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Politics Can Be Strengthened By Music, But Music Has A Potency That Defies Politics.
-Nelson Mandela
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Politics Can Be Strengthened

Nelson Mandela
...
Politics Can Be Strengthened By Music, But Music Has A Potency That Defies Politics.

Understanding the Quote: "politics can be strengthened by music, but music has a potency that..."

This quote by Nelson Mandela reflects deeply on the theme of potency. It connects to the universal human journey of purpose, motivation, and reflection. Often categorized under Potency, the quote offers insight, emotional clarity, and intellectual inspiration to readers worldwide.

Whether you’re a student exploring new ideas, a leader trying to motivate your team, or someone seeking direction in life — this quote provides value. It resonates because it’s more than words — it’s a bridge between experience and wisdom. It shows how Nelson Mandela interprets life's core challenges and triumphs.

Lessons From the Quote

This quote teaches resilience and focus. It reminds readers that no matter where they stand in life, reflection and self-awareness lead to growth. Each word has meaning, and when studied, it becomes clear how impactful thoughtful language can be.

About Nelson Mandela

Nelson Mandela is celebrated for insightful thoughts on potency and motivation. Their legacy lives on through writings that guide, comfort, and inspire. Discover more on their profile page.

Actionable Takeaways

  • Reflect on how this quote applies to your current life path.
  • Share the message with someone who needs inspiration.
  • Write your thoughts on this quote in a journal or blog post.
  • Use it as a daily affirmation or reminder.

Closing Thoughts

Quotes like this endure because they capture universal truths. They comfort us in solitude and empower us in groups. Carry this quote forward — live by its wisdom, share its message, and keep its essence alive.

