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In Human Affairs, No Single Person, Organisation Or Social Formation Ever Has A Final Or An Absolutely Correct Position. It Is Through Conversation, Debate And Critical Discussion That We Approach Positions That May Provide Workable Solutions.

-Nelson Mandela

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In Human Affairs, No

Nelson Mandela

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In Human Affairs, No Single Person, Organisation Or Social Formation Ever Has A Final Or An Absolutely Correct Position. It Is Through Conversation, Debate And Critical Discussion That We Approach Positions That May Provide Workable Solutions.

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Some Of The Mission Groups That Have Been Responsible For Our Education Have Not Been Part Of The Government. In Fact, They Acted Contrary To What The Government Had Planned To Do.

Friends, Comrades And Fellow South Africans. I Greet You All In The Name Of Peace, Democracy And Freedom For All. I Stand Here Before You Not As A Prophet But As A Humble Servant Of You, The People. Your Tireless And Heroic Sacrifices Have Made It Possible For Me To Be Here Today. I Therefore Place The Remaining Years Of My Life In Your Hands.

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

Individuals Get Caught Up In The Policy Of Their Country. In Prison, For Instance, A Warden Or Officer Is Not Promoted If He Doesn't Follow The Policy Of The Government - Though He Himself Does Not Believe In That Policy.

I've Found That South Africa Has Produced Good Leaders. These Are People Who Realize That When There Is Danger, They Should Be In The Forefront And When There Is Victory To Be Celebrated, They Should Be In The Background, Allowing Their Colleagues And The Ordinary Civilians - The Man In The Street - To Rejoice And To Celebrate That Victory.

No Matter What The Past Has Dealt You, Don't Let It Destroy Your Future.

Positive Thinking

It Is Music And Dancing That Make Me At Peace With The World.

If We Want Any Significant Development, We Must Co-opt Civil Society.

The Victory Of Democracy In South Africa Is The Common Achievement Of All Humanity.

I Have Always Admired Men And Women Who Used Their Talents To Serve The Community, And Who Were Highly Respected And Admired For Their Efforts And Sacrifices, Even Though They Held No Office Whatsoever In Government Or Society.

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

I Have Never Regarded Any Man As My Superior, Either In My Life Outside Or Inside Prison.

One Of The Sad Realities Today Is That Very Few People, Especially Young People, Read Books. Unless We Can Find Imaginative Ways Of Addressing This Reality, Future Generations Are In Danger Of Losing Their History.

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.

Our March To Freedom Is Irreversible. We Must Not Allow Fear To Stand In Our Way. Universal Suffrage On A Common Voters' Roll In A United, Democratic And Non-racial South Africa Is The Only Way To Peace And Racial Harmony.

Education Is The Great Engine Of Personal Development. It Is Through Education That The Daughter Of A Peasant Can Become A Doctor, That The Son Of A Mineworker Can Become The Head Of The Mine, That A Child Of Farm Workers Can Become The President Of A Great Nation. It Is What We Make Out Of What We Have, Not What We Are Given, That Separates One Person From Another.

The Time Is Always Right To Do Right

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.

When I Went To Jail, I Was A Trained Lawyer. And When The Wardens Received Letters Of Demands Or Summonses, They Didn't Have The Resources To Go To An Attorney To Help Them. I Would Help Them Settle Their Cases, So They Became Attached To Me And The Other Prisoners.

There Is No Doubt That The United States Now Feels That They Are The Only Superpower In The World And They Can Do What They Like.

My Greatest Regret In Life Is That I Never Became The Heavyweight Boxing Champion Ofthe World.

I Understand That The Legal Position Is Under Review In South Africa And That There Will Soon Be A Broader Set Of Organizations To Which Donors Can Give And Claim Tax Deductions.

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.

As The Years Progress One Increasingly Realises The Importance Of Friendship And Human Solidarity. And If A 90-year-old May Offer Some Unsolicited Advice On This Occasion, It Would Be That You, Irrespective Of Your Age, Should Place Human Solidarity, The Concern For The Other, At The Centre Of The Values By Which You Live.

Our Continent Must Be Allowed To Do Its Own Things, Charting Its Course And Destiny.

