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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
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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Courage
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Men
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Overcoming
Division
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Black And White
Order
Organization
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Feelings
Bed
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Young
Feels
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May
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Oil
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Presses
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Principles
Compromise
Dangerous
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Messages
Suits
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Keys
Century
Capacity
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Years
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.
Children
War
Israel
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Educational
Independent
Rights
In Order To Build Our Nation, We Must All Exceed Our Own Expectations.
Order
Expectations
Exceed
As Long As Outmoded Ways Of Thinking Prevent Women From Making A Meaningful Contribution To Society, Progress Will Be Slow. As Long As The Nation Refuses To Acknowledge The Equal Role Of More Than Half Of Itself, It Is Doomed To Failure.
Meaningful
Thinking
Long
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.
Country
Lying
Team
We Must Nurture Tolerance, Collective Wisdom, And Democracy.
Tolerance
Democracy
Nurture
One Effect Of Sustained Conflict Is To Narrow Our Vision Of What Is Possible.
Peace
Vision
Conflict
There Is Nothing Like Returning To A Place That Remains Unchanged To Find The Ways In Which You Yourself Have Altered.
Inspirational
Change
Inspiring
When I Walked Out Of Prison, That Was My Mission, To Liberate The Oppressed And The Oppressor Both.
Prison
Missions
Long Walk To Freedom
There Is Little Favorable To Be Said About Poverty, But It Was Often An Incubator Of True Friendship.
True Friend
Littles
Poverty
The Habit Of Attending To Small Things And Of Appreciating Small Courtesies Is One Of The Important Marks Of A Good Person.
Appreciate
Important
Good Person
I Know That, Throughout The World, There Are Good Men And Women Concerned With The Greatest Challenges Facing Society Today - Poverty, Illiteracy, And Disease.
Men
Challenges
Good Man
Our Freedom Is Also Incomplete, Dear Compatriots, As Long As We Are Denied Our Security By Criminals Who Prey On Our Communities, Who Rob Our Businesses And Undermine Our Economy, Who Ply Their Destructive Trade In Drugs In Our Schools, And Who Do Violence Against Our Women And Children.
Children
School
Long
After Climbing A Great Hill, One Only Finds That There Are Many More Hills To Climb. I Can Rest Only For A Moment, For With Freedom Come Responsibilities, And I Dare Not Linger, For My Long Walk Is Not Yet Ended.
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Long Walks
Climbing
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Character
Society
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People
Evil
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Spiritual
Heart
People
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Father
Joy
Honor
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Inspirational
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World
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Winning
Election
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.
Leader
Looks
Way
The Greatest Single Challenge Facing Our Globalised World Is To Combat And Eradicate Its Disparities.
Challenges
World
Disparity
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Pain
Long
Humanity
Take It Upon Yourself Where You Live To Make People Around You Joyful And Full Of Hope.
People
Where You Live
Joyful
No Single Person Can Liberate A Country. You Can Only Liberate A Country If You Act As A Collective.
Inspiring
Country
Single Person
