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We Cannot Blame Other People For Our Troubles. We Are Not Victims Of The Influx Of Foreign People Into South Africa. We Must Remember That It Was Mainly Due To The Aggressive And Hostile Policies Of The Apartheid Regime That The Economic Development Of Our Neighbours Was Undermined.

-Nelson Mandela

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We Cannot Blame Other

Nelson Mandela

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We Cannot Blame Other People For Our Troubles. We Are Not Victims Of The Influx Of Foreign People Into South Africa. We Must Remember That It Was Mainly Due To The Aggressive And Hostile Policies Of The Apartheid Regime That The Economic Development Of Our Neighbours Was Undermined.

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Black And White

Common Humanity

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Distribution Of Wealth

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Black And White

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Black And White

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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.

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

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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.

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In My Country We Go To Prison First And Then Become President.

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I Am Not A Saint, Unless You Think Of A Saint As A Sinner Who Keeps On Trying.

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.

The Wounds That Cannot Be Seen Are More Painful Than Those That Can Be Treated By A Doctor.

Honesty,sincer Ity,simplicity, Humility, Pure Generosity,abse Nce Of Vanity,readines S To Serve Others -qualities Which Are Within Easy Reach Of Every Soul -are The Foundation Of One's Spiritual Life.

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Nonviolence Is A Good Policy When The Conditions Permit.

When We Dehumanise And Demonise Our Opponents, We Abandon The Possibility Of Peacefully Resolving Our Differences, And Seek To Justify Violence Against Them.

A Bright Future Beckons. The Onus Is On Us, Through Hard Work, Honesty And Integrity, To Reach For The Stars.

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It Generally Appears Outlandish Until Its Carried Out.

For A Revolution Is Not Just A Question Of Pulling A Trigger; Its Purpose Is To Create A Fair Just Society

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A Good Leader Can Engage In A Debate Frankly And Thoroughly, Knowing That At The End He And The Other Side Must Be Closer, And Thus Emerge Stronger. You Don't Have That Idea When You Are Arrogant, Superficial, And Uninformed.

A Critical, Independent And Investigative Press Is The Lifeblood Of Any Democracy. The Press Must Be Free From State Interference. It Must Have The Economic Strength To Stand Up To The Blandishments Of Government Officials. It Must Have Sufficient Independence From Vested Interests To Be Bold And Inquiring Without Fear Or Favour. It Must Enjoy The Protection Of The Constitution, So That It Can Protect Our Rights As Citizens.

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

The More Informed You Are, The Less Arrogant And Aggressive You Are.

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

I Am Not The Only One Who Did Not Want Revenge. Almost All My Colleagues In Prison Did Not Want Revenge, Because There Is No Time To Do Anything Else Except To Try And Save Your People.

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.

The Power Of Imagination Created The Illusion That My Vision Went Much Farther Than The Naked Eye Could Actually See.

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.

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 Know Too Well That Our Freedom Is Incomplete Without The Freedom Of The Palestinians.

Without Language, One Cannot Talk To People And Understand Them; One Cannot Share Their Hopes And Aspirations, Grasp Their History, Appreciate Their Poetry, Or Savor Their Songs.

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

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.

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.

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

The Commonwealth Makes The World Safe For Diversity

Therefore, We Must Not Look At The African People, Even Before They Met Whites, As If They Had Something Unique, Which Was Not To Be Found In Other Societies.

Whatever Position I Occupied, It Was The Result Of Colleagues - Of My Comrades In The Movement - Who Had Decided In Their Wisdom To Use Me For The Purpose Of Focusing The Attention Of The Country And The International Community On Me.

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.

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.

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

Exercise Is The Key Not Only To Physical Health But To Peace Of Mind.

We Understand And Promote The Notion That While Children Need To Be Guided They Also Have An Entrenched Right To Be Whatever They Want To Be And That They Can Achieve This Only If They Are Given The Space To Dream And Live Out Their Dreams.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Fools Multiply When Wise Men Are Silent.

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.

Jinnah Is A Constant Source Of Inspiration For All Those Who Are Fighting Against Racial And Group Discrimination.

As We Judge Others So Are We Judged By Others. The Suspicious Will Always Be Tormented By Suspicion.

What Counts In Life Is Not The Mere Fact That We Have Lived. It Is What Difference We Have Made To The Lives Of Others That Will Determine The Significance Of The Life We Lead.

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

Sports Have The Power To Change The World. It Has The Power To Inspire, The Power To Unite People In A Way That Little Else Does. It Speaks To Youth In A Language They Understand. Sports Can Create Hope, Where There Was Once Only Despair. It Is More Powerful Than Governments In Breaking Down Racial Barriers. It Laughs In The Face Of All Types Of Discrimination. Sports Is The Game Of Lovers.

I Really Wanted To Retire And Rest And Spend More Time With My Children, My Grandchildren And Of Course With My Wife.

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.

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Money Won't Create Success, The Freedom To Make It Will.

Congratulations

If Our Expectations, If Our Fondest Prayers And Dreams, Are Not Realized Then We Should All Bear In Mind That The Greatest Glory Of Living Lies Not In Never Falling But In Rising Every Time You Fall.

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

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.

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

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.

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

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

I Like Friends Who Have Independent Minds Because They Tend To Make You See Problems From All Angles.

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.

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

One Of The Things That Made Me Long To Be Back In Prison Was That I Had So Little Opportunity For Reading, Thinking And Quiet Reflection After My Release. I Intend, Amongst Other Things, To Give Myself Much More Opportunity For Such Reading And Reflection.

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

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.

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

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.

There Is Little Favorable To Be Said About Poverty, But It Was Often An Incubator Of True Friendship.

I Learned That To Humiliate Another Person Is To Make Him Suffer An Unnecessarily Cruel Fate. Even As A Boy, I Defeated My Opponents Without Dishonoring Them.

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.

Artists Reach Areas Far Beyond The Reach Of Politicians. Art, Especially Entertainment And Music, Is Understood By Everybody, And It Lifts The Spirits And The Morale Of Those Who Hear It.

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.

Finding Strength

Where Globalization Means, As It So Often Does, That The Rich And Powerful Now Have New Means To Further Enrich And Empower Themselves At The Cost Of The Poorer And Weaker, We Have A Responsibility To Protest In The Name Of Universal Freedom.

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

Racism Is A Blight On The Human Conscience

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

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