Racism Is A Blight On The Human Conscience

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.

If You Don't Allow People To Contribute, To Offer Their Point Of View, Or To Criticize What Has Been Put Before Them, Then They Can Never Like You. And You Can Never Build That Instrument Of Collective Leadership.

Press Freedom Will Never Be Under Threat In South Africa For As Long As The Anc Is The Majority Party

There Is No Future Without Forgiveness

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.

I Was Neglected By My Family Because I Had Disappointed Them - I'd Run Away From Being Forced Into An Arranged Marriage, Which Was A Big Blow To Them.

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.

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

The Commonwealth Makes The World Safe For Diversity

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

The Death Sentence Is A Barbaric Act.

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.

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

I Always Knew That Someday I Would Once Again Feel The Grass Under My Feet And Walk In The Sunshine As A Free Man.

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.

I Am Aware Of What The Position Is In The United States Of America. If Somebody Gives To Charity, Then He Gets A Tax Incentive, Provided The Charity Is Registered In Terms Of The Law.

I 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.

If I Am Your Leader, You Have To Listen To Me & If You Don’t Want To Listen To Me, Then Drop Me As Your Leader

Times Change, We Need To Change As Well.

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.

Sport Has The Power To Change The World... Sport Can Awaken Hope Where There Was Previously Only Despair.

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.

Do Not Judge Me By My Success, Judge Me By How Many Times I Fell Down And Got Back Up Again.

Leaders In All Spheres Who Are Living With Hiv Should Be Encouraged, Not Coerced, To Lead By Example And Disclose Their Hiv Status.

Learn To Know Yourself... To Search Realistically And Regularly The Processes Of Your Own Mind And Feelings.

The Time Has Come To Accept In Our Hearts And Minds That With Freedom Comes Responsibility.

Aids Is No Longer Just A Disease, It Is A Human Rights Issue.

You Negotiate In Bad Faith If You Do Not Forgive Your Adversary.

It Is A Grave Error For Any Leader To Be Oversensitive In The Face Of Criticism

After Climbing A Great Hill, One Only Finds That There Are Many More Hills To Climb.

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

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

Negotiation And Discussion Are The Greatest Weapons We Have For Promoting Peace And Development.

I Came To Accept That I Have No Right Whatsoever To Judge Others In Terms Of My Own Customs, However Much I May Be Proud Of Such Customs.

The Virtue And The Strength Of Uwc Is That It Provides Small, But Powerful Cells Of Innovation, Catalysts For Change, Breaking Barriers Of Habit And Opening Broader Vistas Of Experience For Both Pupils And Educationalists.

Catalyst For Change

It Is Important To Not Be Hostile To What A Greater Part Of Society Has Embraced, Whether As Christians, Hindus Or Muslims. It Is Important To Respect That Because Whether You Believe Or Not In The Existence Of A Superior Being, Humanity Does Believe In That.

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.

Communists Have Always Played An Active Role In The Fight By Colonial Countries For Their Freedom, Because The Short-term Objects Of Communism Would Always Correspond With The Long-term Objects Of Freedom Movements.

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

The World Is Truly Round And Seems To Start And End With Those We Love.

When Those In Power Deny You Of Freedom The Only Path To Freedom Is Power

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.

Rhetoric Is Not Important. Actions Are.

Hiv/aids Is The Greatest Danger We Have Faced For Many, Many Centuries. Hiv/aids Is Worse Than A War. It Is Like A World War. Millions Of People Are Dying From It.

Sometimes Strident, Often Tender, Never Afraid And Seldom Without Humour, Desmond Tutu's Voice Will Always Be The Voice Of The Voiceless.

The Freedom We Enjoy Is A Richly Textured Gift Handcrafted By Ordinary Folk

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.

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.

There Is No Easy Walk To Freedom Anywhere.

Shadow Of Death

The Authorities Liked To Say That We Received A Balanced Diet; It Was Indeed Balanced - Between The Unpalatable And The Inedible.

Long Walk To Freedom

Even If You Have A Terminal Disease, You Don't Have To Sit Down And Mope. Enjoy Life And Challenge The Illness That You Have.