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Dream
Effort
Leader
Forget The Past.
Moving On
Moving Forward
Past
There Is No Future Without Forgiveness
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.
School
Years
Community
The Path Of Those Who Preach Love, And Not Hatred, Is Not Easy. They Often Have To Wear A Crown Of Thorns.
Love
Hatred
Crowns
When I Closed The Grapes Of Wrath, I Was A Different Man. It Enriched My Powers Of Thinking And Discipline, And My Relationships. I Left Prison More Informed Than When I Went In. And The More Informed You Are, The Less Arrogant And Aggressive You Are.
Men
Thinking
Wrath
Keep Your Friends Close - And Your Rivals Even Closer.
Inspiring
Rivals
Keep Your Friends Close
After Climbing A Great Hill, One Only Finds That There Are Many More Hills To Climb.
Inspirational
Motivational
Inspiring
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?
Strength
Courage
Commitment
Freedom Alone Is Not Enough Without Light To Read At Night, Without Time Or Access To Water To Irrigate Your Farm, Without The Ability To Catch Fish To Feed Your Family.
Rain
Night
Light
Let There Be Work, Bread, Water And Salt For All.
Peace
Nature
Water
People Tend To Measure Themselves By External Accomplishments, But Jail Allows A Person To Focus On Internal Ones; Such As Honesty, Sincerity, Simplicity, Humility, Generosity And An Absence Of Variety. You Learn To Look Into Yourself.
Honesty
Humility
Jail
Aids Is Our Number One Enemy. This Enemy Can Be Defeated. While The Research For A Cure Continues, Four Principles -- Love, Support, Acceptance And Care For Those Affected -- Can Make Us Winners.
Acceptance
Numbers
Support
I Like A Leader Who Can, While Pointing Out A Mistake, Bring Up The Good Things The Other Person Has Done. If You Do That, Then The Person Sees That You Have A Complete Picture Of Him. There Is Nobody More Dangerous Than One Who Has Been Humiliated, Even When You Humiliate Him Rightly.
Leadership
Mistake
Done
Our Children Are The Rock On Which Our Future Will Be Built, Our Greatest Asset As A Nation. They Will Be The Leaders Of Our Country, The Creators Of Our National Wealth, Those Who Care For And Protect Our People.
Country
Children
Rocks
My Respect For Human Beings Is Based Not On The Colour Of A Man’s Skin Nor Authority He May Wield, But Purely On Merit.
Respect
Men
Color
Intervention Only Works When The People Concerned Seem To Be Keen For Peace.
Peace
War
People
South Africans Must Recall The Terrible Past So That We Can Deal With It, Forgiving Where Forgiveness Is Necessary But Never Forgetting.
Past
Forgiving
Never Forget
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.
Children
Animal
Our World
Greece Is The Mother Of Democracy And South Africa Is Its Youngest Daughter
Daughter
Mother
Democracy
It Is My Deepest Conviction That The Children Should Be Seen And Heard As Our Most Treasured Assets.
Children
Conviction
Assets
The Good News Borne By Our Risen Messiah Who Chose Not One Race, Who Chose Not One Country, Who Chose Not One Language, Who Chose Not One Tribe, Who Chose All Of Humankind!
Country
Race
News
We Shall Immunize Every Child In Africa To Get Rid Of This Terrible Disease Forever.
Children
Forever
Disease
Democracy Is Based On The Majority Principle. This Is Especially True In A Country Such As Ours Where The Vast Majority Have Been Systematically Denied Their Rights. At The Same Time, Democracy Also Requires That The Rights Of Political And Other Minorities Be Safeguarded.
Love
Country
Rights
If You Don’t Intend Having A Compromise, You Don’t Negotiate At All.
Compromise
Ifs
When A Man Is Denied The Right To Live The Life He Believes In, He Has No Choice But To Become An Outlaw.
Inspirational
Inspiring
Freedom
Prison Life, Fortunately, I Spent A Lot Of Years, About 18 Years With Other Prisoners, And, As I Say, They Enriched Your Soul.
Years
Soul
Prison Life
Racism Is A Blight On The Human Conscience. The Idea That Any People Can Be Inferior To Another, To The Point Where Those Who Consider Themselves Superior Define And Treat The Rest As Subhuman, Denies The Humanity Even Of Those Who Elevate Themselves To The Status Of Gods.
Ideas
Racism
People