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Topic
Potency
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People
Evil
I Enjoyed The Discipline And Solitariness Of Long-distance Running, Which Allowed Me To Escape From The Hurly-burly Of School Life.
Running
Distance
School
I Am The Captain Of My Soul.
Inspirational
Inspiring
Soul
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
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.
Country
Struggle
Yesterday
There Is Nothing I Fear More Than Waking Up Without A Program That Will Help Me Bring A Little Happiness To Those With No Resources, Those Who Are Poor, Illiterate, And Ridden With Terminal Disease.
Fear
Equality
Waking
The Histories Of Our Two Peoples, Palestinian And South African, Correspond In Such Painful And Poignant Ways, That I Intensely Feel Myself Being At Home Amongst Compatriots
Home
Two
Way
While Poverty Persists, There Is No True Freedom.
Poverty
True Freedom
Persist
Intervention Only Works When The People Concerned Seem To Be Keen For Peace.
Peace
War
People
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.
Inspirational
Positive
Inspiring
The Day I Am Afraid To Do, That Is The Day I Am No Longer Fit To Lead.
Fit
It Always Gives Me Great Pleasure To Be Surrounded By The Beautiful Children Of Our Land. Whenever I Am With The Energetic Young People ... I Feel Like A Recharged Battery, Confident That Our Country Can Look Forward To Great Things.
Beautiful
Country
Children
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.
Vision
Conflict
Unimaginable
I Have Never Regarded Any Man As My Superior, Either In My Life Outside Or Inside Prison.
Men
Jail
Prison
Justice And I Became Friends, Though We Were Opposites In Many Ways - He Was Extroverted, I Was Introverted; He Was Lighthearted, I Was Serious.
Opposites
Justice
Leader
I Have Retired, But If There's Anything That Would Kill Me It Is To Wake Up In The Morning Not Knowing What To Do.
Morning
Knowing
Wake Up
You Know You Are Really Famous The Day You Discover You Have Become A Comic Character!
Character
Over You
Comic
No Child In Africa, And In Fact Anywhere In The World, Should Be Denied Education.
Children
World
Facts
A Fundamental Concern For Others In Our Individual And Community Lives Would Go A Long Way In Making The World The Better Place We So Passionately Dreamt Of.
Independent
Compassion
Concern For Others
I Am Fundamentally An Optimist.
Optimist
Of Course We Desire Education And We Think It Is A Good Thing, But You Don't Have To Have Education In Order To Know That You Want Certain Fundamental Rights, You Have Got Aspirations, You Have Got Acclaims. It Has Nothing To Do With Education Whatsoever.
Thinking
Rights
Order
An Educated, Enlightened & Informed Population Is One Of The Surest Ways Of Promoting The Health Of A Democracy
Democracy
Population
Way
The Power Of Imagination Created The Illusion That My Vision Went Much Farther Than The Naked Eye Could Actually See.
Eye
Imagination
Vision
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.
Christian
Believe
Humanity
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...
Strong
Years
Ends
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.
Done
Poverty
Sickness
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.
Children
Men
Liberty
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.
Taken
Humanity
Long Walk To Freedom
A Movement Without Vision Would Be A Movement Without Moral Foundation.
Vision
Foundation
Would Be
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.
Dream
Children
Men
We Should Take Heart From Our Own Experience And Performance. In A Cynical World We Have Become An Inspiration To Many.
Inspiration
Heart
Cynical
To Go To Prison Because Of Your Convictions And Be Prepared To Suffer For What You Believe In, Is Something Worthwhile. It Is An Achievement For A Man To Do His Duty On Earth Irrespective Of The Consequences.
Believe
Men
Suffering
Adversity Cleanses The Lethargies Of Man
Adversity
Men
Lethargy
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.
Inspirational
People
Progress
For Me, Nonviolence Was Not A Moral Principle But A Strategy; There Is No Moral Goodness In Using An Ineffective Weapon.
Principles
Moral Goodness
Weapons
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.
Men
Law
Criminals
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.
War
Ignorance
Rights
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.
War
Rights
Racism
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.
Government
Usa
Oil
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
Sometimes Strident, Often Tender, Never Afraid And Seldom Without Humour, Desmond Tutu's Voice Will Always Be The Voice Of The Voiceless.
Voice
Voiceless
Sometimes
I Knew As Well As I Knew Anything That The Oppressor Must Be Liberated Just As Surely As The Oppressed.
Long Walk To Freedom
Wells
Oppressed
Those Who Can't Imagine Change Reveal The Deficits Of Their Imaginations, Not The Difficulty Of Change.
Imagination
Imagine
Difficulty
There Can Be No Keener Revelation Of A Society's Soul Than The Way In Which It Treats Its Children.
Inspiring
Spiritual
Children
It Is Your Duty To Examine The Conduct Of Public Figures And To Place Them In The Spotlight - That Is Your Duty.
Spotlight
Figures
Duty
We Know What Needs To Be Done - All That Is Missing Is The Will To Do It.
Missing
Needs
Done
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.
Beautiful
Country
Rainbow
In Judging Our Progress As Individuals We Tend To Concentrate On External Factors Such As One's Social Position, Influence And Popularity, Wealth And Standard Of Education... But Internal Factors May Be Even More Crucial In Assessing One's Development As A Human Being. Honesty, Sincerity, Simplicity, Humility, Pure Generosity, Absence Of Vanity, Readiness To Serve Others - Qualities Which Are Within Easy Reach Of Every Soul - Are The Foundation Of One's Spiritual Life.
Love
Life
Family
Whether You Change The Linen Or Stitch Up Wounds, Cook The Food Or Dispense The Medicines, It Is In Your Hands To Help Build A Public Service Worthy Of All Those Who Gave Their Lives For The Dream Of Democracy
Dream
Food
Medicine
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.
Fall
Greatness
Humanity
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.
Jobs
People
Water
Our Rich And Varied Cultural Heritage Has A Profound Power To Help Build Our Nation
Profound
Heritage
Helping
When You Are Behind Bars With No Hope Of Release, You Need To Find Strength Wherever You Can. Personally, I Found Strength In Michael Jackson.
Needs
Bars
Finding Strength
Before I Went To Jail, I Was Active In Politics As A Member Of South Africa's Leading Organization - And I Was Generally Busy From 7 A.m. Until Midnight. I Never Had Time To Sit And Think.
Thinking
Organization
Jail
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