The Collapse Of Good Conscience And The Absence Of Accountability And Public Scrutiny Have Led To Crimes Against Humanity And Violations Of International Law.

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

If 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.

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.

Justice And I Became Friends, Though We Were Opposites In Many Ways - He Was Extroverted, I Was Introverted; He Was Lighthearted, I Was Serious.

On The The Aids Epidemic: This Is A War. It Has Killed More People Than Has Been The Case In All Previous Wars And In All Previous Natural Disasters ... We Must Not Continue To Be Debating, To Be Arguing, When People Are Dying.

If You Look At Those Matters, You Will Come To The Conclusion That The Attitude Of The United States Of America Is A Threat To World Peace.

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.

I Knew As Well As I Knew Anything That The Oppressor Must Be Liberated Just As Surely As The Oppressed.

Long Walk To Freedom

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.

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.

There Is Nothing More Important In Life Than Giving. Tolerance Is Forged When People Look Beyond Their Own Desires

We Can Change The World And Make It A Better Place. It Is In Your Hands To Make A Difference.

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

We Speak Here Of The Challenge Of The Dichotomies Of War And Peace, Violence And Non-violence, Racism And Human Dignity, Oppression And Repression And Liberty And Human Rights, Poverty And Freedom From Want.

I Learned To Have The Patience To Listen When People Put Forward Their Views, Even If I Think Those Views Are Wrong. You Can't Reach A Just Decision In A Dispute Unless You Listen To Both Sides.

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 Commend #aiesec's Continuing Efforts To Develop The #future #business #leadership Of Our Countries.

Future Business

We Have Introduced A Democratic Constitution, Which Put Suvery South African On An Equal Basis.

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, The People Of South Africa, Declare For All Our Country And The World To Know: That South Africa Belongs To All Who Live In It, Black And White, And That No Government Can Justly Claim Authority Unless It Is Based On The Will Of The People.

Black And White

No Child In Africa, And In Fact Anywhere In The World, Should Be Denied Education.

People Respond In Accordance To How You Relate To Them. If You Approach Them On The Basis Of Violence, That's How They'll React. But If You Say, 'we Want Peace, We Want Stability,' We Can Then Do A Lot Of Things That Will Contribute Towards The Progress Of Our Society.

No Power On This Earth Can Destroy The Thirst For Human Dignity

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 Could Not Imagine That The Future I Was Walking Toward Could Compare In Any Way To The Past That I Was Leaving Behind.

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

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.

We Shall Immunize Every Child In Africa To Get Rid Of This Terrible Disease Forever.

If You Make One Gift This Year, Make It The Gift Of Knowledge.

The Time Comes In The Life Of Any Nation When There Remain Only Two Choices - Submit Or Fight. That Time Has Now Come To South Africa. We Shall Not Submit And We Have No Choice But To Hit Back By All Means In Our Power In Defence Of Our People, Our Future, And Our Freedom

The Usa Is A Threat To World Peace. Who Are They To Pretend That They Are The Policemen Of The World, The Ones That Should Decide For The People Of Iraq What Should Be Done With Their Government And Their Leadership. All That [the Usa] Wants Is Iraqi Oil. [blair Is] Simply The Foreign Minister Of The United States. He Is No Longer Prime Minister Of Britain.

I Pay Tribute To The Endless Heroism Of Youth.

Both Bush As Well, As Tony Blair, Are Undermining An Idea Which Was Sponsored By Their Predecessors. They Do Not Care. Is It Because The Secretary-general Of The United Nations [ghanaian Kofi Annan] Is Now A Black Man? They Never Did That When Secretary-generals Were White.

Our Hope Is That The Elementary Reading Of Comics Will Lead To The Joy Of Reading Good Books.

It's A Tragedy What Is Happening, What Bush Is Doing. All Bush Wants Is Iraqi Oil. There Is No Doubt That The U.s. Is Behaving Badly. Why Are They Not Seeking To Confiscate Weapons Of Mass Destruction From Their Ally Israel? This Is Just An Excuse To Get Iraq's Oil.

Mass Destruction

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

Hope Is A Powerful Weapon, And (one) No One Power On Earth Can Deprive You Of.

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.

If There Is One Thing In This Planet That Has The Power To Bind People It Is Soccer.

