Even Before Liberation In 1994 There [in South Africa] Were People With Resources Who Tried To Share With Those Who Were Deprived.

My Dream Would Be A Multicultural Society, One That Is Diverse And Where Every Man, Woman And Child Are Treated Equally. I Dream Of A World Where All People Of All Races Work Together In Harmony.

As Long As Women Are Bound By Poverty And As Long As They Are Looked Down Upon, Human Rights Will Lack Substance.

When A Man Is Denied The Right To Live The Life He Believes In, He Has No Choice But To Become An Outlaw.

I Shall Stick To Our Vow: Never, Never Under Any Circumstances, To Say Anything Unbecoming Of The Other...the Trouble, Of Course, Is That Most Successful Men Are Prone To Some Form Of Vanity. There Comes A Stage In Their Lives When They Consider It Permissible To Be Egotistic And To Brag To The Public At Large About Their Unique Achievements.

Death Is Something Inevitable. When A Man Has Done What He Considers To Be His Duty To His People And His Country, He Can Rest In Peace. I Believe I Have Made That Effort And That Is, Therefore, Why I Will Sleep For The Eternity.

Forget The Past.

A Movement Without Vision Would Be A Movement Without Moral Foundation.

There Is Little Favorable To Be Said About Poverty, But It Was Often An Incubator Of True Friendship. Many People Will Appear To Befriend You When You Are Wealthy, But Precious Few Will Do The Same When You Are Poor. If Wealth Is A Magnet, Poverty Is A Kind Of Repellent. Yet, Poverty Often Brings Out The True Generosity In Others.

It Is Your Duty To Examine The Conduct Of Public Figures And To Place Them In The Spotlight - That Is Your Duty.

I Was Called A Terrorist Yesterday, But When I Came Out Of Jail, Many People Embraced Me, Including My Enemies, And That Is What I Normally Tell Other People Who Say Those Who Are Struggling For Liberation In Their Country Are Terrorists.

Resentment Is Like A Glass Of Poison That A Man Drinks; Then He Sits Down And Waits For His Enemy To Die.

Our Efforts To Counter Hatred, Intolerance, And Indifference Must Continue Simultaneously At Individual And Structural Levels. We Must Try To Influence For Good The Minds And Hearts Of Individual People Through Dialogue And Confidence Building. These Efforts Must Be Reinforced By Our Efforts To Create Just Structures In Society To Support The Ongoing Work Of Negotiations In The Human Community. Only Then Will We Have A Chance To Negate The Terrible Consequences Of The Tremendous Conflicts Facing Humankind Today.

What Freedom Am I Being Offered While The Organization Of The People Remains Banned? Only Free Men Can Negotiate. A Prisoner Cannot Enter Into Contracts.

I Cannot And Will Not Give Any Undertaking At A Time When I, And You, The People, Are Not Free. Your Freedom And Mine Cannot Be Separated.

I Greet You All In The Name Of Peace, Democracy And Freedom For All.

The Very Right To Be Human Is Denied Every Day To Hundreds Of Millions Of People As A Result Of Poverty, The Unavailability Of Basic Necessities Such As Food, Jobs, Water And Shelter, Education, Health Care And A Healthy Environment.

I Was Generally Busy From 7 A.m. Until Midnight. I Never Had Time To Sit And Think. As I Worked, Physical And Mental Fatigue Set In And I Was Unable To Operate To The Maximum Of My Intellectual Ability. But In A Single Cell In Prison, I Had Time To Think. I Had A Clear View Of My Past And Present, And I Found That My Past Left Much To Be Desired, Both In Regard To My Relations With Other Humans And In Developing Personal Worth.

A Real Leader Uses Every Issue, No Matter How Serious And Sensitive, To Ensure That At The End Of The Debate We Should Emerge Stronger And More United Than Ever Before.

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Thomas Chandler Haliburton

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