In Many Respects, People On The Outside Suffered More Than Those Of Us In Jail. In Prison, We Ate Three Times A Day, We Had Clothing, We Had Free Medical Services, And We Could Sleep For 12 Hours.
Sleep
Jail
People
Poetry Cannot Block A Bullet Or Still A Sjambok, But It Can Bear Witness To Brutality-thereby Cultivating A Flower In A Graveyard.
Block
Flower
Brutality
Let Us Give Practical Recognition To The Injustices Of The Past,by Building A Future Based On Equality&social Justice
Past
Giving
Justice
We Have Triumphed In The Effort To Implant Hope In The Breasts Of The Millions Of Our People. We Enter Into A Covenant That We Shall Build The Society In Which All South Africans, Both Black And White, Will Be Able To Walk Tall, Without Any Fear In Their Hearts, Assured Of Their Inalienable Right To Human Dignity — A Rainbow Nation At Peace With Itself And The World.
Heart
Black And White
People
Our Task Is Not To Liberate The Oppressed, But To Liberate The Oppressors
Tasks
Oppressed
Oppressors
I Discovered Even Before I Went To Jail That Apartheid Was Not Run By People Who Were Monolithic In Their Approach. Some Of Them Didn't Even Believe In Apartheid.
Running
Believe
Jail
No One In My Family Had Ever Attended School [...] On The First Day Of School My Teacher, Miss Mdingane, Gave Each Of Us An English Name. This Was The Custom Among Africans In Those Days And Was Undoubtedly Due To The British Bias Of Our Education. That Day, Miss Mdingane Told Me That My New Name Was Nelson. Why This Particular Name I Have No Idea.
Teacher
School
Names
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.
Dream
Desert
Forests
The Question Of Crime Is One Of Concern To Everybody. But The Position Is That The Security Forces In Our Country For The Last Four Decades Did Not Concentrate On Suppressing Crime. Their Main Objective Was To Suppress, To Crush Political Activity. And In The Process, Crime Grew To Unacceptable Proportions. And Criminals Were Able To Form Powerful Syndicates, And They Virtually Took Over The Control Of The Life Of The Community In Certain Areas.
Crush
Country
Powerful
The Process Of Illusion & Disillusionment Is Part Of Life And Goes On Endlessly.
Life
Goes On
Illusion
A Political Movement Must Keep In Touch With Reality And The Prevailing Conditions. Long Speeches, The Shaking Of Fists, The Banging Of Tables, And Strongly Worded Resolutions Out Of Touch With The Objective Conditions Do Not Bring About Mass Action And Can Do A Great Deal Of Harm To The Organization And The Struggle We Serve.
Struggle
Reality
Organization
The Relations Between A Man And His Or Her God Is A Personal Matter; You Can't Go Out And Challenge The Belief Of People In A Superior Being.
Men
People
Challenges
The March To Freedom Is Irreversible.
March
Irreversible
[i] Read Anne Frank's Diary [while Imprisoned] On Robben Island And Derived Much Encouragement From It.
Encouragement
Islands
Diaries
I Knew We Could Improve Our Lives Even In Jail. We Could Come Out As Different Men, And We Could Even Come Out With Two Degrees. Educating Ourselves Was A Way To Give Ourselves The Most Powerful Weapon For Freedom.
Powerful
Men
Jail
Resentment Is Like Drinking Poison And Then Hoping It Will Kill Your Enemies.
Forgiveness
Letting Go
Spiritual
Israel Should Withdraw From All The Areas Which It Won From The Arabs In 1967, And In Particular Israel Should Withdraw Completely From The Golan Heights, From South Lebanon And From The West Bank.
Israel
Lebanon
Height
It Was During Those Long And Lonely Years That My Hunger For The Freedom Of My Own People Became A Hunger For The Freedom Of All People, White And Black. I Knew As Well As I Knew Anything That The Oppressor Must Be Liberated Just As Surely As The Oppressed. A Man Who Takes Away Another Man's Freedom Is A Prisoner Of Hatred, He Is Locked Behind The Bars Of Prejudice And Narrow-mindedness. I Am Not Truly Free If I Am Taking Away Someone Else's Freedom, Just As Surely As I Am Not Free When My Freedom Is Taken From Me. The Oppressed And The Oppressor Alike Are Robbed Of Their Humanity.
Lonely
Taken
Men
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.
Country
Party
Responsibility
Understanding Quotes: Their Essence and Application