As I Have Said, The First Thing Is To Be Honest With Yourself. You Can Never Have An Impact On Society If You Have Not Changed Yourself... Great Peacemakers Are All People Of Integrity, Of Honesty, But Humility.

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.

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.

Know Your Enemy - And Learn About His Favorite Sport.

Love Comes More Naturally To The Human Heart Than Its Opposite.

With Freedom Comes Responsibilities, And I Dare Not Linger, For My Long Walk Has Not Ended Yet.

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

There Is Nothing Like A Fixed, Steady Aim, With An Honorable Purpose. It Dignifies Your Nature, And Insures Your Success.

This Must Be A World Of Democracy And Respect For Human Rights, A World Freed From The Horrors Of Poverty, Hunger, Deprivation And Ignorance, Relieved Of The Threat And The Scourge Of Civil Wars And External Aggression And Unburdened Of The Great Tragedy Of Millions Forced To Become Refugees.

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

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.

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

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

There Must Be An End To White Monopoly On Political Power, And A Fundamental Restructuring Of Our Political And Economic Systems To Ensure That The Inequalities Of Apartheid Are Addressed And Our Society Thoroughly Democratized.

There Are Leaders Who Know That However Furious The Debate, There Are Good Men And Women In All Population Groups - Amongst Blacks, Amongst Whites, And Amongst Afrikaans And English Speaking People.

I Had No Epiphany, No Singular Revelation, No Moment Of Truth, But A Steady Accumulation Of A Thousand Slights, A Thousand Indignities And A Thousand Unremembered Moments Produced In Me An Anger, A Rebelliousness, A Desire To Fight The System That Imprisoned My People. There Was No Particular Day On Which I Said, Henceforth I Will Devote Myself To The Liberation Of My People; Instead, I Simply Found Myself Doing So, And Could Not Do Otherwise.

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.

Who Could Doubt That Sport Is A Crucial Window For The Propagation Of Fair Play And Justice? After All, Fair Play Is A Value That Is Essential To Sport.

The United States Has Made Serious Mistakes In The Conduct Of Its Foreign Affairs, Which Have Had Unfortunate Repercussions Long After The Decisions Were Taken.

One Of The Most Difficult Things Is Not To Change Society - But To Change Yourself.

Our March To Freedom Is Irreversible. We Must Not Allow Fear To Stand In Our Way.

It Is Not Where You Start But How High You Aim That Matters For Success.

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

It Is My Greatest Wish That The Children’s Fund Should Continue To Be A Beacon Of Hope And Light.

The United States Of America Is A Threat To World Peace. Because What [america] Is Saying Is That If You Are Afraid Of A Veto In The Security Council, You Can Go Outside And Take Action And Violate The Sovereignty Of Other Countries. That Is The Message They Are Sending To The World. That Must Be Condemned In The Strongest Terms.

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

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

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.

We Need To Exert Ourselves That Much More, And Break Out Of The Vicious Cycle Of Dependence Imposed On Us By The Financially Powerful: Those In Command Of Immense Market Power And Those Who Dare To Fashion The World In Their Own Image.

Once A Person Is Determined To Help Themselves, There Is Nothing That Can Stop Them.

A Good Head And A Good Heart Are Always A Formidable Combination.

No Problem Is So Deep That It Cannot Be Overcome, Given The Will Of All Parties, Through Discussion And Negotiation Rather Than Force And Violence.

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.

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.

The Truth Is We Are Not Yet Free; We Have Merely Achieved The Freedom To Be Free.

Force Is The Only Language The Imperialists Can Hear, And No Country Became Free Without Some Sort Of Violence.

Safety And Security Don't Just Happen, They Are The Result Of Collective Consensus And Public Investment. We Owe Our Children, The Most Vulnerable Citizens In Our Society, A Life Free Of Violence And Fear.

We Must Use Time Wisely And Forever Realize That The Time Is Always Ripe To Do Right.

If You Want The Cooperation Of Humans Around You, You Must Make Them Feel They Are Important - And You Do That By Being Genuine And Humble.

To Deny People Of Their Human Rights Is To Challenge Their Very Humanity. To Impose On Them A Wretched Life Of Huger And Deprivation Is To Dehumanize Them. But Such Has Been The Terrible Fate Of All Black Persons In Our Country Under The System Of Apartheid.

From The Poorest Of Countries To The Richest Of Nations, Education Is The Key To Moving Forward In Any Society.

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.

Education Is The Most Powerful Weapon Which You Can Use To Change The World.

There Is An Absence Of Democratic Accountability And Control In Every Sphere Of Government And The State. To Address This Debilitating Legacy Requires Determined Action And A Deep Commitment To Transforming Our Society From A Crisis Ridden Present Into Something All South Africans Can Be Truly Proud Of.

Running Taught Me Valuable Lessons. In Cross-country Competition, Training Counted More Than Intrinsic Ability, And I Could Compensate For A Lack Of Natural Aptitude With Diligence And Discipline. I Applied This In Everything I Did.

My Family Is Very Large. 42 Million.

It Is Most Unusual To Return To A Place That Has Changed In Ways You Yourself Have Altered.

Prison Life, Fortunately, I Spent A Lot Of Years, About 18 Years With Other Prisoners, And, As I Say, They Enriched Your Soul.

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.

When I Walked Out Of Prison, That Was My Mission, To Liberate The Oppressed And The Oppressor Both.

Long Walk To Freedom

At The Meeting I Argued That The State Had Given Us No Alternative To Violence. I Said It Was Wrong And Immoral To Subject Our People To Armed Attacks By The State Without Offering Them Some Kind Of Alternative. I Mentioned Again That People On Their Own Had Taken Up Arms. Violence Would Begin Whether We Initiated It Or Not. Would It Not Be Better To Guide This Violence Ourselves, According To Principles Where We Saved Lives By Attacking Symbols Of Oppression, And Not People? If We Did Not Take The Lead Now, I Said, We Would Soon Be Latecomers And Followers To A Movement We Did Not Control.

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.

In Order To Build Our Nation, We Must All Exceed Our Own Expectations.

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.

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

I Am The Captain Of My Soul.

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

Africans Require, Want, The Franchise On The Basis Of One Man One Vote. They Want Political Independence.

My Son Has Died Of Aids.

For Me, Survival Is The Ability To Cope With Difficulties, With Circumstances, And To Overcome Them.

I Did Not Enjoy The Violence Of Boxing So Much As The Science Of It.

The Brave Man Is Not The One Who Has No Fears, He Is The One Who Triumphs Over His Fears.

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)

No Country Can Really Develop Unless Its Citizens Are Educated.

During The Years I Lived Here, The People Of Alexandra Ignored Tribal And Ethnic Distinctions. Instead Of Being Xhosas, Or Sothos, Or Zulus, Or Shangaans, We Were Alexandrans. We Were One People, And We Undermined The Distinctions That The Apartheid Government Tried So Hard To Impose. It Saddens And Angers Me To See The Rising Hatred Of Foreigners.

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.

Leaders Will Have To Give Clear And Decisive Leadership Towards A World Of Tolerance And Respect For Difference, And An Uncompromising Commitment To Peaceful Solutions Of Conflicts And Disputes.

Trade Justice For The Developing World And For This Generation Is A Truly Significant Way For The Developed Countries To Show Commitment To Bringing About An End To Global Poverty.

History And The Generations To Come Will Judge Our Leaders By The Decisions They Make In The Coming Weeks.

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

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.

If You Are Negotiating You Must Do So In A Spirit Of Reconciliation, Not From The Point Of View Of Issuing Ultimatums.

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

Part Of Building A New Nation Means Building A Spirit Of Tolerance, Love And Respect Amongst The People Of This Country.

It Is In The Character Of Growth That We Should Learn From Both Pleasant And Unpleasant Experiences.

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 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.

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

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.

We Tried In Our Simple Way To Lead Our Life In A Manner That May Make A Difference To Those Of Others.

[i] Read Anne Frank's Diary [while Imprisoned] On Robben Island And Derived Much Encouragement From It.

I Am Sure That If Somebody Is Giving A Sum To Charity, He Or She Should Be Encouraged To Do So By The Authorities Because The Spirit In Which We Encourage People To Give Has Permeated Our Society.

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!

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