Quotes, or quotations, are powerful tools in communication, encapsulating ideas, emotions, and wisdom in concise expressions. They serve various purposes across different contexts, from academic writing to everyday conversation.

1. Defining Quotes

A quote is a repetition of someone else's statement or thoughts. It can be a direct replication of words spoken or written by another individual, often used to support arguments, provide evidence, or convey profound insights.


2. The Importance of Quotes

2.1. Enhancing Credibility

Incorporating quotes from authoritative sources can bolster the credibility of your work. By referencing experts or primary sources, you demonstrate thorough research and a solid foundation for your arguments.


2.2. Providing Evidence

Quotes serve as concrete evidence to support claims. In academic and professional writing, they validate points made, offering readers a basis to trust the information presented.


2.3. Conveying Emotions and Perspectives

Quotes can encapsulate emotions and perspectives succinctly. They allow writers to express complex feelings or viewpoints through the words of others, often more eloquently than paraphrasing.


3. Types of Quotes

3.1. Direct Quotes

Direct quotes involve copying the exact words from a source, enclosed in quotation marks. They are used when the original wording is significant or particularly well-expressed.


3.2. Indirect Quotes (Paraphrasing)

Indirect quotes restate the original message in your own words. While not enclosed in quotation marks, they still require proper attribution to the original source.


3.3. Block Quotes

Block quotes are lengthy direct quotations, formatted as a separate block of text. They are typically used for quotes exceeding a certain length, varying by citation style. For instance, in APA style, quotes longer than 40 words are formatted as block quotes.



4. Proper Usage of Quotes


4.1. Contextual Relevance

Ensure that the quote you choose is relevant to the topic and adds value to your content. Avoid inserting quotes solely for decorative purposes.


4.2. Integration into Your Writing

Seamlessly integrate quotes into your writing. Introduce them appropriately and follow up with analysis or commentary to connect them to your main points.


4.3. Attribution and Citation

Always attribute quotes to their original authors and provide proper citations according to the required style guide (APA, MLA, Chicago, etc.).


5. Common Mistakes to Avoid


5.1. Overusing Quotes

Relying too heavily on quotes can overshadow your voice. Use them sparingly to support your arguments, not replace them.


5.2. Lack of Analysis

Presenting a quote without analysis or explanation can leave readers questioning its relevance. Always follow up with your interpretation or discussion.


5.3. Misquoting or Taking Out of Context

Ensure that quotes are accurate and not taken out of context, as this can mislead readers and undermine your credibility.



6. Quotes in Different Contexts


6.1. Academic Writing

In academic writing, quotes are used to support arguments, provide evidence, and engage with existing literature. Proper citation is crucial to avoid plagiarism.


6.2. Journalism

Journalists use quotes to provide firsthand accounts, add authenticity, and present multiple perspectives within a story.


6.3. Literature and Creative Writing

In literature, quotes can be used to convey character voices, themes, and stylistic elements. They enrich narratives and provide depth to storytelling.



7. Punctuation and Formatting


Understanding the correct punctuation and formatting of quotes is essential:


Quotation Marks: Always enclose direct quotes within quotation marks.


Punctuation Placement: In American English, periods and commas are placed inside quotation marks, while colons and semicolons are placed outside.


Block Quotes: For longer quotes, format them as block quotes without quotation marks, and indent the entire block.



8. Ethical Considerations


Ethical use of quotes involves accurate representation, proper attribution, and respect for intellectual property. Misuse can lead to plagiarism, which carries serious academic and professional consequences.

9. Tools for Managing Quotes


Utilize tools like citation generators and plagiarism checkers to manage quotes effectively. These tools help ensure proper formatting and originality in your writing.



Conclusion


Quotes are invaluable in enriching content, providing evidence, and conveying complex ideas succinctly. When used appropriately, they enhance the quality and credibility of your writing. Always ensure relevance, proper integration, and ethical usage to maximize their impact.


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